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The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings.
The rebec was adopted as a key instrument in Arab classical music and in Morocco it was used in the tradition of Arabo-Andalusian music, which had been kept alive by descendants of Moriscos as refugees following the Reconquista. The rebec also became a favorite instrument in the tea houses of the Ottoman Empire.
The rebec was first referred to by that name around the beginning of the 14th century, though a similar instrument, usually called a lira da braccio (arm lyre), had been played since around the 9th century. The name derives from the 15th century Middle French rebec, altered in an unexplained manner from the 13th century Old French ribabe, which in turn comes from the Arabic rebab. An early form of the rebec is also referred to as the rubeba in a 13th century Moravian treatise on music. Medieval sources refer to the instrument by several other names, including kit and the generic term fiddle.
A distinguishing feature of the rebec is that the bowl (or body) of the instrument is carved from a solid piece of wood. This distinguishes it from the later period and Viol known in the Renaissance.
The use of frets on the rebec is somewhat ambiguous. Many scholars who have written about the instrument have described it as fretless. However, some illustrations from the 13th century onward depict frets on the rebec. It is possible to attribute this discrepancy to the fact that frets on bowed instruments appeared in Europe in the early renaissance, but not in England until the 15th century.
In time, the viol came to replace the rebec, and the instrument was little used beyond the renaissance period. The instrument was used by dance masters until the 18th century, however, often being used for the same purpose as the Kit violin, a small pocket-sized violin. The rebec also remained in use in folk music, especially in eastern Europe and Spain. Andalusi nubah, a genre of music from North Africa, often includes the rebec. Chilote Waltz (a variation of traditional waltz, played in Chiloe Island, Chile) also uses the rebec.
In a scene in Don Quixote, a goatherd entertains Don Quixote and Sancho Panza by playing a rebec and singing a love song.
A rebec featured prominently in one of Ellis Peters' (12th century) Brother Cadfael stories: Liliwin, the title character of The Sanctuary Sparrow, earned his living by playing that instrument. His rebec was damaged by a mob that accused him of murder, but one of the monks repaired it and returned to him at the end of the story.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> "rebec" definition at Dictionary.com ("Word of the Day" on April 30, 2022)
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