Harpsichord

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).

thumbnail|right|Three plectra for use with guitar A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. Players of lap steel guitar and bluegrass style banjo music often wear a fingerpick, a style of plectrum that clips onto or wraps around the end of the fingers and thumb. In harpsichords, the plectra are attached to the jack mechanism.

right|thumb|upright=1.5|Spinet built in 1765 by Johann Heinrich Silbermann. Bach House (Eisenach)|Bachhaus, [[Eisenach, Germany. Click for a more detailed view, revealing the use of bookmatched veneering.]] A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ.

thumb|Trevor Pinnock at the harpsichord A harpsichordist is a person who plays the harpsichord. Harpsichordists may play as soloists, as accompanists, as chamber musicians, or as members of an orchestra, or some combination of these roles. Solo harpsichordists may play unaccompanied sonatas for harpsichord or concertos accompanied by orchestra. Accompanist harpsichordists might accompany singers or instrumentalists (e.g., a violinist or Baroque flute player), either playing works written for a voice (or an instrument) and harpsichord or an orchestral reduction of the orchestra parts. Chamber m

thumb|Lautenwerck thumb|Lautenwerck The lautenwerck (also spelled lautenwerk), alternatively called lute-harpsichord (lute-clavier) or keyboard lute, is a European keyboard instrument of the Baroque period. It is similar to a harpsichord, but with gut (sometimes nylon) rather than metal strings (except for the 4-foot register on some instruments), producing a mellow tone.

thumb|Herman Willenbrock: Claviorganum (Germany 1712) The claviorgan (also known as the claviorganum, claviorgano, clavecin organisee) is a combination of a stringed instrument (usually a keyboard instrument) and an organ. Its origin is uncertain, but its history can be traced back to the fifteenth century.

thumb|The clavicytherium as portrayed in Praetorius's Syntagma Musicum A clavicytherium is a harpsichord in which the soundboard and strings are mounted vertically facing the player. The primary purpose of making a harpsichord vertical is the same as in the later upright piano, namely to save floor space. In a clavicytherium, the jacks move horizontally without the assistance of gravity, so that clavicytherium actions are more complex than those of other harpsichords.

musical keyboard layout

right|thumb|An image of a claviharp from the 1891 Scientific American The claviharp, also known as the harp piano, xenorphica, or Keyboard Harp, is a 19th-century musical instrument that combined a harp with a keyboard. Despite mentions of this instrument in previous centuries (see Juan Hidalgo), Johann Christian Dietz has been recognized as the inventor of the instrument in 1813. His grandfather was one of the first upright piano manufacturers. Struck by what he saw as difficulties and defects of the harp, in 1810, he built an instrument à cordes pincées à clavier, which connected a keyboard

aspect of history

thumb|250px|Reproduction of the archicembalo