Appendix:Glossary of chordophones

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This is a glossary of chordophones. It can include any stringed instrument, or any musical instrument that produces sound through one or more vibrating strings.

This glossary only includes the names of actual instruments. It does not include playing techniques, bows or plectrums, music genres or anything other than the names of instruments. It does not comprehensively include families or types of instruments -- only specific instruments -- but some families of instruments are listed because they are also used as the name of a specific instrument from within that family.

This appendix does not generally include translations, but in English writing foreign words are often used to describe instruments. Some instruments do not have a direct English translation. This appendix does cover such foreign words and any other non-English terminology that can be helpful to understand writing about music and musical instruments.

See also the glossary of musical instrument classification (organology).

Chordophones

[edit]
acoustic bass guitar[1]
A bass guitar meant to be played without electric amplification.
acoustic guitar[2]
A hollow-body guitar of the older variety, in contradistinction to an electric guitar.
aeolian harp[3]
An open box over which strings are stretched that sound when the wind passes over them.
akonting[4]
A folk lute of the Jola people of West Africa; a banjo-like instrument with a skin-headed gourd body, two long melody strings, and one short drone string.
angélique[5]
A plucked necked bowl lute with two necks and most often sixteen strings, played in the manner of a harp, and popular in Baroque Europe.
Appalachian dulcimer[6]
A diatonically fretted and neckless string instrument, most commonly with three or four strings; a chordophone of the zither family.
archlute[7] [8]
A fretted and double-necked stringed musical instrument with a large body, double courses in the bass, and two sets of tuning pegs.
archtop[9]
A style of large steel-stringed guitar having an arched belly, a neck at a slight angle to the body and a fretboard elevated above the soundboard.
armónico[10]
A stringed instrument with seven strings in six courses and one string (the middle one) doubled; it is structurally a combination of a guitar and a tres.
arpeggione[11]
A six-stringed musical instrument of the nineteenth century, fretted and tuned like a guitar but bowed like a cello, and held vertically between the knees.
autoharp[12]
A 36-stringed instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers (muting bars) which mute all the strings other than those that form the desired chord.
baglama[13]
A seven-stringed musical instrument in various cultures around the eastern Mediterranean, with a pear-shaped body, and strings in double or sometimes triple courses.
  • Synonym: bağlama, saz
  • Note: Though saz is often used as a synonym for the baglama, it more precisely refers to any of a family of long-necked lutes (of which the baglama is one type) common throughout the Middle-East and nearby regions. See saz in this glossary for more.
  • Types: cura (smallest), elektro-baglama (an electric version)
baglamas[14]
A plucked stringed instrument, a long-necked bowl lute, played in Greek music and often made of improvised materials; it is a high-pitched and small bouzouki with one string in an octave pair on the lower D and unison pairs on the four highest strings.
bajo quinto[15][16]
A stringed instrument of Mexican origin, with ten thick strings in five double-courses, a short neck and a deep soundboard; a type of acoustic bass guitar bajo sexto without the bass strings of a typical bajo sexto.
bajo sexto[17][18]
A stringed instrument of Mexican origin, with twelve thick strings in six double-courses, with a short neck and a deep soundboard; a type of acoustic bass guitar.
balalaika[19]
A plucked stringed instrument with a triangular body, short neck and three strings, of Russian origin.
bandola[20]
A plucked pear-shaped stringed instrument with a small body, originating in Colombia and Venezuela.
bandore
_
bandoura
_
bandura[21]
A Ukrainian plucked stringed instrument with a tear-shaped body, like an asymmetrical lute or a vertical zither, played with both hands while held upright on the lap.
bandurria[22]
A plectrum-plucked stringed instrument with a flat-backed pear-shaped body, with twelve strings in six courses in its most common modern form, originating in Spain.
  • Also refers to a 14-string instrument of Filipino origin (evolving from a precursor to the modern Spanish bandurria).
  • Also refers to several four-course bandurrias from South America, especially common in Peru and Bolivia.
  • Also a synonym for the bandola andina, a variety of bandola from the Andes region of Venezuela.
  • Synonyms: mandurria (Balearic Islands)
banhu[23]
A two-stringed bowed instrument of northern Chinese origin, held vertically, possessing a soundbox made of coconut shell and a front surface covered with a thin layer of wood.
banjo[24]
A stringed musical instrument with a round body, a membrane-like soundboard and a fretted neck, played by plucking or strumming the strings.
banjo dulcimer[25]
An Appalachian dulcimer that has been modified with the addition of a vibrating membrane like the body of a banjo.
banjo-mandolin
A four-stringed instrument with the body of a mandolin and the neck of a banjo.
banjo uke
_
banjo ukelele
_
banjolele[26]
A four-stringed musical instrument with a small membrane-covered body like a banjo, with a neck fretted like a ukulele.
banjolin
A musical instrument, most often with four strings, resembling a small banjo but tuned like a mandolin.
barbat[27]
An ancient Persian plucked lute with a pear-shaped body, a flat belly, an angled back near the pegbox, and a fretless neck.
baritone guitar[28]
A type of large-bodied and long-necked guitar that plays in a baritone range.
Baroque guitar[29]
An archaic form of guitar with five strings, originating in the Baroque era, played by either strumming or plucking, and characterized by the use of re-entrant tuning.
baryton[30]
A viol-like stringed instrument (chordophone) mainly played with a bow but with a set of plucked strings as well, originating in European music prior to the 1800s.
bass guitar[31]
A long-necked and solid-bodied stringed instrument (chordophone), tuned to produce bass or low notes, usually with a fretted fingerboard and four thick strings, and requiring the use of an amplifier.
bass fiddle
_
bass viol
_
bass violin
_
begena[32]
A type of lyre with a rectangular soundbox and ten strings, played with a plectrum, of Ethiopian and Eritrean origin.
berde[33]
A stringed instrument (chordophone) of Bosnian origin, a large guitar-shaped instrument that is played upright, using a plectrum.
bipa[34]
A pear-shaped lute with five strings, of Korean origin.
biwa[35][36]
A plucked lute, originating in the classical and traditional music of Japan, characterized by a pear-shaped body and four or five high frets, giving the instrument a distinctively twangy tone.
bordonua[37] [38]
A large stringed instrument of Puerto Rican origin, a low-pitched version of the guitar-like cuatro.
bouzouki[39]
A Greek long-necked plucked fretted lute having a sharp, metallic sound, with a curved soundbox, six strings in double courses and a very long neck.
bow
_
  • Synonym of: musical bow
  • Note: also a long object used to play certain stringed instruments, such as a violin.
  • Performer: bower
bowed psaltery[40]
A psaltery adapted to be played with a bow instead of with plucking, with a triangular shape and a hole (rose) in the center of the soundboard.
bowed dulcimer
A style of Appalachian dulcimer played with a bow and held upright like a cello.
bugarija[41]
A stringed instrument of Bosnian origin, a type of lute with circular soundholes, a long neck and most often four strings.
bull fiddle
_
buzuq[42]
A mandolin-shaped lute of Arab origin, with a long neck, movable frets and two or three strings played with a plectrum.
cavaquinho[43]
A small guitar-string instrument of Brazilian origin, with four wire or gut strings, played with a plectrum.
cello[44]
A large stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings, tuned from lowest to highest C-G-D-A, and played with a bow, also possessing an endpin to support the instrument's weight.
çeng[45]
A kind of wooden angle harp used in traditional Turkish music, originating in the Ottoman Empire.
çeng santuru[46]
A stringed instrument that combines the çeng with the santur, of Turkish origin.
ceterone[47]
A large cittern distinguished by the use of wire strings, and the presence of extra bass strings.
chanzy[48]
A three-stringed plucked lute of Tuvan origin, like a long-necked banjo with a skin head over a heart or kidney-shaped body.
charango[49]
A small guitar-like stringed instrument with five courses of eighteen to fifteen strings, originating in traditional Andean folk music.
charangon
A type of large stringed instrument of the charango family, with a characteristically low pitch, originating in the traditional music of the Andean area.
chillador[50]
A small fretted guitar-like stringed instrument of Peruvian origin, part of the charango family, usually with ten to fourteen strings in five courses.
chitarra battente[51]
A large guitar-like stringed instrument with metal frets, a curved back and four or five pairs of strings in double courses, which pass over or through the bridge, originating in rural Italian folk music.
chitarra Italiana
_
chitarrone
_
chuniri[52]
A bowed viol-like string instrument (a spike fiddle) with three strings, originating in the folk traditions of Georgia.
cigar box guitar
A simple guitar-like string instrument that uses a cigar box as a resonator, and traditionally with a broomstick for a neck.
cittern[53]
A stringed instrument (chordophone), played with a plectrum, and most commonly possessing four wire strings and chromatic frets.
cizhonghu
_
classical guitar[54]
A type of flat-tabled guitar of Spanish origin used primarily for Western classical music, flamenco, and Latin American music, with six nylon (formerly gut) strings, usually played with the fingers rather than with a plectrum.
cobza[55]
A lute-like stringed instrument (chordophone), with four strings in double courses, played with a plectrum, and most associated with the traditional music of Romania.
concha[56]
A family of three guitars, traditionally made from an armadillo shell or gourd for a body, and best-known as part of the Concheros tradition of Mexico.
console steel guitar[57]
A type of large electric lap steel guitar, usually with two necks and seven or eight strings.
contraguitar
An old form of guitar originating in Vienna, with a standard six-string neck and a second bass neck with up to nine strings.
contrabass
_
crwth[58]
An archaic stringed instrument associated particularly with Wales, though once played widely in Europe, and characterized by a vaulted back and enough space for the player to stop each of the six strings on the fingerboard.
cuatro
At least two different stringed instruments: the Venezuelan cuatro, which has a ukulele-like shape with four strings; the Puerto Rican cuatro has a violin-like shape and most commonly ten strings in five courses.
cümbüş
A modern Turkish stringed instrument similar to an oud.
dahu
A large bowed two-stringed chordophone of Chinese origin, a tenor part of the erhu family of instruments.
dan bau
A monochord (one-stringed) zither-like stringed instrument (chordophone) of Vietnamese origin, played by plucking with a plectrum with one hand and using the other to vary the tension on the string to adjust the pitch.
dan day
A type of lute with three strings, a hollow trapezoidal wooden body with an open back, and a very long neck, originating in traditional Vietnamese music (particularly ca trù).
đàn gáo
A traditional Vietnamese bowed string instrument with two strings and a coconut shell resonator.
dan nguyet
A moon-shaped kind of lute, a plucked, fretted lute with a round body and two strings, originating in traditional Vietnamese music.
dan nhi
A vertical bowed fiddle-like string instrument with two strings, originating in the traditional and classical music of Vietnam.
dan tranh[59]
A small plucked zither-like string instrument of Vietnamese origin.
dan ty ba[60]
A plucked four-stringed chordophone with a long neck and a pear-shaped body, originating in the traditional music of Vietnam.
dangubica
A one or two-stringed instrument with a slab of flat wood as a body, originating in Serbian and Croatian traditional music.
daruan
A bass lute-like four-stringed chordophone of the ruan family of Chinese traditional instruments.
diddley bow[61]
A one-stringed instrument (monochord) that consists of a wire string attached to something solid like the side of a house, and played with a piece of metal or glass, originating in the African American traditional music of Mississippi in the United States.
division viol
A type of bass viol with the ability to be tuned in a very broad range, originating in the performance of divisions (florid instrumental variation of a melody) in 17th century English.
diyingehu
A four-stringed Chinese bass chordophone, played with a bow, a type of gehu, and part of the huqin family of traditional Chinese instruments.
dobro
An acoustic guitar with a metal resonator; a type of resonator guitar.
doghouse bass
_
dombra
A long-necked lute found in parts of Asia and Eastern Europe.
domra
A round-bodied lute of Russian origin, with either three or four strings.
doshpuluur[62]
A long-necked plucked lute with two or three strings, of Tuvan origin, characterized by a skin-head on both sides of the square wooden body.
dotara
A South Asian instrument resembling a mandolin.
double bass
The largest stringed instrument of the violin family.
dramyin
A traditional lute used in the Himalayan region.
Dreadnought
A kind of large-bodied acoustic guitar.
dulcijo[63]
A type of three-stringed clawhammer banjo that is tuned diatonically, like a dulcimer, with a shortened third string and a drum resonator.
dulcimer
A stringed instrument, with strings stretched across a sounding board, usually trapezoidal.
dutar[64]
A two stringed lute with a long neck, found in Iran and Central Asia.
duxianqin
A Chinese plucked string instrument, with only one string.
eight-string guitar
A kind of guitar with eight strings.
electric bass
An electric bass guitar having four strings and being larger than a normal electric guitar. It has a lower pitch and is often used as a back up beat for the lead guitar.
electric cello
A cello modified to be played either electrically or acoustically, usually possessing five strings.
electric dulcimer
A dulcimer that uses electronic amplification to produce sufficient sound.
electric guitar
A guitar which requires electronic amplification to produce sufficient sound.
electric harp[65]
A type of harp with a solid body and electric pickups on each string, in order to amplify the instrument's sound.
electric sitar[66]
A type of electric guitar that mimics a sitar while being loud enough to be used in rock and pop music; it is characterized by an asymmetric body, the use of a large, flat bridge and sympathetic strings.
electric violin
A violin that uses electronic amplification to produce sufficient sound.
erhu[67]
A type of bowed spike fiddle having two strings, originating in China as part of the huqin family of string instruments.
erxian
A two-stringed lute-like musical instrument of Chinese origin (chiefly Cantonese music), played with a bow.
esraj
A bowed string instrument of Indian origin, with a goatskin soundboard sympathetic strings attached to a sitar-like neck and twenty frets.
fiddle
Any of various bowed string instruments, often used to refer to a violin when played in any of various traditional styles, as opposed to classical violin.
flamenco guitar
A type of acoustic guitar with reduced internal bracing and thinner tops. It is used mainly in the performance of toques, the guitar part of flamenco music.
flattop[68]
A type of stringed instrument, most often an acoustic guitar, with a flat top (as opposed to an archtop), with strings held in place with pins, and with a complex system of bracing struts on the top.
gadulka
A traditional Bulgarian stringed instrument, played with a bow, and most commonly featuring three main strings and up to sixteen sympathetic strings.
gayageum
A zither-like chordophone, most often with twelve strings, originating in the traditional music of Korea.
gaohu
A two-stringed vertical fiddle used as a leading instrument in Cantonese music.
gehu
A modern Chinese instrument that fuses the Western cello with a more traditional huqin-like design, with four strings tuned like a cello.
geomungo
A zither-like string instrument of ancient Korean origin, with movable bridges and frets, played by plucking with a stick.
German lute
_
ghaychak
Two different lute-like instruments
  • a double-chambered bowl lute used by the Iranian and Baloch people, with three or four strings and a short neck without frets.
  • a spike lute used in Afghanistan and throughout Central Asia, often featuring a tin can for a soundbox.
  • Synonym: ghijak
gittern
A small, quill-plucked, gut-strung musical instrument, most commonly with three to four strings in doubles courses; it is a flat-backed predecessor of the guitar, and it originated around the 13th century, coming to Europe via Moorish Spain.
goje
A fiddle-like stringed instrument with one or two strings, and a resonator made from a gourd or calabash, originating among the Hausa of West Africa.
gudok
A musical instrument, a chordophone, most often neckless and with three strings, played in the lap and with a bow, of ancient Slavic origin.
guitar
A stringed musical instrument, of European origin, usually with a fretted fingerboard and six strings, played with the fingers or a plectrum (guitar pick).
guitarra de golpe[69]
A small, deep guitar-like stringed instrument, with five strings in single courses and a double-curved headstock (a stylized owl shape), originating in Mexican mariachi.
guitarro[70]
A small guitar-shaped string instrument, most commonly with five strings in single courses but sometimes with double pairs in the middle courses, of Spanish origin.
guitarrón
At least four similar musical instruments share this name.
guitjo
A banjo-like string instrument, with fourteen strings in seven courses, tuned like a guitar and with a guitar-like neck.
guqin[71]
A plucked zither-like stringed instrument (chordophone), traditionally featuring seven unfretted strings, originating in ancient China.
gusle[72]
A single-stringed lute-like stringed instrument with a bowl-shaped body, held vertically in the lap and played a bow, originating among the Slavic peoples in the Balkans, especially in the Dinarides region.
gusli
A plucked psaltery-like string instrument, usually played on the lap and sometimes created with table legs so that the musician can play it seated next to the instrument, originating in ancient Russian music.
guzheng
A zither-like stringed instrument with at least eighteen strings and moveable bridges, played with a plectrum, originating in the traditional music of China.
haegeum
A musical instrument (chordophone) with a hollow soundbox, two strings made from silk, and a rod-like neck, of traditional Korean origin.
hammered dulcimer
A type of dulcimer whose metal strings are stretched over a trapezoidal sounding board that has two bridges, one bass and one treble, set on a stand and played with small mallet-like hammers.
Hardanger fiddle
A type of fiddle typical of Norwegian folk music, characterized by thinner wood than a standard fiddle and the use of either eight or nine strings, four to five of which are sympathetic.
harp[73]
A musical instrument consisting of a body and a curved neck, strung with strings of varying length that are stroked or plucked with the fingers and are vertical to the soundboard when viewed from the end of the body
harp guitar
Any of several designs of guitars with at least one unstopped string that can be plucked, like that of a harp.
harp-sympitar
harpsichord[74]
A musical instrument that produces sound by plucking the strings with a plectrum through a mechanical process when the performer presses on a key on a piano-like keyboard, originating in Middle Ages Europe.
hatun charango
A small stringed instrument, a member of the charango family, with seven or eight strings in seven courses, played by plucking, originating in modern Peru.
huapanguera
A large and short-necked string instrument that most commonly plays in the bass range, with eight strings in five courses, of Mexican origin.
huluhu
A two stringed instrument of Chinese origin, part of the huqin family of instruments, and played with a bow; it is associated mainly with the Zhuang people of Guangxi.
hurdy-gurdy
A medieval stringed instrument which has a droning sound. One hand turns a handle connected to a wheel which vibrates the strings, while the other hand plays a keyboard to alter the pitch.
igil
A string instrument with a teardrop-shaped body and two strings, played with a bow, originating in Tuvan folk music.
ikil
A string instrument, a type of spike fiddle, with a trapezoidal box-shaped body, originating in Mongolian folk music.
Irish bouzouki[75]
A bouzouki adapted for use in Irish traditional music with a short neck, and a flat back and sides.
jamisen
An archaic stringed instrument of Japanese origin, traditionally made from snakeskin and characteristic of the Ryukyu islands; it is the ancestor of the shamisen
jarana
A small five-stringed guitar-like string instrument of Mexican origin.
jarana jarocho
A guitar-like instrument with eight strings in five courses, originating in Veracruz, Mexico.
jarana huasteca
_
jinghu
A bowed two-stringed instrument, the smallest and highest-pitched in the huqin family of traditional Chinese instruments, associated mainly with the tradition of Beijing opera.
kabosy[76]
A wooden box-shaped guitar-like stringed instrument, used in Malagasy music and characterized by the use of partial frets.
kacapi
A box zither with an open bottom, played by plucking, originating in traditional Sundanese music, especially tembang sunda and pantun sunda.
kamancheh
A long-necked stringed instrument (a spike fiddle) with a bowl-shaped body, traditionally featuring three silk strings but now more often four metal ones, played with a bow, common among the peoples of the Caucasus, Anatolia and the Near East.
kankara sanshin
A three-stringed plucked instrument used in Japanese folk music, originally an improvised derivative of the sanshin made using discarded metal cans.
kannel
An Estonian zither-like instrument.
kantele[77]
A plucked string instrument (a zither) of the {{w:Baltic psaltery|Baltic psaltery}} family, traditionally with five strings but now more widely varying, originating in the folk music of Finland, where it is seen as a national symbol.
kanon
_
  • Synonym of: qanun (if used in the context of Armenian music)
  • Synonym of: monochord (if used in the context of ancient Greek music)
kanun
_
kemane
A violin-like string instrument of Macedonian origin, most often with three stringed and played with a bow; it is a type of kemenche.
kemenche
Any of various bowed stringed instruments characteristic to the Eastern Mediterranean.
khonkhota
A stringed instrument of Bolivian origin, with eight strings in five courses.
kit violin[78]
A very small long-necked violin, which came in a variety of shapes and configurations, meant to be carried in a pocket and intended for instructors (dancing masters) to carry to accompany their students.
kobyz[79]
A stringed instrument traditionally made of a single piece of wood, with either two or four strings and played with a bow, of traditional Kazakh origin.
kobza
A lute-like stringed instrument traditionally made from a single block of wood, with a medium-length neck, originating in Ukrainian folk music.
kokyū
A lute-like string instrument with three or four strings, played upright with a bow, of traditional Japanese origin.
komungo
_
konghou
A plucked stringed instrument (chordophone) with a harp-like construction, originating in ancient Chinese music as a horizantal instrument but now made to be played vertically, and with strings that are double to allow for techniques like vibrato.
kontigi
A boat-shaped lute-like string instrument with one or two strings, originating among the Hausa people of West Africa.
kontra
A large instrument, similar to a viola but with three strings and a flat bridge, originating in the traditional music of Transylvania.
kobza
A lute-like stringed instrument traditionally made from a single block of wood, with a medium-length neck, originating in Ukrainian folk music.
komuz
A stringed instrument (chordophone) played by plucking, with three strings and no frets, used throughout Central Asia but especially important as a national symbol of the Kyrgyz people.
kora
A type of harp played in West Africa.
koto
A Japanese stringed instrument having numerous strings, usually seven or thirteen, that are stretched over a convex wooden sounding board and are plucked with three plectra, worn on the thumb, index finger, and middle finger of one hand.
krachap pi
A plucked, fretted lute of Thai origin.
krar
A five-stringed, bowl-shaped lyre of Eritrea and Ethiopia.
kutiyapi
A Filipino fretted two-stringed boat lute.
lap steel guitar[80]
A type of steel guitar held in the lap, usually with six strings and a square neck.
laouto[81]
A fretted instrument with a round back, moveable frets, and a long neck, used in Greek and Cypriot music.
laruan
A modern Chinese instrument that combines the traditional ruan with the Western cello.
laúd
A cittern-like instrument of Spanish origin, with six double courses in unison, played with a plectrum.
leiqin
A bowed instrument of Chinese origin, evolving from the zhuihu.
leona
A fretted four-stringed low-pitched instrument, originating in the Mexican state of Veracruz.
lirone
A fretted and bowed archaic string instrument with between nine and sixteen strings.
liuqin
A four-stringed instrument, similar to a mandolin, with a pear-like shape, used in Chinese music.
lute
A fretted stringed instrument, similar to a guitar, having a bowl-shaped body or soundbox.
lute guitar
A stringed instrument that combines a normal guitar six-string layout over a lute-like bowl-shaped body, originating in German folk traditions.
lyra viol
A type of English bass viol.
lyre
An ancient instrument played with a plectrum, a yoke lute with a widely varying number of strings.
machete
A four-stringed instrument of Portuguese origin.
machete de rajão
_
maguhu
A bowed string instrument of the huqin family.
mandocello
A plucked string instrument with eight strings in four double courses.
mandola
A fretted stringed musical instrument resembling the mandolin, but of larger size and tuned lower.
mandolin
A stringed instrument and a member of the lute family, having eight strings in four courses, frequently tuned as a violin, and with either a bowl-shaped back or a flat back.
mandolin-banjo[82]
A hybrid string instrument (chordophone), combining the membrane-soundboard body of a banjo and the neck of a mandolin or violin.
mandolina[83]
A type of kabosy (a box-shaped guitar-like instrument) originating in southern Madagascar, characterized by the use of moveable frets only in the upper part of the neck.
mandolone
A stringed instrument of the mandolin family, playing in the bass range.
mandolute
A North African variant on the oud, with ten strings in five courses.
mandora
A type of bass string instrument.
mandore
An archaic lute with a teardrop shape.
manguerito
A modern type of small charango meant to be fit in one's sleeves.
marovany
A box zither of Malagasy origin.
mejoranera
A folk five-stringed instrument of Panamanian origin.
  • Performer: mejoranero (masculine), mejoranera (feminine)
  • Notes: The word mejorana is used mainly for the genre of music produced by the mejoranera in a certain kind of Panamanian ensemble, but mejorana is also used sometimes for the name of the stringed instrument in question.
Mexican vihuela
A five-stringed instrument of Mexican origin, characteristic of mariachi music.
  • The Mexican vihuela has little relation to the Spanish instrument simply called the vihuela.
  • Performer: vihuelist
mohan veena
Two different instruments of Indian origin: a type of Hawaiian guitar; a modified sarod.
monochord
A musical instrument for experimenting with the mathematical relations of musical sounds, consisting of a single string stretched between two bridges, one or both of which can be moved, and which stand upon a graduated rule for the purpose of changing and measuring the length of the part of the string between them.
  • Note: Also used more generally to describe any one-stringed instrument.
morin khuur
A traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument, made from a trapezoidal sound box with two strings.
musical bow
A simple musical instrument consisting of a string supported by a flexible wooden bearer.
nyatiti
A traditional type of lyre with eight strings, used by the Luo people of Kenya.
nyckelharpa[84]
A string instrument (chordophone) with a long body and a boat-shaped soundbox, with keys attached to tangents that act like frets when the keys are depressed, and most commonly featuring chromatic and sympathetic strings in modern instruments, originating in the traditional music of Sweden.
nylon-string guitar[85]
A guitar strung with nylon strings and with a neck that joins the body at the twelfth rather than the fourteenth fret, as in a typical guitar.
octavina
A Filpino instrument similar to a laúd.
octobass
A very large double bass requiring two musicians, one to finger and one to bow.
octophone
A modern stringed instrument intended to be able play the tone combinations of the tenor guitar, tenor banjo, ukulele, taro patch, tiple, mandolin, mandola and mandocello.
oud[86]
A short-necked and fretless plucked stringed instrument of the lute family, of Arab and Turkish origin.
pandore
_
pandura[87]
An Ancient Greek stringed instrument, a kind of lute with three strings that were stopped with a fingerboard to alter the tone, and with either a mandolin- or banjo-like shape.
pardessus de viole[88]
A bowed stringed instrument with a fretted neck and five or six strings, the highest pitched member of the viol family.
parlor guitar[89]
A kind of small acoustic guitar, originally meant to be played (often by women) in the parlor of a Victorian-era home; more modern models are still used today, commonly in folk music.
pedal steel guitar
The elements of an electric steel guitar, mounted horizontally on a stand and played by a standing musician, using a combination of a steel bar and pedals to vary the pitch of the instrument.
piano
A keyboard musical instrument, usually ranging over seven octaves, with white and black keys, played by pressing these keys, causing hammers to strike strings.
pipa
A pear-shaped plucked lute from China.
Portuguese guitar[90]
A plucked guitar with a pear-shaped body and round soundholes, with twelve strings in six double courses, associated most prominently with Portuguese music, especially fado.
psalmodicon[91]
A simple zither-like single-stringed chordophone (stringed instrument), played with a bow, of Scandinavian origin.
psaltery
A zither-like musical instrument consisting of a soundboard with multiple strings, played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.
qanbūs
A short-necked fretless lute of Yemeni origin.
qanun
A Near Eastern and Caucasian musical instrument having either 26 strings and a single bridge, or twice that number and two bridges.
qin
Any of several traditional Chinese musical instruments, most commonly the seven-stringed instrument more specifically called the guqin.
qinqin
A plucked lute used in traditional Chinese music.
quintern
A type of four-stringed gittern, originating in Germany.
rajão
A stringed instrument of Portuguese origin, with five or six strings in five courses.
ramkie
An improvised guitar-like string instrument made from a discarded oil can, with or without frets, most commonly with three or four strings made from either fishing line or a bicycle brake wire, originating in the folk music of Southern Africa.
rebab
A stringed musical instrument, related to the lute, used especially in Islamic countries.
rebec
An early three-stringed instrument, somewhat like a simple violin.
requinto jarocho
A four or five-stringed instrument played with a special pick, originating in Veracruz, Mexico.
resonator dulcimer
An Appalachian dulcimer with a metal cone resonator in the body.
resonator guitar
An acoustic guitar with a resonator to amplify the sound.
riwana
A fretless lute played in Himachal Pradesh.
romantic guitar
An archaic kind of early guitar, from the classical and romantic eras, with six single strings and a long, fretted neck.
rote
A kind of guitar, the notes of which were produced by a small wheel or wheel-like arrangement; an instrument similar to the hurdy-gurdy.
ruan
A Chinese plucked string instrument with a fretted neck.
rubab
A traditional Central Asian lute-like musical instrument.
rud
A Persian stringed instrument.
Russian guitar
A kind of acoustic guitar with seven strings, of Russian origin.
sallaneh
A modern lute of Iranian origin.
sanshin
A ancient traditional three-stringed instrument of Okinawan origin.
sanxian
A three-stringed fretless Chinese instrument.
sarangi
A bowed string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of North India.
saraswati veena
A plucked string instrument of South Asian origin.
šargija
A plucked and fretted lute, used in the Balkan musical traditions.
sarinda[92]
A type of stringed instrument featuring anywhere from three to thirty strings and a hollow soundbox partially covered with an animal skin, played vertically with a bow, originating in the traditional music of India and Nepal.
sarod
A lute-like instrument widely used in Indian classical music.
saung
An arched harp used in Burmese traditional music.
saw sam sai
A three-stringed bowed string instrument of Thai origin.
saz
A type of long-necked lute, common in many forms in the Middle-East, Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and Southwest Asia.
Selmer guitar
A kind of acoustic guitar of French origin, used in the early to mid-20th century.
seven-string guitar
A variant on the modern guitar, with an additional string, most commonly tuned to provide additional bass range.
setar
A type of Persian folk lute.
shahrud
A type of Persian short-necked lute.
shamisen
A kind of three-stringed Japanese fretless lute.
shurangiz
A type of modern, fretted lute of Persian origin.
sihu
A four-stringed bowed instrument of Chinese origin.
sistil
A Latin musical instrument with twelve strings in six courses.
sitar
A Hindustani/Indian classical stringed instrument, typically having a gourd as its resonating chamber.
stand-up bass
_
steel guitar
A type of guitar played horizontally, of Hawaiian origin.
string bass
_
Stroh violin
A violin that amplifies its sound through an attached metal resonator.
strumbola
A stringed instrument with four courses of two or strings each.
sueng
A plucked fretted lute of northern Thai origin.
surbahar
A plucked string instrument of North Indian origin.
suroz
A stringed instrument with a long neck, played vertically and with a bow, especially identified with the Baloch people.
sursingar
A large and deep sarod-like instrument.
sympitar
A stringed instrument similar to a guitar with sympathetic strings like a sitar.
table steel guitar
A type of electric guitar and steel guitar where the fretboard is mounted on a table, which has no resonator body.
tambura
An etymologically complex web of words referring to various stringed musical instruments occurring from Southeastern Europe through the Middle East to South Asia.
  • Iranian tanbur (Kurdish tanbur), used in Yarsan rituals
  • Turkish tambur, instrument played in Turkey
  • yaylı tambur, also played in Turkey
  • tanpura, a drone instrument played in India
  • tambura, played in Balkan peninsula
  • tamburica, any member of a family of long-necked lutes popular in Eastern and Central Europe
  • tambouras, played in Greece
  • tanbūra, a lyre played in East Africa and the Middle East
  • Synonym: tamboura
tamburitza
Any of a number of different types of long-necked lutes found in the Balkans.
tanbur
In Classical Turkish music, a long-necked, fretted, plucked lute. Also, various lutes of West and Central Asia.
tanpura
A long-necked lute of Indian origin.
tar
A long-necked and waisted instrument found in Iran and neighboring countries.
taro-patch fiddle
A five-stringed instrument originating in the traditional music of Hawaii.
tea chest bass
A washtub bass that uses a tea chest as the resonator for an upright stringed bass guitar.
tenor banjo
A type of small banjo-like stringed instrument with a short neck, usually with 17 or 19 frets and four strings, and played with a plectrum, originating in American jazz music.
tenor guitar[93]
A type of small guitar-like stringed instrument with four strings, usually with four strings and a normal guitar-shaped body, originating in American jazz music.
theorbo
A plucked stringed instrument similar to the lute.
timple
A plucked five-stringed instrument, originating in the Canary Islands.
tiorbino
A type of small theorbo.
tiple[94] [95]
Any of several kinds of small, plucked stringed instruments of the guitar family, used in the traditional musics of Spain and various Latin American nations.
  • Performer: tiplista
  • American tiple: A ukulele-like instrument based on the Colombian tiple.
  • Argentinian tiple: The word tiple in Argentina refers to the type of guitar known in English as the requinto.
  • Colombian tiple: A plucked stringed instrument with twelve strings in four courses, and a national symbol of Colombian culture.
  • Cuban tiple: A stringed instrument with five strings in double courses.
  • Dominican tiple: A melodic stringed instrument with ten steel strings in five double courses; it is called in Spanish a tiple de Santo Domingo, tiplecito, guitarrito or a tiplet.
  • Minorcan tiple: A small guitar more widely known as the guitarro.
  • Puerto Rican tiple: The smallest instrument in the jibaro trio, most often with four or five strings and a distinctively angled upper body.
  • Peruvian tiple: A stringed instrument four strings, which can be either singular or doubled.
  • Uruguayan tiple: The word tiple in Uruguay refers to the type of guitar known in English as the requinto.
  • Venezuelan tiple: An instrument similar to the Colombian tiple, with pairs of triple strings; it is also called a guitarro segundo or segunda guitarra in Spanish.
  • Venezuelan tiple: A second Venezuelan instrument called a tiple, this one part of the cuatro family, and featuring five strings.
tiqin
Any of several types of small bowed instruments, part of the huqin family of traditional Chinese instruments.
topshur
A two-stringed lute of Mongolian origin.
torban
A Ukrainian instrument that combines the lute with a psaltery.
tres
A three-course stringed instrument similar to a guitar; the Cuban variant has six strings, and the Puerto Rican has nine.
tricordia
A twelve-stringed variant on the mandolin.
triple contrabass viol
A stringed instrument of the viol family, a variant of the octobass distinguished by its extreme size -- at more than ten feet all, it must be performed by a person on a platform.
tro[96]
A fiddle-like stringed instrument held in the lap, usually with two strings played with a bow, originating in the traditional music of Cambodia.
tromba marina[97]
A Middle Ages European string instrument with a long, slender and triangular-shaped body, featuring one main string and sometimes additional sympathetic strings, known for an extremely loud sound making it useful for signalling between ships, and for a distinctive ethereal tone (harmonic overtones) created by the player fingering the string at precise intervals below the point where the string is to be bowed, rather than above as most similar instruments.
trumpet marine
Synonym for tromba marina
twelve-stringed guitar
A guitar with twelve strings in six courses.
ukulele
A small four-stringed guitar.
upright bass
_
valiha
A tube zither of Malagasy origin.
veena
A plucked stringed instrument used mostly in Carnatic Indian classical music.
vertical viola
A stringed instrument like a viola that is played upright like a cello.
vielle
An archaic string instrument of European origin, like a long violin.
vihuela
A guitar-like instrument with six doubled strings, of Spanish origin.
viol[98]
A stringed instruments related to the violin family, but held in the lap between the legs like a cello, usually with C-holes, a flat back, a fretted neck and six strings, played with an underhanded bow.
viola
A stringed instrument of the violin family, somewhat larger than a violin, played under the chin, and having a deeper tone.
viola
A 10-string steel-string acoustic guitar, used in Brazilian folk music.
viola bastarda
A virtuosic playing style and a viol modified to accomodate it.
viola caipira
A guitar with ten strings in five courses, of Portuguese origin.
viola d'amore
A 6-7 string instrument that uses sympathetic strings, played with a bow.
viola da gamba[99]
Synonym of: viol
viola pomposa
An archaic five-stringed instrument.
violin
A musical four-string instrument, generally played with a bow or by plucking the string.
violoncello
A large stringed instrument of the violin family, but smaller than the double bass.
violone
Any of several large, bowed instruments in the violin family.
violotta
A tenor viola or violin.
walaychu
A type of small fretted stringed instrument, the smallest member of the charango family.
waldzither
A type of cittern of German origin, with nine strings in five courses.
washtub bass
A bass stringed instrument that uses a washtub basin as a resonator.
wind harp
Synonym for aeolian harp
xiaodihu
_
xiqin
A bowed string instrument of Chinese origin, part of the huqin family.
yazh[100]
A fretless harp of ancient Tamil origin, with a variable number of gut strings, characterized by a boat-shaped resonator.
yaylı tambur
A bowed lute with a long neck, of Turkish origin.
yehu
A bowed string instrument in the huqin family of traditional Chinese instruments.
yueqin
A small short-necked Chinese lute-like stringed instrument (chordophone) with a round, hollow wooden body and four strings in pairs in its traditional form, now more often with three or four unpaired strings.
zhonghu
A large low-pitched lute-like string instrument (chordophone) similar to the erhu, usually with two strings and played with a bow; it is part of the huqin family of instruments originating in Chinese traditional music.
zhongruan
A plucked long-necked lute-like string instrument (chordophone) of Chinese origin, a medium-sized tenor ruan.
zhu
An ancient string instrument (chordophone), originating in ancient China; its nature is not known but was probably a zither-like rectangular body featuring silk or gut strings played with a bow.
zhuihu[101]
A two-stringed chordophone (string instrument) with a fretless fingerboard, played with a bow, of Chinese origin and especially associated with Henan and Shandong.
zither
A musical instrument consisting of a flat sounding box with numerous strings placed on a horizontal surface, played with a plectrum or fingertips.

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