The krapeu is a crocodile-shaped fretted floor zither

Zither

The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...

 from Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

 with three strings.

The word krapeu means "alligator

Alligator

An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....

" or "crocodile

Crocodile

A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...

" in the Khmer language

Khmer language

Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...

. It is probably the most recent of the Khmer classical instruments. The takhe usually has three to five legs supporting it. When performing, the player sits beside the instrument. The left hand runs up and down the strings, while the right hand plucks them using a plectrum. The takhe is used for wedding music, A-yai, and Chapei music as well as modern music.

The krapeu is analogous to the Thai

Culture of Thailand

The Culture of Thailand incorporates cultural beliefs and characteristics indigenous to the area known as modern day Thailand coupled with much influence from ancient India, China, Cambodia, along with the neighbouring pre-historic cultures of Southeast Asia...

 jakhe

Jakhe

The jakhe is a plucked zither used in Thai music. It is made of wood in a stylized crocodile shape and is approximately 20 cm high and 140 cm long. Its highest two strings are made of silk yarn or nylon and lowest is made of brass...

; both are used in the mahori

Mahori

The mahori is a form of Thai and Cambodian classical ensemble which was traditionally played by women in the courts of both Central Thailand and Cambodia...

 ensemble. It is also similar to the Burmese mi gyaung

Mi gyaung

The mi gyaung is a crocodile-shaped fretted, plucked zither with three strings that is used as a traditional instrument in Burma. It is associated with the Mon people, who call it kyam....

, and the Mon

Mon people

The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...

 kyam

Kyam

The kyam is a crocodile-shaped fretted floor zither with three strings, used in the traditional music of the Mon people of Burma.The instrument's body is made of wood that is carved out on the underside like a dugout canoe. It has approximately 13 raised wooden frets that are diatonically rather...

.

External links

• Krapeu page

See also

• Traditional Cambodian musical instruments
  Traditional Cambodian musical instruments
  Traditional Cambodian musical instruments are the musical instruments used in the traditional and classical musics of Cambodia. They comprise a wide range of wind, string, and percussion instruments, used by both the Khmer majority as well as the nation's ethnic minorities.-Flutes:*Khloy -...
  
  
• Music of Cambodia
  Music of Cambodia
  The music of Cambodia is derived both from traditions dating back to the ancient Khmer Empire and from the rapid Westernization of the popular music scene in modern times.-Folk and classical music:...
  
  
• Traditional Thai instruments