Yatga

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The yatga (or yatag) is a traditional Mongolian plucked zither, related to the Chinese guzheng.

Yatga may vary widely in size, tuning, and number of bridges and strings; its style depends on its purpose. The body is a long wooden box, one end of which is angled downward. The performer plucks the strings with the fingernails of the right hand; the left hand is used to put pressure on the strings, creating sound. Similar instruments include the Korean gayageum and the Japanese koto.^[1]

The most common type of yatga in contemporary use is the thirteen-stringed version. Historically, however, the twelve-stringed version was used at the royal court for symbolic reasons; the twelve strings corresponded to twelve levels of palace hierarchy.^[1]

The traditional Mongolian epic, Janggar, contains the story of a young princess who once played upon an 800-string yatga with 82 bridges; she is supposed to have only played on the seven lower bridges.^[1]

The yatga is very similar to the Tuvan yat-kha.

The strings are made either from silk, horse hair or goose gut.^[2]

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