| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yangqin |  | China | The trapezoidal yangqin (Chinese: 揚琴) is a Chinese hammered dulcimer originally from the Middle East. It is also known by the name "santur" or "cymbalom." The Thai and Cambodian khim are nearly identical in their construction, having been introduced to those nations by southern Chinese musicians. The yangqin was traditionally fitted with bronze strings, which gave the instrument a soft timbre. The modern yangqin can have as many as five courses of bridges and may be arranged chromatically. Traditional instruments, with three or more courses of bridges, are also still widely in use. The instrument's strings are struck with two lightweight bamboo beaters (also known as hammers) with rubber tips. The yangqin is used both as a solo instrument and in ensembles. The image shows a yangqin played by a member of the Nakhi (Naxi) Orchestra, China. |
| Yaylı Tanbur |  | Turkey | The yaylı tanbur is a bowed lute from Turkey. Derived from the older plucked tanbur, it has a long, fretted neck and a round metal or wooden soundbox which is often covered on the playing end with a skin or acrylic head similar to that of a banjo. The instrument is held vertically, with the soundbox resting in the player's lap. |
| Yazheng |  | China | The yazheng (Chinese: 軋箏; also spelled ya zheng or ya cheng) is a Chinese string instrument. It is a long zither similar to the guzheng but bowed by scraping with a sorghum stem dusted with resin, a bamboo stick, or a piece of forsythia wood. The instrument was popular in the Tang Dynasty, but is today little used except in the folk music of some parts of northern China, where it is called yaqin (Chinese: 軋琴.) The Korean ajaeng (hangul: 아쟁; hanja: 牙箏) is derived from the yazheng. The image shows Chinese musicians performing classical music. Musician at left is playing a Chinese zither (probably a yaqin). Musician in foreground is playing a long-necked plucked lute. |
| Yehu |  | China | The yehu (椰胡) is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. Ye means coconut and hu is short for huqin. It is used particularly in the southern coastal provinces of China and in Taiwan. The instrument's soundbox is made from a coconut shell, which is cut on the playing end and covered with a piece of coconut wood instead of the snakeskin commonly used on other huqin instruments such as the erhu or gaohu. As with most huqin the bow hair passes in between the two strings. Many players prefer to use silk strings rather than the more modern steel strings generally used for the erhu, giving the instrument a distinctly hollow, throaty timbre. |
| Yu |  | China | The yu (Chinese: 敔) was a wooden percussion instrument carved in the shape of a tiger with a serrated back comprising 27 "teeth," used since ancient times in China for Confucian court ritual music. It was played by striking its head three times with a bamboo whisk, and then scraping it across the serrated back once to mark the end of a piece of music. The yu is mentioned, along with another percussion instrument called zhu (柷), in pre-Qin Dynasty annals, and appears in the Classic of History. The yu was adopted by the Korean court in ancient times, where it was known as uh, and is still used in Confucian ritual music. |
| Yueqin |  | China | The yueqin (Chinese: 月琴, also called moon guitar, moon-zither) is a traditional Chinese string instrument. It is a lute with a round, hollow wooden body which gives it the nickname moon guitar. It has a short fretted neck and four strings tuned in courses of two (each pair of strings is tuned to a single pitch), generally tuned to the interval of a perfect fifth. According to legend, the instrument was invented in China during the Qin dynasty. It is an important instrument in the Beijing opera orchestra. A similar Japanese instrument, called the gekkin, was formerly used in Japan. Another very similar instrument, called đàn đoản or đàn tứ, is occasionally used in Vietnam. |
| Yunluo |  | China | Yunluo (云锣; literally "cloud gongs" or "cloud of gongs") is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. The yunluo is a set of usually ten small tuned gongs mounted in a wooden frame, with each gong being about 9-12 cm in diameter, and the height of the frame being about 52 cm. The yunluo's gongs are generally of equal diameter but different thicknesses; the thicker gongs produce a higher pitch. It is often used in wind and percussion ensembles in northern China. The image shows a ten-gong yunluo used by a Nakhi (Naxi) band of China. |
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