Talk:Kantele

Does the Kannel need a page of its own? Currently Kannel (instrument) refers to the Kantele page, but really it is as different to the kantele as the kokle and kankle are, which both have their own entries.

Corwen 09:03, 16 June 2006 (UTC)

As a Finn I do not recognize the difference, nor consider it page-worthy. --Agamemnon2 08:30, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

Kannel is the only name used in Estonia for this instrument, whilst Kantele is the main name for it in Finland with Kannel being a subsidiary name. The Estonian kannel is a subtly different instrument with a different modern history, different historical repertoire (ancient Est Kannel had six strings compared to the Finnish Kantele's five, and this is reflected in the old tunes) and there is a different playing technique.

I have two books, Viisikielisen Kanteleen Ohjelmistoa (Finnish Kantele manual) and Kuuekeelne Kannel (Estonian Kannel manual) and the distinctions between the two instruments are very clear, though they may look the same! (So does a folk fiddle and a classical violin but these are not the same instrument either.)

The Baltic Psalteries form a continuum from Finnish Kantele to Vepsian Gusli, and I appreciate that there is no exact dividing line between Kantele and Kannel, but surely for consistency either all the pages connected with this family should merge to form one Baltic psalteries page, or each nationality's own version of the instrument should have its own page.

I think we need an opinion from an Estonian Kannel player! Corwen 12:48, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, I've heard a song by the name:"My Kantele", and I didn't know what kantele was, so this article was helpfull.

~~Stanko~~