String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
The Dombra, also known as Dombyra or Tambura is a long-necked musical string instrument used by the Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Turkmens, Hazaras, Bashkirs and Nogais in their traditional folk music. The Dombura shares certain characteristics with the komuz and dutar instruments, such as its long, thin neck and oblong body shape. It is a popular instrument mostly among Turkic and Iranic communities in Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The bağlama or saz is a family of plucked string instruments, long-necked lutes used in Ottoman classical music, Turkish folk music, Turkish Arabesque music, Azeri music, Balkan music, Kurdish music, Armenian music. It is played in several regions in the world such as Europe, Balkans, Black Sea, Caucasus regions and many countries including Syria, Iraq, Iran and the Balkan countries.
The bouzouki, also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and a long neck with a fretted fingerboard. It has steel strings and is played with a plectrum producing a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but pitched lower. There are two main types of bouzouki: the trichordo (three-course) has three pairs of strings and the tetrachordo (four-course) has four pairs of strings. The instrument was brought to Greece in the early 1900s by Greek refugees from Anatolia, and quickly became the central instrument to the rebetiko genre and its music branches. It is now an important element of modern Laïko pop Greek music.
The tanpura, also referred to as tambura and tanpuri, is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating in India, found in various forms in Indian music.
The komuz or qomuz is an ancient fretless string instrument used in Central Asian music, related to certain other Turkic string instruments, the Mongolian tovshuur, and the lute. The instrument can be found in Turkic ethnic groups, from China to Turkey. Forms of this instrument are used in China by the Naxi people and are called Huobusi, Hebisi , and Hunbusi.
Tamburica or tamboura, refers to a family of long-necked lutes popular in Southern Europe and Central Europe, especially Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, and Hungary. It is also known in Burgenland, Austria. All took their name and some characteristics from the Persian tanbur but also resemble the mandolin and guitar in the sense that its strings are plucked and often paired. The frets may be moveable to allow the playing of various modes. The variety of tamburica shapes known today were developed in Serbia and Croatia by a number of indigenous contributors near the end of the 19th century.
The šargija, anglicized as shargia, is a plucked, fretted long necked lute used in the folk music of various Balkan countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Albania, North Macedonia and Kosovo. The instrument is part of a larger family of instruments which includes the Balkan tambura and the bağlama, tamburica, and the tambouras.
The rebab is the name of several related string instruments that independently spread via Islamic trading routes over much of North Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Europe. The instrument is typically bowed, but is sometimes plucked. It is one of the earliest known bowed instruments, named no later than the 8th century, and is the parent of many bowed and stringed instruments.
The sintir, also known as the guembri (الكمبري), gimbri, hejhouj in Hausa language, is a three stringed skin-covered bass plucked lute used by the Gnawa people. It is approximately the size of a guitar, with a body carved from a log and covered on the playing side with camel skin. The camel skin has the same acoustic function as the membrane on a banjo. The neck is a simple stick with one short and two long goat strings that produce a percussive sound similar to a pizzicato cello or double bass.
Plucked string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by plucking the strings. Plucking is a way of pulling and releasing the string in such a way as to give it an impulse that causes the string to vibrate. Plucking can be done with either a finger or a plectrum.
The çifteli is a plucked string instrument, with only two strings, played mainly by the Albanians of northern and central Albania, southern Montenegro and parts of North Macedonia and Kosovo.
The term Tanbur can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "terminology presents a complicated situation. Nowadays the term tanbur is applied to a variety of distinct and related long-necked lutes used in art and folk traditions. Similar or identical instruments are also known by other terms." These instruments are used in the traditional music of Iran, India, Kurdistan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
The samica is a small stringed and fretted traditional Croatian and Serbian folk instrument. Its overall shape is similar to that of the dangubica, and has up to four strings. One of these strings is used to play a melody, the rest being used as drones, playing a single note. The samica is often played to accompany dancing and singing. Along with the dangubica, the samica is one of the forerunners of the modern tamburitza.
The choghur is a plucked string musical instrument common in Azerbaijan and Georgia. It has 4 nylon strings.
The bulgari or boulgari is a string instrument that originates from Turkey, especially from Anatolia among the Oghuz Turks living in the Taurus Mountains, similar to the bağlama and the çağür, especially to Egypt and Crete. belonging to the 'tampoura' family and closely related to the 'tzoura', it is played with strings plucked with a pick. This long-necked lute first appeared towards the end of the 18th century and became well-known after 1915 through the Greeks of Asia Minor. It was mainly played in Rethimno during the mid-war and owes its popularity to Stelio Foustalieri. It is rarely come across in Crete today.
The tambura is a stringed instrument that is played as a folk instrument in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. It has doubled steel strings and is played with a plectrum, in the same manner as a mandolin.
The colascione is a plucked string instrument from the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods, with a lute-like resonant body and a very long neck. It was mainly used in southern Italy. It has two or three strings tuned in fifths.
