How were South Slavic epic songs performed with the gusla?

South Slavic epic songs are performed by a guslar, a traditional singer who accompanies himself on the gusla (or gusle). The performer holds the instrument vertically between his legs and plays it using a deeply curved bow.12

Because the instrument lacks a fingerboard, the player stops the single or double horsehair string by applying sideways pressure with his fingers. The resulting music is typically chromatic and often features a descending melodic line, sometimes incorporating microtonal elements.21

The vocal performance follows a decasyllabic metre, consisting of 10 syllables per verse. A word boundary consistently occurs after the fourth syllable, and the final two syllables are generally held longer, resulting in a structure where 10 linguistic syllables are sung against 12 musical pulses. While regional styles and individual preferences vary, this tradition has long been used to narrate historical events, heroic tales, and cultural epics across the Balkans.1