The komuz is one of the most popular and revered ancient Kyrgyz folk instruments. It has a pear-shaped body and a long, thin neck with a headpiece made from juniper, apricot, or walnut wood. In ancient times, the three strings were made from animal intestines, but nowadays synthetic materials or silk threads are used.

There is a legend about the musician Kambar, who crafted the first komuz:

"Once, there was a brave Kyrgyz hunter named Kambar. One day, the hunter was returning home from the hunt. His path lay through thick groves of tall trees. Suddenly, Kambar heard some melodious sounds. They came from above, over his head. He looked up but could see nothing... He decided: 'I'll climb a tree; it will be clearer from up there where this beautiful sound is coming from.' When he reached the top, he saw a string stretched from one tree branch to another. The wind shook the tree branches, and the string vibrated, producing sound. But Kambar wasn't satisfied with just looking at the string; he took it and examined it. It turned out that it wasn’t a string but a stretched tendon. The tendon belonged to a monkey (or according to other sources, a wild goat)... So, Kambar thought, 'Why not?' He crafted the first musical instrument and joyfully played the first Kyrgyz melody on it."

The legend was recorded in the 1930s by the famous Soviet musicologist V.S. Vinogradov based on the words of the Kyrgyz folk musician Murataaaly Kurenkeev (1860–1949).