| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hummel |  | Sweden | The Hummel is an old Swedish stringed instrument that can be compared to an older type of zither and is related to the Norwegian instrument, the langeleik. The name is thought to come from the German word "Hummel", meaning "bee", referring to the droning sound created by the accompaniment strings. The hummel is placed on a table, just like with a zither, to amplify the sound. The melody strings are sounded by being plucked downwards, either with fingers or a plectrum. |
| Hurdy Gurdy |  | France | A hurdy gurdy (also known as a "wheel fiddle") is a stringed musical instrument in which the strings are sounded by means of a rosined wheel which the strings of the instrument pass over. This wheel, turned with a crank, functions much like a violin bow, making the instrument essentially a mechanical violin. Melodies are played on a keyboard that presses tangents (small wedges, usually made of wood) against one or more of these strings to change their pitch. Like most other acoustic string instruments, it has a soundboard to make the vibration of the strings audible. Many folk music festivals in Europe feature music groups with hurdy gurdy players. |
| Huqin |  | China | Huqin (胡琴) are a family of bowed string instruments used in Chinese music. They consist of a round, hexagonal, or octagonal sound box at the bottom with a stick attached that protrudes upwards. Instruments in the huqin family have two or four strings and their soundboxes are typically covered with either snakeskin or thin wood. Huqin instruments have two or four tuning pegs, one peg for each string. The pegs are attached horizontally through holes drilled in the stick. The most common huqin are the erhu, zhonghu, and gaohu. Over thirty types of huqin instruments have been documented. |
| Igil |  | Tuva | An igil (Tuvan- игил) is a two-stringed Tuvan musical instrument, played by bowing the strings. (It is called "ikil" in Western Mongolia.) The neck and lute-shaped sound box are usually made of a solid piece of pine or larch. The top of the sound box may be covered with skin or a thin wooden plate. The strings, and those of the bow, are traditionally made of hair from a horse's tail (strung parallel), but may also be made of nylon. Like the morin khuur of Mongolia, the igil typically features a carved horse's head at the top of the neck above the tuning pegs, and both instruments are known as the horsehead fiddle. |
| Irish Bouzouki |  | Ireland | The Irish bouzouki (colloquially, the "zouk") is a derivative of the Greek bouzouki. Within a few years of the bouzouki's adoption in Ireland the Greek bouzouki began to be replaced by a design built specifically for Irish traditional music. The body was widened and in most cases a flat back with straight sides replaced the round, stave-built back of the Greek bouzouki. |
| Jarana |  | Mexico | A jarana is a guitar-shaped fretted stringed instrument from the southern region of the state of Veracruz, Mexico. The strings are usually nylon, although they were gut in the past. The body is somewhat narrower in proportion to a guitar; this is due to its direct lineage from the Spanish baroque guitar of the sixteenth century. Sometimes mistaken for a ukulele, the jarana jarocha comes in at least four sizes, the smallest being the 'mosquito', about the size of a soprano ukulele; the 'primera', about the size of a concert ukulele; the 'segunda', in length between a tenor and a baritone ukulele; and the 'tercera', which is somewhat longer than the baritone ukulele. |
| Jinghu |  | China | The jinghu (京胡) is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family, used primarily in Beijing opera. It is the smallest and highest pitched instrument in the huqin family. The jinghu has two strings which were formerly made of silk, but in modern times are increasingly made of steel or nylon. |
| Jouhikko |  | Finland | The jouhikko is an ancient, usually three-stringed Finnish bowed lyre, also called jouhikannel. Its strings are traditionally of horsehair. The strings are stopped traditionally by pressing against them with the back of the fingers (the knuckles), as there is no fingerboard to press the strings against, though some players use the nails or the front of the fingers. To touch the melody string the hand is inserted through a hole in the flat wooden board that makes up the top third of the instrument. |
| Kamancheh |  | Azerbaijan | The kamancheh or kamencheh is a Persian and Azeri instrument related to the violin. Played with a variable-tension bow, the kamancheh consists of a round body made from gourd or wood, which acts as a sound box, covered with a thin sheep or fish skin membrane. Traditional kamanchehs have three silk strings, however, modern ones have four metal ones. At the bottom of the instrument is a spike to support the kamancheh while it is being played. This instrument is widely played in classical Mugham music of Iran, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, with slight variations in the structure of the instrument. |
| Kanklės |  | Lithuania | The Kanklės is a Lithuanian plucked string musical instrument (chordophone), related to the zither. It is roughly in the shape of a trapezium (British) or trapezoid (American). The instrument is fitted with several wire or gut strings under tension which produce tones when plucked. It is usually rested on the player's lap and played with the fingers or a pick made of bone or quill. The instrument is similar in construction and origin to the Latvian kokle, Russian gusli, Estonian kannel and Finnish kantele. |
| Kantele |  | Finland | A kantele (or kannel) is a traditional plucked string instrument of the zither family. It is related to the Russian gusli, the Latvian kokle and the Lithuanian kanklės. Together these instruments make up the family known as Baltic Psalteries. The oldest forms of kantele have 5 or 6 horsehair strings and a body made from one piece of wood. The modern ones have metal strings and often a body made from several pieces. Modern concert kanteles can have up to 40 strings. |
| Kanun |  | Turkey | The kanun (or qanún) is a string instrument found in Near Eastern traditional music based on Maqamat. It is basically a zither with a narrow trapezoidal soundboard. Nylon or PVC strings are stretched over a single bridge poised on fish-skins on one end, attached to tuning pegs at the other end. Kanuns used in Turkey have 26 courses of strings, with three strings per course. It is played on the lap by plucking the strings with two tortoise-shell picks, one in each hand, or by the fingernails, and has a range of three and a half octaves, from A2 to E6. |
| Kemenche |  | Turkey | A kemenche is a kind of rebec or fiddle from the Black Sea region of Asia Minor also known as the "Kementche of Laz" in Turkey. In Greece and the Pontian Greek diaspora it is known as the "Pontian lyra". It is the main instrument used in Pontian music. It is a bottle-shaped, 3-stringed fiddle played in the upright position. It is sometimes played by resting it on the knee when sitting, and sometimes it is held out in front. A kemenche is a bowed instrument, the bow is called doksar. |
| Kinnor |  | Israel | Kinnor is the Hebrew name for an ancient stringed instrument, the first mentioned in the Bible (Gen. iv. 21), where it is now always translated harp. In Modern Hebrew, It means a violin. The image shows the Model of King David's harp displayed in the City of David, Jerusalem, Israel. |
| Kithara |  | Greece | The kithara was an ancient Greek musical instrument in the zither family. The kithara was a professional version of the seven-stringed lyre. It had a deep, wooden sounding box composed of two resonating tables, either flat or slightly arched, connected by ribs or sides of equal width. At the top, its strings were knotted around the transverse tuning bar or to rings threaded over the bar, or wound around pegs. The other end of the strings was secured to a tail-piece after passing over a flat bridge, or the tail-piece and bridge were combined. |
| Kobza |  | Ukraine | The kobza is a traditional Ukrainian stringed musical instrument, of the lute family, and more specifically a relative of the Central European mandora. kobza is the precursor to the bandura, it is a three- to eight-string instrument mentioned in Greek literature of the 6th century. |
| Kokle |  | Latvia | Kokle is the national instrument of Latvia. It is traditionally played by women and girls. It's a triangular wooden box on legs with up to 33 metal strings, which the musicians pluck. It is unique to Latvia, and although neighbouring countries do have similar instruments - the Finnish kantele and Lithuanian kankle for example - Latvians say nothing sounds quite like the kokle. |
| Kokyu |  | Japan | The kokyū (胡弓) is a traditional Japanese string instrument, the only one played with a bow. Although it was supposedly introduced to Japan from China along with the shamisen, its material, shape and sound are unique to Japan. The instrument (28-inch tall) is similar in construction to the shamisen, appearing like a smaller version of that instrument. |
| Komungo |  | Korea | The komungo (or geomungo) is a traditional Korean stringed musical instrument of zither family instrument with both bridges and frets. The instrument originated in the 7th century from the kingdom of Goguryeo, which comprises the northern part of modern-day southern Manchuria and the northern and central parts of the Korean peninsula, although the instrument can be traced back to the 4th century. The geomungo is approximately 162 cm long and 23 cm wide, and has movable bridges called Anjok and 16 convex frets. It has a hollow body where the front plate of the instrument is made of paulownia wood and the back plate is made of hard chestnut wood. Its six strings. The pick is made from bamboo sticks in the size of regular household pencil. |
| Komuz |  | Azerbaijan | The komuz or kopuz (translating literally as "instrument") is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Kyrgyz music, closely related to other Turkic string instruments and the lute. The oldest known komuz dates from the 4th century although the Gopuz in Azerbaijan is believed to date back to 6000 BC following an archaelogicial discovery of clay plates depicting gopuz players. The komuz is generally made from a single piece of wood (usually apricot or juniper) and has three strings made out of gut. In the most common tunings the middle string is the highest in pitch. |
| Konghou |  | China | The konghou (Chinese: 箜篌) is an ancient Chinese harp. The konghou, also known as kanhou, went extinct sometime in the Ming Dynasty, but was revived in the 20th century. The modern instrument does not resemble the ancient one. The main feature that distinguishes the modern konghou from the Western concert harp is that the modern konghou's strings are folded over to make two rows, which enables players to use advanced playing techniques such as vibrato and bending tones. The two rows of strings also make it suitable for playing fast rhythms and overtones. |
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