| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adungu |  | Uganda | The adungu is a 9-string or 10-string arched harp of the Alur people of northwestern Uganda. The adungu may be played alone (in which case the soloist often sings as they play the adungu) or in an ensemble. The adungu is one of many arched harps found in sub-Saharan Africa. The adungu may be played for diverse purposes including personal pleasure, nightclub and concert music, therapy of the mentally ill, and Christian worship. |
| Ajaeng |  | Korea | The ajaeng is a Korean string instrument. It is a long zither with seven silk strings, played by means of a long, thin stick made of forsythia wood, which is scraped against the strings in the manner of a bow. It is generally played while seated on the floor. It has a deep tone similar to that of a cello, but more raspy. |
| Akonting |  | Gambia | The akonting is the folk lute of the Jola people, found in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. It is a banjo-like instrument with a skin-headed gourd body, two long melody strings, and one short drone string, akin to the short fifth "thumb string" on the 5-string banjo. |
| Angélique |  | Europe | The angélique (French, from Italian angelica) is a plucked string instrument of the lute family of the baroque era. It combines features of the lute, the harp and the theorbo. It shares the form of its pear shaped body as well as its vibrating string length of 54 to 70 cm with the lute. Differing from the lute, the 15-17 string angelica was single-strung like a theorbo, with which it shares its extended neck with a second peg box, bearing eight to ten bass strings. |
| Appalachian Dulcimer |  | United States | The Appalachian dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, although contemporary versions of the instrument can have as many as twelve strings and six courses. The body extends the length of the fingerboard and traditionally has an hourglass, teardrop, triangular, or elliptical shape (also called the galax). As a folk instrument, wide variation exists in Appalachian dulcimers. A traditional way to play the instrument is to lay it flat on the lap and pluck or strum the strings with one hand, while fretting with the other. |
| Archlute |  | Europe | The archlute (Italian arciliuto, German Erzlaute, Russian Архилютня) 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 difficuties in the performance of solo music, and the Renaissance tenor lute, which lacked the bass range of the theorbo. |
| Autoharp |  | United States | The Autoharp is a musical string instrument having a series of chord bars attached to dampers which, when depressed, mute all the strings other than those that form the desired chord. Despite its name, the autoharp is not a harp at all, but a zither. The generic term for the instrument is chorded zither. Autoharps have been used in the United States as bluegrass and folk instruments, perhaps most famously by Maybelle Carter and Sara Carter of The Carter Family. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Banjolele |  | United Kingdom | The banjolele is a four-stringed musical instrument with a banjo-type body and a neck with (typically) sixteen frets (shorter than a banjo, but longer than a ukulele). The banjolele is commonly tuned GCEA ("C Tuning") or ADF#B ("D Tuning"), with a re-entrant 4th string. The ADF#B tuning often produces a more strident tone, and is used for this reason. |
| Banjolin |  | United States | A "banjolin" is a type of 4 string banjo, pitched in the same register as a mandolin popularized in the 1920s. It is tuned and played the same as a mandolin. The major difference it has from a Mandolin is a 10.5- to 11-inch banjo-body which serves to amplify the instrument relative to a standard mandolin (especially important in the days before widespread electric amplification). The banjolin has 4 strings (as opposed to the mandolin and mandolin-banjo which have 4 courses). The scale length and tuning are identical to the mandolin (low to high: GDAE). |
| Barbat |  | Iran | The barbat is a lute of ancient Persian origin. The barbat originated in Persia in ancient times, and was refined during the Arab age into its current form, called the oud. After the tanbur, it is the oldest string instrument in Iran. The barbat is held similar to a guitar, but care must be taken to have the face vertical so that it is not visible to the player, and to support the weight with the thigh and right arm so that the left hand is free to move around the fingerboard. |
| Bass Violin |  | Italy | Bass violin is the generic modern term used to denote various 16th- and 17th-century forms of bass instruments of the violin (i.e. "viola da braccio") family. They were the direct ancestor of the modern cello. Bass violins were usually somewhat larger than the modern cello, but tuned the same or sometimes just one step lower than it. The image shows a "great bass viol" or violone, painting by Sir Peter Lely, c. 1640, showing the large size and typical violin shape of a bass violin. |
| Begena |  | Ethiopia | The begena is an Ethiopian string instrument that resembles a large lyre. It, often referred to as the Harp of David, was used primarily as an accompaniment during meditation and prayer. Even though the begena has ten strings, only six are actually sounded by plucking. That is, the left hand plucks strings one, three, four, six, eight, and ten. The pointing finger plucks strings three and four while the other fingers are in charge of controlling one string each. The remaining strings are used for the finger rests or stops after the strings have been plucked allowing the plucked string to vibrate. |
| Berimbau |  | Brazil | The berimbau is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, from Brazil. The berimbau was eventually incorporated into the practice of the Afro-Brazilian martial art capoeira, where it commands how the capoeiristas move in the roda. The instrument is a part of Candomblé-de-caboclo tradition. |
| Biwa |  | Japan | The biwa (琵琶) is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, and a close variant of the Chinese pipa. The biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten, Goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Buddhism. The biwa derives from a Chinese lute called pipa, which itself derives from a Persian/Middle Eastern lute called barbat. Barbat's modern descendant in Arabic regions is called oud. |
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