| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babendil |  | Philippines | The babendil is a single, narrow-rimmed Philippine gong used primary as the “timekeeper” of the Maguindanao kulintang ensemble. The babendil usually has a diameter of roughly one foot making it larger than the largest kulintang gong and comparable to the diameter of the agung or gandingan. The babendil could be played while standing or when seated with the babendil hung half a foot from the floor. |
| Bachi |  | Japan | Bachi (also batchi or buchi) is the name for the wooden sticks used to play Japanese taiko drums, and also the plectrum for stringed instruments like the shamisen and biwa. Drum bachi are made in a wide variety of sizes and materials, as appropriate to the drum it will be used to play. A bachi for playing a larger drum like the O-daiko would be bigger both in circumference and length. Similarly, smaller bachi are used for smaller drums. |
| Baglama |  | Turkey | The bağlama is a long-necked Turkish lute, with a pear shaped body, about 1 meter long. It is shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean. In Turkish bağlama means 'to tie,' a reference to the tied-on frets of the instrument. Like most stringed instruments, it can either be played with a plectrum, or with a fingerpicking style known as şelpe. The bağlama, sometimes referred to as saz or a member of saz family, is a fundamental instrument in Turkish folk music. The image shows a bronze statue at Istanbul, Turkey. |
| Bagpipes |  | Europe | Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The term is equally correct in the singular or plural, although pipers most commonly talk of "pipes" and "the bagpipe." A bagpipe minimally consists of an air supply, a bag, a chanter, and usually a drone. It seems likely the bagpipe was developed from (and coexisted with) an instrument similar to a hornpipe or shawm. The earliest possible reference to a bagpipe occurs around 400 BC, when Aristophanes, the Athenian poet jibed that the pipers of Thebes (an enemy of Athens) blew pipes made of dogskin with chanters made of bone. The image shows an oil painting titled "The Bagpiper", 1624, Walraff-Richartz Museum, Cologne. |
| Bajo sexto |  | Mexico | A bajo sexto is a type of 12 string guitar, fused with a bass, used in Mexican music. It is used primarily in norteño music of northeastern Mexico and across the border in the music of south Texas known as "Tex-Mex," "conjunto," or "música mexicana-tejana". The bajo sexto sound provides a strong rhythm in the lower pitched end of a Tejano band and also provides a strong projection of chord changes across songs. |
| Balafon |  | Mali | The balafon (bala, balaphone) is a resonated frame, wooden keyed percussion idiophone of West Africa. It’s a xylophone made with strips of wood, increasing in length, connected together with thread, and with hollow gourd resonators of varying sizes attached to the bottom to achieve a greater tonal range. Sound is produced by striking the tuned keys with two padded sticks. The image shows a young Mali balafon player. |
| Balalaika |  | Russia | The balalaika (Russian: балала́йка) (also Balabaika, балаба́йка) is a folk lute instrument of Russian origin, with a characteristic triangular body and 3 strings (or sometimes 6, in 3 pairs). In the 19th century the balalaika evolved into a triangular instrument with a neck substantially shorter than its Asian counterparts. It was popular as a village instrument for centuries, particularly with the skomorokhs, sort of free-lance musical jesters whose tunes ridiculed the Tsar, the Russian Orthodox Church, and Russian society in general. |
| Bandola |  | Venezuela | The Bandola is a small pear-shape chordophone found in Venezuela and Colombia. It is related to the Bandurria. There are 3 main types of Bandolas: Bandola Llanera, Bandola Andina Colombiana and Bandola Oriental. |
| Bandoneón |  | Argentina | The bandoneón is a free-reed instrument particularly popular in Argentina. It plays an essential role in the orquesta tipica, the tango orchestra. It is played by holding the instrument between both hands and either pushing in or pulling out the instrument while simultaneously pressing one or more buttons with the fingers. |
| Bandura |  | Ukraine | Bandura (Ukrainian: Банду́ра) refers to a Ukrainian plucked string instrument similar to a zither, as well as to its lute-like Baroque predecessor, the kobza. It has a short neck, an oval flat body and is held vertically. The image shows Kharkiv bandurist H. Bazhul. |
| Bandurria |  | Spain | The bandurria is a plectrum plucked chordophone from Spain, similar to the cittern and the mandolin, primarily used in Spanish folk music. The original bandurrias of the Medieval period had three strings. During the Renaissance they gained a fourth string. During the Baroque period the bandurria had 10 strings (5 pairs). The modern bandurria has 12 strings with a short wide neck and 14 metal frets. |
| Banhu |  | China | The banhu (板胡) is a Chinese traditional bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. It is used primarily in northern China. Ban means a piece of wood and hu is short for huqin. Like the more familiar erhu and gaohu, the banhu has two strings, is held vertically, and the bow hair passes in between the two strings. The banhu differs in construction from the erhu in that its soundbox is generally made from a coconut shell rather than wood, and instead of a snakeskin that is commonly used to cover the faces of huqin instruments, the banhu uses a thin wooden board. |
| Banjo |  | United States | The banjo is a stringed instrument developed by enslaved Africans in the United States, adapted from several African instruments. The modern banjo comes in a variety of different forms, including four- (plectrum and tenor banjos) and five-string versions. A six-string version, tuned and played similar to a guitar, is gaining popularity. The plectrum banjo (see image) has four strings, lacking the shorter fifth drone string, and around 22 frets; it is usually tuned CGBD. As the name suggests, it is usually played with a guitar-style pick (that is, a single one held between thumb and forefinger), unlike the five-string banjo, which is either played with a thumbpick and two fingerpicks, or with bare fingers. |
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