How To: Play "Avinu Malkeinu" on the lyre

How to Play "Avinu Malkeinu" on the lyre

Learn how to play one of the most beautiful songs, traditionally sang at Yom Kippur/Rosh Hashana, called "Avinu Malkeinu" (Our Father, Our King):

Avinu Malkeinu, Chaneinu V'aneinu,

ki ein banu ma'asim.

Assei imanu ts'dakah vachesed, vehoshiyeinu.

(Our Father, our King,
Hear our voice, Lord our God,
pity and be compassionate to us, and accept - with compassion and favour - our prayer)

The lyre is tuned to the Ahava Raba mode (all tunings for playing traditional Jewish music on the Kinnor is discussed in my 1st and 2nd lessons):

bottom string to top -

DE(tonic)FG#ABCDE(tonic)F

The notes of the melody are:

EG#G#G#AG#FG#,EG#ABAG#FG#,EG#G#G#AG#FG#

ABG#FEG#ABG#AFE

ECBCBA,G#ABABAG#,ECBCBDCBA,G#ABG#AFE,

ECBCBA,G#ABABAG#,ECBCBDCBA,G#ABG#AFE

In this lesson, I also introduce how to play an accompaniment with the left hand, whilst playing the melody with the right hand.

The ancients certainly DID use & understand basic harmony - to be able to tune a Kinnor in the first place, the ancient Levite musician needed to know what 5ths and 4ths actually SOUNDED like! Also, consider the Lyres of Ur - these were the 3 fantastically preserved lyres found at Ur, form about 2700 BC; which predate Kufu's Great Pyramid at Giza by at least 200 years! Along with these lyres, DOUBLE pipes were found...which by definition, PLAYED TWO DIFFERENT NOTES AT THE SAME TIME!