String instruments

The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with some exceptions) and typically has six or twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A guitar pick may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant hollow chamber on the guitar, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier.

A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an action mechanism where hammers strike strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys—with the exception of the Bosendörfer and Stuart & Sons pianos—and tuned to a chromatic scale in equal temperament. A musician who specializes in piano is called a pianist.

The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be played in either a seated or standing position. Most commonly, harps are made of wood and are triangular in shape. Some have multiple rows of strings and pedal attachments.

electric or acoustic bass instrument

musical instrument that generates tones by one or more strings stretched between two points

A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of eight strings. A variety of string types are used, with steel strings being the most common and usually the least expensive. The courses are typically tuned in an interval of perfect fifths, with the same tuning as a violin (G3, D4, A4, E5). Also, like the violin, it is the soprano member of a family that includes the mandola, octave mandolin, mandocello and mandobass.

The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of BOPET, where early membranes were made of goat skin.

The oud ( ; , ) is a Middle Eastern short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument (a chordophone in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification of instruments), usually with 11 strings grouped in six courses, but some models have five or seven courses, with 10 or 13 strings respectively.

The balalaika (, ) is a Russian stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck, and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the third string is a perfect fourth higher. The higher-pitched balalaikas are used to play melodies and chords. The instrument generally has a short sustain, necessitating rapid strumming or plucking when it is used to play melodies. Balalaikas are often used for Russian folk music and dancing.

string or wire that vibrates in a string instrument to produce a musical tone

The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces sound by striking brass or iron strings with small metal blades called tangents. Vibrations are transmitted through the bridge(s) to the soundboard.

thumb|Tokyo geisha with , thumb|Kitagawa Utamaro, "Flowers of Edo: Young Woman's Narrative Chanting to the ", thumb|A Japanese people|Japanese man playing a while another sings thumb|A accompanying the traditional Kouta (music)|kouta

acoustic wooden guitar with wide neck, strings made of nylon

The bouzouki (, also ; ; plural. bouzoukis or bouzoukia, ) is a musical instrument popular in Greece.

A bandura ( ) is a Ukrainian plucked-string folk-instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often called a kobza. Early instruments () had 5 to 12 strings and resembled lutes. In the 20th century, the number of strings increased initially to 31 strings (1926), then to 56 strings – 68 strings on modern "concert" instruments (1954).

The veena, also spelled vina ( IAST: vīṇā), is any of various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps. The many regional designs have different names such as the Rudra veena, the Saraswati veena, the Vichitra veena and others.

stringed instrument from West Africa

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.

thumb|250px|The node (physics)|nodes of a vibrating string are harmonics. thumb|Two different notations of natural harmonics on the cello. First as sounded (more common), then as fingered (easier to sightread).

thumb|upright|Kamancheh The kamancheh is an Iranian bowed string instrument used in Persian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Kurdish, Georgian, Turkmen, and Uzbek music with slight variations in the structure of the instrument.

thumb|Video of a charango being played The charango is a small Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, from the Quechua and Aymara populations in the territory of the Altiplano in post-Colonial times, after European stringed instruments were introduced by the Spanish during colonization. The instrument is widespread throughout the Andean regions of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, northern Chile and northwestern Argentina, where it is a popular musical instrument that exists in many variant forms.

thumb|right|250px|Fortepiano by Paul McNulty (piano maker)|Paul McNulty after Walter & Sohn, 1805

The cittern or cithren (Fr. cistre, It. cetra, Ger. Cister, Sp. cistro, cedra, cítola) is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is descended from the medieval citole (or cytole). Its flat-back design was simpler and cheaper to construct than the lute. It was also easier to play, smaller, less delicate and more portable. Played by people of all social classes, the cittern was a popular instrument of casual music-making much like the guitar is today.

thumb|Antonio Stradivari, by Edgar Bundy, 1893: a [[romanticized image of a craftsman-hero|upright=1.3]]

The komuz or qomuz ( , , ) is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments, the Mongolian tovshuur, and the lute.

type of acoustic instrument with strings

Tamburica ( or ; sometimes written tamburrizza or tamburitza; ) or tamboura (; ) refers to a family of long-necked lutes popular in Southeast Europe and southeastern Central Europe, especially Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia (of which it is the national string instrument), Hungary, Serbia (of which it is the national string instrument along with Gusle, present also in Vojvodina, Mačva, and Posavo-Tamnava), and Slovenia. It is also known in Burgenland, Austria. All took their name and some characteristics from the Persian tanbur but also resemble the mandolin and guitar in the sense that its st

The panduri () is a traditional Georgian three-string plucked instrument common in all regions of Eastern Georgia: such as Pshav-Khevsureti, Tusheti, Kakheti and Kartli.

any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute families

thumb|80px|Çifteli The çifteli, çiftetelli saz (Turkish: 'doubled', 'double stringed saz', , qifteli) is a plucked string instrument, with only two strings, played in the Balkans and Thrace but mainly in the Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.

The archlute (, , ) is a European plucked string instrument developed around 1600 as a compromise between the very large theorbo, the size and re-entrant tuning of which made for difficulties in the performance of solo music, and the Renaissance tenor lute, which lacked the bass range of the theorbo. Essentially a tenor lute with the theorbo's neck-extension, the archlute lacks the power in the tenor and the bass that the theorbo's large body and typically greater string length provide.

North Indian zither, type of veena

The ajaeng () is a Korean string instrument. It is a wide zither with strings of twisted silk. It is played with a slender stick of forsythia wood that is drawn across the strings in the manner of a bow. The ajaeng mainly plays the bass part in ensemble music. Some instruments have as many as nine to twelve strings. It is similar to the Japanese koto, but is bowed rather than plucked.

The ghaychak or gheychak () is a bowed lute used in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan. The name is similar to the Central Asian ghijak, but that instrument is more closely related to the kamancheh.

two or more adjacent strings on a musical instrument

The citole was a string musical instrument, closely associated with the medieval fiddles (viol, vielle, gigue) and commonly used from 1200–1350. It was known by other names in various languages: cedra, cetera, cetola, cetula, cistola, citola, citula, citera, chytara, cistole, cithar, cuitole, cythera, cythol, cytiole, cytolys, gytolle, sitole, sytholle, sytole, and zitol.

thumb|right|250px|Ottoman miniature|Miniature of an Ottoman çeng The çeng is a Turkish harp. It was a popular Ottoman instrument until the last quarter of the 17th century.

plucked string instrument used in Hindustani music

The basolia (; or ) is a Ukrainian and Polish folk instrument of the bowed string family similar to the cello, although usually slightly larger and not as sophisticated in construction. The basolia was usually homemade and of very rough construction. Sometimes the soundboard was sewn to the body rather than glued. The strings are tuned in fifths.

plucked string instrument of the lute family of the baroque era

bowed string instrument from the north Indian region of Punjab

The goje (the Hausa name for the instrument) is one of the many names for a variety of one-stringed fiddles from West Africa, played by groups such as the Yoruba in Sakara music and west African groups that inhabit the Sahel. Snakeskin or lizard skin covers a gourd bowl, and a horsehair string is suspended on bridge. The goje is played with a bowstring.

plucked trough-zither chordophone of the Rundi people

The ütőgardon () also called a gardon, gordună, gardony, ütősgardony, tekenyőgardon, is a folk musical instrument played in Hungary and Romania (the regions of Transylvania and, to a lesser extent, Moldavia). Although it is similar in appearance to a cello, it is played percussively: instead of using a bow, the player plucks and beats the strings with a stick. In the Romanian region of Banat it was an actual cello and the playing was similar—plucking and beating the strings.

A kontra (, 'three-stringed viola') is a Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Slovak and Romani instrument common in Transylvania.

ancient stringed instrument

Sapeh, also spelled sape, sapeʼ, sapek, sapeik, sapeq, sampeh, sampeʼ, sampek, or sampeq () is a traditional string instrument of Borneo-origin that developed in northern, eastern, and central regions of Kalimantan and Sarawak. It is a wooden-base instrument with strings attached, and works in a manner similar to the guitar, typically made of Bornean ironwood.

thumb|A player

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.

traditional musical instrument from Calabria, Italy

The Yaybahar is an acoustic musical instrument invented by the Turkish musician Gorkem Sen (Turkish: Görkem Şen), who describes it as a "real-time acoustic string synthesizer." == Etymology == The name ''yaybahar (pronounced /jajba'har/) has Turkish origin. It is a composite of two words: yay means a "string" or a "coiled string" and bahar'' means the season "spring." According to Gorkem Sen, the name is derived from the idea of a new life or a new beginning.

Turkish musical instrument

The kwitra (also quwaytara, kouitra and quitra; in Arabic: الكوترة (a-kwitra)) is an Algerian stringed instrument, sometimes referred to as the Algerian lute. The instrument is tied to Andalusian musical traditions of Moorish people who were pushed out of the Iberian peninsula in the 15th century. That tradition has shrunk further; where the kwitra was once seen in Algeria, today it is mainly an Algerian instrument.

musical instrument

The tzouras (), is a Greek stringed musical instrument related to the bouzouki. Its name comes from the Turkish cura. It is made in six-string and eight-string varieties. Similar musical instruments in Turkish culture are generally referred to as Bağlama.

The Phandar (, ; , ) is a traditional Vainakhish three-string plucked instrument from Chechnya and Ingushetia in the Northern Caucasus.

Instrument

stringed musical instrument

Vietnamese plucked lute

thumb|Cylix of Apollo with the chelys lyre, on a 5th-century BC drinking cup ([[kylix)]]