Any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound.
A type of harp where the string carrier and resonator are physically united, with strings at right angles to the sound table, no pillar and a neck that curves away from the resonator.
A drum (membranophone) with a shape that bulges in the middle, forming a barrel-like appearance, usually very large and made of wood with a one-headed and open-bottomed body.
A musical instrument, most often made of brass, whose tone is produced by vibration of the lips as the player blows into a mouth piece (or tubular resonator).
A drum (membranophone) that has two heads and produces sound through two pellets, tied to the body of the drum and manipulated so as to strike the heads.
A family of frettedstringed instruments, which are played with a bow, characterized by a flat back, sloping shoulders, c hole sound holes and the use of five to seven strings.
A musical instrument in which sound is produced by blowing against an edge or by vibrating a thin piece of wood or metal known as the reed, and in which the pitch is governed by the resonant frequencies of an enclosed air column.
These terms refer most specifically to a single type of instrument, or perhaps a family of related instruments, but are also used in reference to entirely unrelated instruments of the same musicological category. For example, any stringed instrument without a neck, and with strings that pass over the body, are liable to be called zithers, zither-like or part of the zither family, though the word zither more specifically refers to a precise instrument of Central European origin.
A chordophone with a flat back and a neck whose upper surface is in the same plane as the soundboard, with strings along the neck and parallel to the soundboard.
Note: A guitar is a member of the lute family, distinguished from other lutes by having a flat back.
Any chordophone consisting of a body and a curved neck, strung with strings of varying length, that are vertical to the soundboard when viewed from the end of the body.
Note If a harp's strings were moved from perpendicular to parallel relative to the soundboard and to attach to a common point off the soundbar, it would be a lyre-type instrument.
Note: Unmodified, the word harpas a category most often refers to any frame harp -- meaning a harp with a front pillar -- because that is the common harp of Western origin. Outside of the West, angle harps and arch harps are more common.
Any of a wide variety of chordophones with a pear-shaped body and a neck whose upper surface is in the same plane as the soundboard, with strings along the neck and parallel to the soundboard.
Note: If an instrument of the lute class were to gain a yoke, it would become a lyre.
Note: If an instrument of the lute class were to become flat-backed rather than round and pear-shaped, it would be an instrument of the guitar class.
Note: If a lyre's strings -- which are parallel to the soundboard and emanate directly up from it -- were turned to perpendicular, such that they appeared vertical when looking from the end of the instrument, and attached to a common point off the soundboard, it would be an example of a harp-type instrument.
Note: The lyre is often said to be a type of zither. The distinguishing characteristic of lyre-type instruments is that the strings originate in a particular point on the soundboard, rather than from points spread out over much of the soundboard (as in a standard zither).
Note Instruments like the guitar and the violin are considered lutes, rather than lyres, due to the lack of a yoke.
A stringed instrument, a type of fretless lute, characterized by the use of four or five strings, a scroll (an adornment on the body of the instrument), a sound post and a bass bar.
Note: A generally similar category of instrument is the lithophonestone xylophone, which is essentially a xylophone with stone bars instead of wooden ones.
Note: A generally similar category of instrument is the metallophonemetal xylophone, which is essentially a xylophone with metal bars instead of wooden ones.
A chordophone without a neck, and with strings that pass over the body.
Note: The lyre is often said to be a type of zither. The distinguishing characteristic of lyre-type instruments is that the strings originate in a particular point on the soundboard, rather than from points spread out over much of the soundboard (as in a standard zither).
Note: The word psaltery is sometimes synonymous with zither in reference to instruments of this family.
