| Name | Image | Tradition | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ngombi |  | Uganda | The ngombi is a harp zither used by a group called Ndere Troupe to perform traditional music from across Uganda. It is also used in Pygmy music by Central African Republic people. |
| Ninera |  | Slovakia | The ninera (or kolovratec) is a small-wheeled hurdy gurdy from Slovakia. The wheel diameter is less than 14 cm, or about 5.5 inches. The guitar-shaped ninera has two drones, one diatonic melody string and a broad keybox. It is superficially similar to the tekerő (Hungarian hurdy gurdy), but lacks the buzzing bridge. The image shows a ninera made and played by Tibor Koblicek. |
| Njarka |  | Mali | The njarka is a small, bowed fiddle made from gourd with long neck and one thin gut string from Mali. Afel Bocoum (born 1955) is a musician from Mali, noted as a singer and guitarist. His group, Alkibar (the name means 'messenger of the great river' in Sonrai) consists of two acoustic guitars, a njarka, a njurkle (a kind of lute), calabash and djembe percussion, and two female singers as well as male singers in the choruses. |
| Njurkle |  | Mali | The njurkle is a traditional musical instrument from Mali. It is a monochord instrument similar to a banjo. |
| Nyatiti |  | Kenya | The nyatiti is an eight-stringed plucked lyre from Kenya. It is a classical instrument used by the Luo people of Western Kenya, typically in Benga music. It is about three feet long. The player holds it to his chest, seated on a low stool, with the base firmly to the ground. Usually it is played together with the oporo, a curved horn. |
| Nyckelharpa |  | Sweden | A nyckelharpa (literally "key harp", plural nyckelharpor) is a traditional Swedish musical instrument. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when the key is depressed, serve as frets to change the pitch of the string. The nyckelharpa is similar to both a fiddle and a hurdy gurdy. Since the end of the 20th century the nyckelharpa has become more and more popular, even outside of Sweden and in different music styles. |
| Organistrum |  | Spain | The organistrum is an early form of hurdy gurdy that originated in northern Spain as an instrument used for singing instruction in monastic settings. Generally considered the ancestor of all subsequent hurdy gurdies, the organistrum differs substantially from later instruments in that it was played by two individuals: one turned the crank while the other pulled the keys upward to change the pitch of the melody strings. The image shows a replica of an Organistrum. It is one of the various historical musical instruments stored in the basement of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. |
| Oud |  | Syria | The oud is a pear-shaped, stringed instrument, which is often seen as the predecessor of the western lute, commonly used in Middle Eastern music and East African music. Unlike the lute the oud has no frets and is played with a pick. The image shows an Aleppo musician with an oud, 1915. |
| Outi |  | Greece | The outi is a post-Baroque instrument similar to a lute. It was originally made from a single piece of wood, without a neck. It had 5 double strings that were played with the fingers. In later days a pick (pena) or a goose feather is used. The outi is the Greek style of oud: Slightly smaller in size, slightly shorter neck, higher in pitch, brighter timbre. |
| Panduri |  | Georgia | Panduri is a traditional Georgian three-string instrument widely spread in all regions of Eastern Georgia: such as Pshavkhevsureti, Tusheti, Kakheti and Kartli. Panduri is generally used as an accompaniment instrument. There are two kinds of this instrument in Georgia: one of them is panduri and another is called chonguri. Chonguri looks like panduri but it represents a completely different instrument. The panduri is shorter than chonguri and it has frets. Panduri is a three-string lute (played by strumming) from the highland and lowland regions of Eastern Georgia, and rarely found in Western Georgia ( Upper Imereti and Racha). |
| Paraguyan Harp |  | Paraguay | The Paraguyan harp is a national instrument of Paraguay. The harps in South America date back to at least 1557, possibly as early as the beginning of the 16th century. These harps had 26 to 38 strings, though most typically no fewer than 36. It was frequently used in church music in place of the organ or harpsichord. The Paraguayan harp is a simplified variation of the South America harp, with 38 strings tuned to one major diatonic scale. |
| Phorminx |  | Greece | The phorminx (in Ancient Greek φόρμιγξ) was one of the oldest of the Ancient Greek stringed musical instruments, intermediate between the lyre and the kithara. It consisted of two to seven strings, richly decorated arms and a crescent-shaped sound box. It mostly probably originated from Mesopotamia. While it seems to have been common in Homer's day, accompanying the rhapsodes, it was supplanted in historical times by the seven-stringed kithara. Nevertheless, the term phorminx continued to be used as an archaism in poetry. |
| Pipa |  | China | The pipa (琵琶) is a plucked Chinese string instrument. Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body. It has been played for nearly two thousand years of history in China, and belongs to the plucked category of instruments (弹拨乐器/彈撥樂器). Several related instruments in East and Southeast Asia are derived from the pipa; these include the Japanese biwa, the Vietnamese đàn tỳ bà, and the Korean bipa. The Korean instrument is the only one of the three that is no longer used. The image shows a Tang Dynasty five-stringed pipa. |
| Psaltery |  | Greece | A psaltery is a stringed musical instrument of the harp or the zither family. The psaltery of Ancient Greece (Epigonion) dates from at least 2800 BC, it was a harp-like instrument. In the Christian era a psaltery consisting of a soundboard with several pre-tuned strings that are usually plucked, came into use. The instrument is usually small enough to be portable; its shape and range vary. It is depicted in a number of artworks from the Medieval Period. The image shows a psaltery of the 14th century from the book: De Arythmetica, De Musica by M. Servinius Boetius. The image shows how the instrument is typically held: before the chest with the hands under the curves. |
| Rabeca |  | Brazil | The rabeca is a traditional Brazilian fiddle. It is one of the instruments used in the street theaters of Pernambuco that unites music, dance, and poetry. |
| Ravanastron |  | India | Ravanastron or ravanhatha is an Indian stringed instrument played with a bow, used by wandering pilgrims, particularly in Gujarat and Rajasthan. A Hindu tradition affirms that the musical bow was invented before 3000 BC by Ravanon, king of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and that the instrument for which he invented it was named after him Ravanastron. Judging from precedent, it is probable that the ravanastron of the present day has changed little, if at all, for many centuries. |
| Rawap |  | Uzbekistan | The rawap is one of the traditional musical instruments of Uzbekistan. It is a long-necked lute similar to the rubab, but without sympathetic strings. The rawap, tanbur and dutar are three very important instruments in Central Asian classical music called shashmaqam (closely related to Azeri mugam and Uyghur muqam). They are all strings and are respectively high-, middle- and low-pitched. The image shows a 1989 Soviet postage stamp depicting musical instruments of Uzbekistan. The rawap is the long-necked lute in the center of the stamp. |
| Rebab |  | Turkey | The rebab (also rebap, rabab, rebeb, rababah, al-rababa) is a string instrument which originated in what is now known as Afghanistan, no later than the 8th century, and was spread via Islamic trading routes over much of North Africa, the Middle East, parts of Europe, and the Far East. The bowed variety often has a spike at the bottom to rest on the ground, and is thus called a spike fiddle in certain areas. The rebab is a key instrument of Arabo-Andalusian music. It is used in a wide variety of musical ensembles and genres. Its body is covered with stretched skin, usually stoutly glued to the body. The neck is very thick, and the fretboard is often intricately inlaid. The pegbox is often topped with intricate carving. The image shows two rebabs from Konya, Turkey. |
| Rebec |  | Europe | The rebec (or rebeck) is a bowed string musical instrument with a pear-shaped body. The number of strings on the rebec varies from one to five, although three is the most common number. The rebec dates back to the Middle Ages and was particularly popular in the 15th and 16th centuries. The instrument is European, but probably developed from the arabo-islamic instrument, the rebab. The image shows a rebec player in Cantabria, northern Spain. |
| Ruan |  | China | The ruan (阮) is a Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute with a fretted neck, a circular body, and four strings. Its strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th century they have been made of steel (flatwound for the lower strings). The modern ruan has 24 frets with 12 semitones on each string, which has greatly expanded its range from a previous 13 frets. |
| Rubab |  | Afghanistan | Rubab or Robab is a lute-like musical instrument from Afghanistan. The rubab is mainly used in the classical music of Afghanistan. A short-necked lute made of wood, with goatskin covering the body, the rubab has three melody strings, three drone strings, and 11 or 12 sympathetic strings. The rubab is a fretted instrument with no bow. It is one of the two National Instruments of Afghanistan (together with the Zerbaghali). |
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