Basso continuo instruments

The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a medium-low pitched bowed string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 and A3. The viola's four strings are each an octave higher. Music for the cello is generally written in the bass clef; the tenor clef and treble clef are used for higher-range passages.

wind instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called wind) through pipes selected via a keyboard

thumb|right|300px|This harpsichord is the work of two celebrated makers: originally constructed by Andreas Ruckers in Antwerp (1646), it was later remodeled and expanded by Pascal Taskin in Paris (1780).

acoustic stringed instrument of the violin family

thumb|start=7|thumbtime=12|Playing a lute made A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.

The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch of each of the strings. Although treble, tenor and bass were most commonly used, viols came in different sizes, including (high treble, developed in 18th century), treble, alto, small tenor, tenor, bass and contrabas

musical instrument

The theorbo is a plucked string instrument of the lute family, with an extended neck that houses the second pegbox. Like a lute, a theorbo has a curved-back sound box with a flat top, typically with one or three sound holes decorated with rosettes. As with the lute, the player plucks or strums the strings with the right hand while "fretting" (pressing down) the strings with the left hand.

The colascione (or calascione, , , also sometimes known as liuto della giraffa meaning giraffe-lute, a reference to its long neck, is a plucked string instrument from the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods, with a lute-like resonant body and a very long neck. It was mainly used in southern Italy. It has two or three strings tuned in fifths.