The Qaraqalpaks of northwest Uzbekistan share a style of bardic performance with their Turkmen neighbors to the south, a style in which bards accompany themselves on a dutar, often joined with the playing of a spiked fiddle (ghijak). Qaraqalpaks do not use the guttural vocal timbre of the bakhshi, which perhaps explains why the profession of bard is widely open to women. "Beyish Namasi" is an excerpt from the epic Gharib Ashiq (The Poor Lover). (During, Levin 2001)