The fujara originated in central Slovakia as a large sophisticated folk shepherd's overtone fipple flute of unique design. It is technically a contrabass in the tabor pipe class.

Ranging from 160 to 200 cm long (5'3" – 6'6") and tuned in A, G, or F. It has three tone holes (also called finger holes) located on the lower part of the main body. The sound is produced by a fipple at the upper end of the main body of the fujara. The air is led to the fipple through a smaller parallel pipe, called vzduchovod in Slovak (meaning "air channel"), mounted on the main body of the instrument. While it is possible to play the fundamental frequency on fujaras, the normal playing technique is based on overblowing the instrument. Because of the high aspect ratio of the sound chamber (great length versus small internal diameter), the player can use overtones to play a diatonic scale using only the three tone holes. The fujara is typically played while standing, with the instrument held vertically and usually braced against the right thigh.