archlute a large lute with a double neck.
autoharp a type of zither in which strings are plucked or strummed while chords are produced by depressing keys.
balalaika a triangular shaped guitar with a long neck and three strings, used for accompanying folk songs in Russia and Eastern Europe.
bandurria a flat-backed, 12-string guitar used in Spain and Latin America.
banjolin a short-necked banjo with four strings.
baryton an 18th-century guitarlike instrument consisting of six melody strings played with a bow and from 16 to 40 "resonant" strings that could be plucked in accompaniment or simply left to vibrate in sympathy with the melody strings.
bass guitar low-toned guitar having four strings to play the bass line of a melody.
belly the upper body surface of a stringed instrument over which the strings are stretched.
bissex an 18th-century guitar having six strings that were plucked or strummed and another six strings that vibrated in sympathy.
biwa a Japanese, short-necked lute with four strings.
bouzouki a pear-shaped stringed instrument used in Greece as an accompaniment in folk songs.
bow a pliable stick strung with horsehair and used on stringed instruments (violin, viola, etc.) to create sound.
bridge a piece of wood or metal where the strings are attached on the belly of a guitar, lute, or similar instrument.
capo a device clamped over the strings of a fret to shorten the length of vibrations and to facilitate the playing of certain keys. Also known as a capotasto.
cello a bass violin having four strings and stood on the floor when played.
chitarrone a large lute (up to 6% feet) having between 11 and 16 strings, used for accompanying baroque music in the 16th and 17th centuries.
chyn a seven-stringed zither of ancient China, still in use.
cittern a flat-backed, pear-shaped guitar having four to 12 pairs of strings that were plucked or strummed by a quill plectrum, popular in England in the 16th and 17th centuries.
clarsach a small Celtic harp, still in use in Scotland.
colascione a European, long-necked lute having 24 movable frets, originating in the 16th century.
course in lutes and guitars, two or more strings that are tuned the same and played at the same time to provide greater volume when needed.
crwth an ancient Welsh lyre played with a bow. Also known as a crowd, crouth, or cruit.
double bass the largest and deepest-sounding member of the violin family.
dulcimer an instrument consisting of a shallow box over which 10 or more courses of strings are stretched and struck with small hammers.
dulcimer, Appalachian a three-stringed member of the zither family, plucked or strummed while it rests on one's lap.
esraj an Indian instrument with four melodic strings and 10 to 15 sympathetic understrings, played with a bow.
fingerboard the fretted or unfretted portion of the neck of a stringed instrument; where the chords are made.
frets the wood or metal strips on the fingerboard of a guitar, lute, or similar instrument, that act as guides for locating proper pitch.
frog the part of a violin bow that tightens the horsehair.
gittern an early form of guitar having four pairs of strings, originating in the Middle Ages.
gusle a long-necked, one-stringed instrument having a shape like a pear or a heart and played with a bow by Yugoslavian folk singers.
hardanger fiddle a violinlike instrument of Norway having four regular strings and four to five understrings that vibrate in sympathy, used in folk music.
Hawaiian guitar a lap-held guitar with metal strings that are stopped with a steel bar that is held or slid along with the left hand while the strings are strummed or plucked with the right hand, notable for its nasal, vibrato effects.
hurdy-gurdy an ancient stringed instrument played with a rosined wheel turned by a crank instead of by a bow, still used in European folk music today.
Irish harp a small harp having 30 to 50 brass strings that are plucked with the fingernails as opposed to using the fingertips, as a standard harp.
kantele a flat soundboard or psaltery having as many as 25 strings that are plucked or strummed while held in the lap.
kithara a widely used, lyre-shaped, harplike instrument of the ancient Greeks.
koto the Japanese national instrument, specifically a 13-stringed (strings made of waxed silk) soundboard 6 feet in length and resting on the floor.
lira da braccio an early version of the violin, about 28 inches long and having seven strings; invented in Italy in the 15th century.
lute a guitarlike instrument having a pear-shaped body, a broad, flat neck, a bent-back pegbox, and several pairs or courses of strings, widely used throughout the 16th century.
lyra an ancient Greek stringed instrument with a bowlike body made of tortoiseshell. The name was later applied to the rebec and the hurdy-gurdy.
lyre collective term for a large family of harplike instruments including the lyra, kithara, crwth, and rebec.
mandolin a small member of the lute family, having a pear-shaped body and four pairs of strings; used today in folk and country music.
peg any one of the wood or plastic pins turned to adjust the tension and pitch of a string; a tuning peg.
pick a plectrum; any device used for plucking or strumming.
plectrum a pick.
ponticello the bridge of a violin or other stringed instrument.
rebec a medieval instrument shaped like a pear and having two or three strings and played by a bow.
sarangi Indian stringed instrument carved from a single block of wood, played by bowing in an upright position.
sarod an Indian, short-necked lute with a twangy sound similar to a banjo.
samisen a long-necked, fretless lute having three strings that are struck rather than plucked; widely used in Japan.
sitar an East Indian, long-necked lute having 16 to 20 movable frets with five to seven regular or melody strings and 11 to 13 sympathetic strings underneath; made of a single block of wood or gourd.
sound hole any of the holes cut into the belly of a stringed instrument.
sound post in many stringed instruments, the wooden dowel connecting the belly with the back; it helps to carry vibrations.
sympathetic strings in older stringed instruments, a series of strings that are not plucked, strummed, or bowed but are simply left to vibrate when other strings are played.
tambura a long-necked lute of India, characterized by strings that are always played open and capable of producing only four, dronelike sounds.
tanbur a popular long-necked lute played in the Near East and southeastern Europe.
theorbo a bass lute, popular from 1600 to 1800.
ukulele a small, four-stringed guitar of Portuguese and Hawaiian origin, used in folk songs.
vihuela a popular Spanish lute of the 16th century.
vina an Indian zither similar to a sitar.
viola a lower-pitched and slightly larger version of the violin, known for its solemn, husky tones.