The igil is a two-stringed instrument whose teardrop-shaped body is held between the legs and bowed like a cello. The igil is sometimes called a horse-head fiddle because the peghead of the instrument is often decorated with the carved head of a horse. The sound box may be made entirely of wood, or the face of the instrument may be goat skin stretched across the frame. The strings are made of horsehair. Unfretted and tuned a fifth apart, they are fingered very lightly, not pressed to the fingerboard. The tones of the igil are varied and rich, not unlike the sound of a cello. Bady-Dorzhu Ondar is shown playing the igil. Both igils pictured here were made by Oktober Saya.

Hear the igil Click for demo by Bady-Dorzhu Ondar

Watch Bady-Dorzhu Ondar play the igil on YouTube [4:59] Igil on Wikipedia Igil on Tyvawiki Folktale about the origin of the igil

2009 was the Year of the Igil. Read more.