Glossary of Folk Musical Instruments & Styles from Around the World
This list is based on information originally compiled by ARC music, and has been revised, extended and developed for the internet by Pete McClelland at Hobgoblin Music. Please E-mail me if you know of instruments not listed, so I can add them.
There is now a Basque language translation of this page by Jennifer Indurayne.
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A
Accordion - free reed instrument with a keyboard originating in Saxony and Bohemia, now common throughout the world in folk music. Various types include piano and button keyboards, and chromatic and diatonic tunings.
Alboka - A double clarinet of Basque Country. There are some similar instruments in North Africa. It has a double tube with a horn end. It is played with a continuous respiration technique. It has only one non-complete scale.
Angklung - bamboo bells native to Indonesia. Each Angklung
consists of two or three bamboo tubes of differing lengths tuned in octaves.
Antara - term used by the Quechua people of Peru for the Andean panpipes (of clay).
Atabal - cylindrical double-headed bass drum of the Basque region; wider than tall.
Atabaque - general term for a conical single-headed drum of Brazil; usually played in threes, each of different size.
Aud - Egyptian lute (see ud).
Autoharp - zither with a keyboard chord making mechanism which mutes unwanted strings. Strummed or Picked.
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B
Baglama - long-necked turkish lute, about 1m, member of the saz family. Also used in Greece.
Bagpipe - reed instrument with an air reservoir in an animal skin bag. Common across Europe and Arabic countries. See Gaida, Gaita, Biniou, Union, Uilleann, Northumbrian, Piob Mhor, Scottish smallpipes, Dudelsack, Zampogna, Cornemuse, Musette, Cabrette, Cimpoi.
Balafon - West African xylophone: set of three: bass, mid range and high one for soloing.
Balalaika - lute-type; triangle shape; national instrument of Russia. Really a family of instruments, including Piccolo, Prima, Secunda, Alto, Bass and Contra-bass.
Bamboo xylophone - (Papua New Guinea) - pair of large bamboo xylophones erected on ladders, beaten with rubber flipflops (sandals) or thongs.
Bandir - or Bendir; North African tambourine, round wooden 40 or 59 cm across, with two strings stretched under its skin to produce a buzzing sound, Morroco, Algeria, Tunisia.
Bandola - modern lute of Colombia; tear-drop shape, flat or concave back.
Bandoneon - square-built button accordion; used in Argentinian tango.
Bandura - type of psaltery found in the Ukraine; short neck, oval, flat body; held vertically.
Bandurria - small 12 string mandolin type instrument with a very short wide neck, popular in Spain.
Banjo - American development of African origins (related to the Kora etc., but with a guitar type neck). Found with 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 or more strings, popular types are the 5 string, Tenor (4 string), Plectrum (long neck 4 string), Banjolele (Ukulele Banjo), Banjolin (Mandolin Banjo).
Barbat - Iranian name for the Ud
Bata drums - set of three double-headed religious drums used in Cuba. The Iya, Itotele and Okonkolo.
Bata (African) - set of three drums: the 'iyailu' or "mother drum", a talking drum; the 'emele abo' is the second drum, smaller and higher pitched; the 'omele' is the base of the set and consists of 3 or 4 small drums tied together.
Bayan - chromatic accordian of Russia and Belorussia, with button keyboard.
Bawoo - Chinese wind instrument; bamboo tube with rectangular hole carved in side near closed end, with reed fastened across; finger and thumb holes.
Bena - a single string bowed ancient folk instrument found in Tista_Dharla river basin of Bangladesh. Used as accompaniment for local "Kushan" folk theatre.
Berimbau - The berimbau consist of a wooden stick which is strung with a steel string to form the bow shape, a gourd with an opening on one side which acts as a resonator, a coin or stone, a thin bamboo stick, and is played with a basket shaker called caxixi.
Biniou - Breton bagpipe with single drone, pitched an octave higher than usual.
Birbyne - Lithuanian wind instrument, soft sound, clarinet type. Played in ensembles and solo.
Bodhran - single-headed frame drum of Ireland; membrane, of animal skin, usually nailed to frame; hand-held using criss-cross system of cord, wire or sticks over open end.
Bombarde - Breton shawm, usually pitched in Bb, sometimes C. Traditionally played as a duet with the Biniou.
Bomba - Drums used for Bomba music in Puerto Rico, Ecuador and probably other areas with African traditions. In Puerto Rico there are two drums played together for the Bomba, the Buleador(bass) and the Subidor or Primo (lead)
Bombo - large sheepskin drum. from Spain and South America. The latin American type is made from a hollowed tree, and played with a stick and a mallet.
Bombashi - a fipple flute found in Tista_Dharla river basin of Bangladesh. Used as accompaniment for "Poddopuran" folk theatre. It is made of bamboo, with seven finger holes.
Bones - a pair of cows ribs rattled together in the hand. Also often made of wood or other bone material. Traditional in Britain and Ireland.
Bongoes - Two small drums, one larger (and lower pitched, usually by about a fifth) than the other which are held between the knees and played with both hands. Traced back to Cuba in the late 1800s, and probably originating from Africa.
Bouzouki - Greek long necked lute; 3 or 4 double courses of metal strings. Adopted by Irish musicians more recently.
Bucium - Romanian Alphorn
Buhai - Romanian drum-like instrument with a rope running through the
drumhead. The vibration as the rope is pulled produces a low bass note. It is used in the traditional Christmas caroling groups called "colinde".
Buleador - Bass drum used for Bomba music in Puerto Rico.
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C
Cabasa - South American rattle. Made from a metal cylinder with metal beads around it which are scraped against it. Related to African gourd rattles with beads.
Cabrette - French bagpipe
Caixa - Samba drums from Brazil, usually with metal body approx 12" head. Caixa Tarol is shallowest, Caixa Malacacheta next and the Repinique is the biggest.
Caja - Frame drum, sometimes with snare, of Spain and the New World.
Cajon - Cuban box drum, made from a wooden vox.
Calabash - dried hollow shell of a gourd, used as a rattle.
Campana - Bell.
Castanuela - Castanets in English. A pair of bowl shaped pieces of wood (usually grenadilla now, but originally stone or shell) connected by a cord, held in the palm of the hand. From Spain.
Cavaquinho - a small 4 string Portuguese guitar family instrument well known in Brazil (also known as Cavaco) where it is used in Choro and Samba music. was exported by the Portuguese across the world including to Hawaii, where it developed into the ukelele. Commonly tuned D,G,B,D but other tunings are used.
Caval - Bulgarian wind instrument of some antiquity, varies from 50 to 80cm long. Used especially in Thrace and Dobrudja.
Celtic Harp - small instrument of 24 to 34 strings around 1m tall, with curved neck and pillar. The sound box was once carved from solid, but now is usually a box.
Charango - ten string instrument, made from the shell of an armadillo; an Amerindian version of the imported European mandolin; found in Andean region.
Cheng - 1) half tube plucked zither of the Han chinese; 2) chinese gong.
Chepkong - Kenyan six string pentatonic Lyre. See also Kipukandet.
Choquella - predecessor of the kena, but bigger.
Chordophone - class of instruments comprising strings stretched between fixed points, including: zithers, lute types (lute, violin, guitar, etc), harp types.
Cittern - small flat backed wire-strung plucked instrument; played with a plectrum; popular from renaissance to baroque times. Modern citterns are much bigger, and more like mandolins in shape. Usually with 10 strings in 5 courses. Related to Portuguese Guitarra.
Cimpoi - Romanian Bagpipe, usually with a single drone.
Clarsach - Scottish folk harp, 25 to 34 strings usually.
Cobza - short-necked lute of Romania; pear-shaped with 8 to 12 strings, 5-7-sectioned resonator.
Concertina - Small free reed instrument from England, usually hexagonal in shape. there are three common keyboard layouts, each completely different to play on. Anglo, English and Duet (McCann, Crane, Jeffries and Hayden are all types of duet).
Cornemuse - French mouth blown bagpipe with chanter and small drone in one stock, and a separate large drone.
Crwth - a Welsh bowed instrument with a rectangular box shaped body and a violin neck. The bridge stands with one foot on the front and the other foot passing through the soundhole and resting on the back.
Cuatro - of the guitar family; found in South America and the West Indies. The Venezualan Cuatro has 4 strings, looks like a ukelele. The Puerto Rican Cuatro has 10 strings and looks more like a Cuban Tres.
Cuica - Brazilian friction drum with a remarkable pitch range.
Cura - smallest of the saz family, about 75cm.
Cymbalom - box zither of Hungary, related to earlier hammered folk zithers, see Hammered Dulcimer.
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D
Daduk - Bulgarian fipple flute / Armenian double reed pipe - See Duduk.
Dafe - Arabic Frame drum, sometimes has metal rings inside to make a jingle effect. Also known as Duf, and Daf (in Iran).
Daire - round, single-headed drum of south-eastern Europe, Asia etc.
Darabuka - one-sided hourglass-shaped drum; Northern Africa, Middle East
Derbacki - hand drum.
Dholak - (or Dhol) double ended drum traditionally used in weddings across the Indian subcontinent. See also Iranian Dohol.
Didjeridoo - traditionally used by aborigines of Northern Australia; an end-blown, straight, natural trumpet, without separate mouthpiece, made from termite hollowed eucalyptus branch, stripped of its outer bark, with beeswax at mouth end.
Divan - largest member of the saz family, about 140cm.
Dizi - transverse flute of the Han Chinese.
Djembe - one-sided mushroom-shaped drum from west coast of Africa.
Dobro - Guitar with one or more metal resonator discs mounted inside body. Dobro is a brandname which is commonly used to describe all Resonator Guitars.
Dohol - Iranian/Kurdish double ended drum played with sticks, used in ceremonies. See Dholak.
Dohollah - the brass Tabla.
Domra - Russian and Ukranian lute with a rounded pear shaped body and a bowl back. Three stringed usually but four stings are preferred in Ukraine. Domras come in four sizes, Piccolo, Alto, Tenor and Bass.
Do-Table - Iranian/Kurdish pair of brass drums, played with leather straps. Related to the Indian Tabla.
Dotar - Iranian two stringed long neck lute related to the Tanbur. Similar construction to the Turkish Saz.
Dotra - a four string instrument found in the Northern part of Bangladesh. It is the main accompaniment of "Vaoaiya" the mainstream folk song of Northern Bangladesh. Played with a small wooden peg. related to the Sorod or Sarod.
Drimba - Romanian instrument essentially same as the jew's harp, or mouth harp.
Dudelsack - German Bagpipe
Duduk - 1) Fipple flute of Bulgaria; 20-100cm long; 6 finger holes. (Also known in Armenia under a different name.)
2) The national instrument of Armenia, a double-reed pipe 40 cm long, with a 9 cm long reed. Also known as Daduk.
Dudy - Czech Bagpipe, made from a goat.
Duf - a Mazhar but without the cymbals. Also known as Dafe in Egypt.
Dulcimer - name applied to certain musical instruments of the box zither type. Includes Hammered Dulcimer and Appalachian Dulcimer.
Dumbeg - (or Dumbeck) hour glass-shaped drum similar to darabuka.
Dumbeck - small brass drum from Pakistan, similar to Turkish darabuka and Iranian Tonbak.
Dumbra - lute of the Tartar people.
Dundun - African; set of 4 drums, the 'iyailu' member is shaped like an hour glass and has a skin on each side, linked by tension strings (by pressing these, up to 2 octaves can be played); but only played one-sided.
Dvoyanka - Bulgarian double fipple flute.
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E
Emele abo - see Bata
English Guitar - A cittern popular in the 18th century, 10 strings, fan tuners, curved fingerboard. Almost identical to the Portuguese Guitar.
Epinette des Vosges - French instrument of the dulcimer family, oblong often with 7 strings, 3 of which are fretted. For more info: Visit Christophe Toussaint's Site (en Francais)
Erhu - Chinese 2 string fiddle, with a small, usually hexagonal or octagonal body, dates back to 1100AD.
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F
Fa'atete - Tahitian drum, covered in a tight, single membrane; distinst, high sound like a drum roll.
Fiddle - English name for the Violin, originated from the Latin Vitula. The French words Vielle and later Viol are also from the same Latin root.
Fipple - a word meaning the sharp edge of the lip (of a flute or recorder).
Fiscorn - Catalan brass instrument used in Cobla groups. similar to a Fluegelhorn.
Flabiol - Catalan tabor pipe with at least 5 holes. Played with one hand, the other hand beats the Tambori (tabor).
Flageolet - whistle, usually with 6 holes related to the recorder. Often made from a metal tube, either cylindrical or conical. hence Tin Whistle, also known as penny whistle.
Friscalettu - Ancient folk flute from Sicily made of of Sicialian cane. Has seven front holes and two at the back. It is still in use today in Sicilian traditional music.
Fujara - Large wooden flute from Slovakia, approx 2 metres long, has 3 finger holes and is played while standing.
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G
Gadulka - Bulgarian type of fiddle played upright; usually reasts on knee. Has three or four strings, very similar to a rebec.
Gaida - Bulgarian version of mountain/shepherd pipes. Has single drone, and 8 hole chanter, one hole for the thumb, 7 for the fingers. Also Gajdy in Slovakia.
Gaita - Spanish traditional bagpipe, usually with single drone, and plain leather bag. Traditionally played at feasts and weddings. Gaita gallega in Galicia, and gaita asturiana in Asturias are similar, also known in northern Portugal.
Gangan - Nigerian drum, smaller than Dundun; played under the arm.
Gasbah - rim-blown flute.
Gayda - Bulgarian bagpipe; single reed; mouth blown.
Ghatam - South Indian clay pot; classical percussion.
Ghaychak - Iranian fiddle (in the shape of an anchor), with four bowed strings and eight to sixteen sympathetic strings.
Gilo stones - (Solomon Islands, Pacific) music is created by striking certain stones with bamboo sticks of varying lengths, prodrucing mellifluous xylpophonic sounds, like running water.
Gousli - traditional Russian zither/harp with 16 metal strings.
Gralla - Catalan folk oboe in G.
Guimbri - Bass lute used by the Gnawa musicians of Morocco; it has 3 strings and a goat skin soundboard, sometimes it has rattles or jingles on the head.
Guiro - scraper of the Caribbean; long, fretted gourd rubbed with stick.
Guitar-Charango - based on the European guitar and mandolin, this intrument with 10 strings has a "sound body" made from the armour of the armadillo.
Guitarra - Portuguese guitar, usually 12 strings in 6 courses. curved fingerboard and fan type tuners. Closely associated with traditional Fado music. Directly related to mediaeval citterns and the English guitar.
Guitarron - Large bass guitar of Chile and Mexico. The Mexican version is a 6 string Mariachi bass guitar, while the Chilean is a 26 string troubadour's instrument related to the Cuatro.
Guo Qin - 7 stringed Chinese zither.
Gu Zheng - Lonng Chinese zither, typically with 21 strings, also known simply as Zheng (Gu meaning ancient). Related to Japanese Koto.
Gusla - Three string instrument with the body and neck carved from a solid piece of wood. Traditional in Serbia, Montenegro and FYR Macedonia, also known in Bulgaria. Similar to a mediaeval rebec.
Gusli - A Russian psaltery or zither. Exists in both a trapezium shape with around 15 strings similar to a Finnish Kantele, and also a pig snout shape similar to a mediaeval psaltery. Recently makers are adding semitone tuning levers.
Gyterne - short necked lute.
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H
Hackbrett - German /Austrian/ Swiss instrument similar to hammered dulcimer & santoor. Tuned chromatically, played only on one side of the bridges.
Hardanger fiddle - folk violin of western Norway; 8/9 strings, usually 4 sympathetic strings running under the fingerboard; narrower, shorter-necked and more arched than the ordinary violin. For more info: Hardanger Fiddle Association of America
Harmonica - the first of the modern European free reed instruments. a block of 10 or more double sided reeds, mouth blown. diatonic scale.
Harmonium - 1) small, portable, bellow-blown reed organ used in India; player usually sits on ground, one hand fingering keyboard, other pumping bellows. 2) European and American Harmoniums have a pedestal, and foot pedals to pump the bellows. The player sits in a chair and uses both hands!
Hummel - Dutch/Flemish instrument of the dulcimer family.
Hammered Dulcimer - large trapezoidal zither with many strings in pairs, 3s or 4s stretched over long (sometimes individually moveable) bridges. Played with small wooden or cane hammers. Played in British Isles and North America. Closely related to the Hungarian cymbalom, German/Swiss hackbrett, Iraqi and Iranian santir (probably the origin of all of these), Indian santoor, Korean yangum and Chinese yang qin.
Hurdy Gurdy - a mechanical development of the violin with the strings vibrated by a wheel, and keys stopping the strings. found throughout Europe. See also Vielle and Nyckelharpa.
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I
Iyailu - see Bata drums.
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J
Jaleika - from Tver, Russia; wind instrument made from reed-tipped cow horn.
Jarana - five course guitar of Mexico, smaller than the normal guitar.
Jew's harp - hand-sized instrument placed in front of the mouth; sound produced by blowing across, and simultaneously twanging, a flexible 'tongue' set into a frame; many types. Also known more recently as Jaws Harp.
Jouhikko - bowed lyre of Finland.
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K
Kalimba - played with the thumbs; "thumb piano"; its sound is produced by the vibration of tongues of metal or wood; small in size. Also known as Mbira in Zimbabwe, Budongo in Uganda and Sansa in South Africa.
Kamancheh - Iranian classical bowed Lute, has a small round body with a fish skin vellum. It has four strings, and is played vertically like a cello.
Kankles - Lithuanian zither, related to Finnish gousli or kantele, solo instrument and for ensembles.
Kanoun - (also quanun, kanun) zither/psaltery of the Middle East, related to the hammered dulcimer, usually 3 strings per course and adjustable tuning bridges.
Kantele - known by other names including 'gousli'; Finnish folk instrument of the psaltery type. Also popular in the Baltic states.
Kanun - 72 stringed harp or dulcimer of the Near East, see qanun, kanoun.
Kaval - long, rim-blown flute from Bulgaria.
Kawala - special type of egyptian bamboo flute (different from the nay); played in religious festivals.
Kena - shepherd's pipe; shepherd's flute (pre-Colombian times) without mouthpiece, carved in a bamboo cane; originally carved from animal bone.
Khaen - a free reed bamboo mouth organ from both Thailand and Laos, similar to the Chinese sheng.
Khim - Similar to the Hammered Dulcimer, the Khim was introduced to Thailand from China (see Yang Qin), and has been adapted somewhat to accommodate local music styles, Also known in Cambodia by the same name.
Kipukandet - 5 or 6 string pentatonic lyre used by Nandi tribe in Kenya, also known as Kibugantet and Chepkong.
Kobsa - plucked lute or guitar from the Ukraine, also a Hungarian bowed instrument.
Konghou - historical Chinese string instrument; harp.
Kora - west African harp lute, popular in Gambia and Senegal. It has a skin stretched across a large gourd, a wooden neck and gut or nylon fishwire strings stretched across a tall bridge. Played somewhat like a harp.
Koto - longest of the long zithers of East Asia; about 6 feet long; 13 silk strings; this narrow harp is laid horizontally, each string with its own movable bridge.
Kultrun - Sacred drum of the Mapuche people in Argentina and Chile. Made of bark and animal skin with small sacred objects inside to rattle. It is played by a Shaman or "Machi" (usually female).
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L
Lali - (Beqa, the Pacific) two large slit log drums.
Laud - a flat back lute from Spain, with 12 metal strings in 6 courses and pear shaped body.
Lojki - wooden spoons, popular Russian percussion.
Lute - class of instruments related to the violin and guitar; do not necessarily have to have a 'body'; plucked or bowed; many types, usually with a bowl back. Originated from the Arabic Ud (Al Ud = A Lute).
Lur - Wooden Horn approx 1 metre long covered in birch, used by farming communites in the middle ages in Scandinavia.
Lyra - three stringed bowed instrument with a bowl back carved from the solid. Popular in Greece and the balkans. Similar to mediaeval western European Rebec.
Lyre - a harp like plucked instrument with strings stretched across an open frame with no soundbox.
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M
Mandocello - Large size mandolin, tuned as a cello in CGDA.
Mandola - Italian lute, now popular with celtic musicians. Originally bowl backed, now often has a flat back like a cittern and 8 strings.
Mandolin - small Italian lute usually with 8 strings, sometimes 12. Now popular throughout the western world, often made with a flat back like a cittern.
Maracas - South and Central American shaker made from the fruit of the totuma (Venezuela), and filled with dried seeds or other small objects.
Marimbas - A modern commercially manufactured, fully resonated orchestral xylophone.
Mazhar - A large tambourine played in Egypt.
Melodeon - Button keyed Accordion, In England this term includes all button keyed accordions, in Ireland and Scotland it is more specific to the one row 10 keyed variety.
Metallophone - percussion instrument consisting of a row of tuned metal bars.
Mizmar - Arabic wind instrument with single or double reed.
Moxenos - family of three wooden flutes of variable size(large, medium and small) that are always played simutaneously.
Musette - 1) French bellows blown bagpipe with 2 small cylindrical keyed chanters, and a shuttle drone. 2) a French shawm related to a bagpipe chanter, rather like an oboe.
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N
Nai - panpipes of Romania; concave row of 20 pipes, of different lengths and diameters, glued together in orer of size with lower ends resting on a slightly curved stick; lower ends stopped with cork, then filled with beeswax to determine tuning.
Nay - Egyptian bamboo flute. Also known in Iran as the Ney which has five finger holes.
Northumbrian Smallpipes - an English bellows blown bagpipe with small cylindrical closed-end chanter, and 3 or 4 drones. Other variations include Northumbrian half long bagpipes. Probably developed from the French musette.
Norwegian tusselfloyte - a Norwegian flute.
Nyckelharpa - keyed fiddle used throughout Scandinavia and N. Germany.
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O
Ocarina - extremely popular vessel flute usually made of terracotta; all-in-one large, elongated egg-shape with flattened tube in its side and finger holes.
Omele - see Bata.
Oud - Egyptian lute. See Ud.
Ovcharska svirka - Bulgarian shepherd's pipe, smaller version of the kaval.
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P
Pahu - Tahitian bass drum; double-headed membranophone; Western origin; can be of hollowed out coconut trunks, covered by either sharkskin or calfskin.
Pahu Tupa'l Rima - Tahitian single membrane drum, not unlike a tall conga.
Pandeiro - Either frame drum or tambourine of Portugal, Brazil and Galicia (Spain).
Palo de Lluvia - Chilean Rain Stick made from a cactus filled with small stones.
Paraguayan harp - 36 strings; built by the Guarani tribe of Indians from crefully selected local wood that must then be stored for at least 2 generations.
Pate - (Cook Islands, the Pacific) slit log drums.
Penny Whistle - 6 hole fipple flute popular in the Britain, Ireland and the USA (this is the name usually used in the US). See also Flageolet and Tin Whistle.
Pibcorn - or Pibgorn - Welsh member of the hornpipe family, a double reed (some say single reed) instrument with a wooden middle section, animal horn bell, and animal horn mouthpiece enclosing the reed. Related to simlar hornpipes known in most parts of the world.
Piffaro - Italian shawm, often played as a duet with the zampogna.
Pinquillo - very small wooden flute with mouthpiece.
Pipa - 4 stringed guitar-like plucked instrument from China with a pear shaped body. In the literature as far back as 2000BC. The name refers to the forward and back picking technique.
Piob Mhor - Great Highland Bagpipe of Scotland. Mouth blown, with a conical chanter and 3 drones.
Psalmodikon - Scandinavian one-string bowed dulcimer
Psaltery - box zither; raised wooden board or box with soundholes, with strings stretched parallel to the soundboard and attached at either side by wooden pegs or metal pins; usually plucked.
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Q
Qanoun - Arabic dulcimer. - see kanun
Quanoon - Egyptian dulcimer. - also spelt kanun or kanoun
Quena - see Kena.
Quenacho - large Quena.
Quitaiplas - Venezualan homemade instrument made from bamboo; when hit against each other and against the floor produce the unique Qui-ti-pla sound.
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R
Rabab - The Afghan national instrument, has 3 plucked strings and a number of additional sympathetic strings. The body has a skin stretched over hollowed wood. Also known in Pakistan and Kashmir, it is the precursor of the Sarod. Bowed Rababs are known fron North Africa to Indonesia also.
Rain Stick - English Name for the Chilean Palo de Lluvia.
Ranat Ek - Thai xylophone, the leader of a classical music ensemble
Rebaba - depends whether 'rabab'-lute or 'rababa'-lyre [rebab; term for lutes, both bowed and plucked, and lyres] [rababa:bowl lyre with 5 or 6 strings, similar to the tanbura].
Rebec - mediaeval bowed instrument with three strings, and a bowl backed body carved from solid wood.
Rebolo - Brazilian Drum.
Repinique - Brazilian samba drum.
Repique de Mao - Brazilian drum.
Reque - medium-sized tambourine.
Requinto - small guitar used in Spain, Colombia, Equador and Mexico.
Resonator Guitar - See Dobro
Rigg - (riqq) - see rik.
Rik - small drum with jingles as in tambourine.
Rojok - 'Vladimirskii Rojok': russian trumpet carved from a single piece of wood, usually apple wood.
Ronador - panpipes of Equador; variety of forms; tubes are closed at the bottom; mat be made of cane, vulture feathers or other material.
Ruan - 4 string Chinese fretted instrument which has a round hollow body with f holes. Descended from the Pipa.
Russian guitar - 7 strings; popularised at the beginning of the 20th century.
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S
Sac de Gemecs - Catalan bagpipe, there are many other Catalan names for bagpipe too: coixinera, caterineta, borrega, manxa borrega, bot, noia verda, mossa verda, ploranera, sac de les aspres, buna, cornamusa, xeremia etc.
Sanduri - Greek term for the zither; also applied to the cymbalon.
Santoor - stringed instrument originating in Iran, belonging to the category of zithers; struck with two hammers; see Hammered Dulcimer, Tsimbaly, Cymbalom, Hackbrett etc.
Santour - same as santoor, santur (Iran), sanduri.
Sarangi - foremost bowed instrument in North Indian classical music; of one piece of wood with a goat skin sound table; no frets.
Sarinda - a three string folk musical instrument of Bangladesh. Possibly a crude version of the Classical instrument Sarengi.
Sarod - The Sarod is a short-necked, fretless waisted lute carved from a block of teak, with a goat skin sound table. This instrument is said to date from the 19th C.
Saz - family of long-necked lutes played throughout Turkey; eg:baglama, cura, divan.
Scottish Smallpipes - A bellows blown bagpipe from the Scottish lowlands, related to the musette and the Northumbrian smallpipes. Now usually has a keyless conical chanter, and 3 drones.
Sepik flutes Kanengara - (Papua New Guinea) the longest flutes in the world.
Shahnai - Indian oboe, (meaning king flute) similar to the arabic Zurna. (also Sharnai, Shenai, Karnai) Known in Iran and Turkey also.
Shaksha - percussion instrument.
Shakuhachi - Japanese bamboo flute with 4 finger holes and a thumb hole; great flexibility of tone and pitch through half holing and head movements.
Shamisen - Japanese 3-string lute, like a long-necked, fretless banjo with parchment strtched across the front; plucked with a heavy ivory plectrum.
Shawm - double reed wood instrument; the oboe is a modern example.
Shekere - African calabash embroidered with beads to give shaker sound. Also found in Cuba.
Sheng - Chinese mouth blown free reed instrument consisting of vertical tubes each with a fingerhole, and a single mouthpiece.
Sho - Japanese version of the Sheng, with a hemispherical shape, sometimes has keys.
Siku - Pan Pipe or Zampona from Peru and Bolivia, with 2 rows of tubes giving the alternate notes of the scale.
Sitar - Indian Classical stringed instrument (also has Persian links?), modern type has 7 plucked strings and other sympathetic strings (not plucked); fretted with a gourd base; plectrum (misrab) can be used. There is a simple three string version called Setar in Iran.
Skuduciai - Lithuanian wind instrument of the pan flute type.
Steel Drums - Steel Drums or Steel Pans are popular in the Southern Carribean, particularly Trinidad & Tobago. Traditionally made from cut-off oil drums beaten into separate tuned areas, the band consists of Tenor (lead), second, mid-range and bass pans.
Stråkharpa - Swedish bowed lyre, rather like the Welsh crwth. The strings are stopped with the backs of the player's fingers. Also known as Tallharpa in Estonia and Jouhikko in Finland.
Surbahar - cousin of the sitar but longer at 5 ft 5ins.
Subidor - lead drum used for Bomba music in Puerto Rico.
Surdo - Brazilian bass drum for Samba.
Symphonie - Simple early version of Hurdy Gurdy with rectangular box body, 3 strings and usually 10 keys.
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T
Tabl - A Middle Eastern/North African large bass drum almost identical to the
Eastern European Tapan, played with a big stick on one end and a small
stick on the other. Also known as Tabla Baladi or Tabl Baladi.
Tabla - NB Egyptian: single headed, hour glass-shaped drum, used by Hassam Ramzy.
Tabla - (or tabla-bayan) - NB Indian: an asymmetrical pair of small, tuned hand played drums (of the kettle-drum type) of north and central India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; the tabla drum is of wood, the Bayan of metal.
Tabor - double headed rope tension drum from England, often played one handed with a 3 hole Tabor Pipe in the other hand.
Tambora/tanbora - double-headed drum of the Dominican Republic Used to play merengue rhythm
Taiko Drum - Japanese Taiko drums are typically made from one piece of hollowed-out wood, with a cow skin stretched over each end. They range in size from six inches to a massive six feet in diameter.
Tamborim - handheld drum of Brazil, between 15 and 30 cm dia; played with a switch.
Tambour - French side drum, similar to English Tabor, the term covers other types of drum also.
Tambourine - small frame drum, usually with a skin and metal jingles around the rim. probably of middle eastern origin, similar to the Dafe. known in Europe since at least the 18th century.
Tambura - long-necked fretted lute from Bulgaria, especially seen in Pirin. Has 2, 3, 6, 8 or 12 metal strings, 6 strings in 3 pairs is a common variety. Similar to the Greek Baglama.
Tambutica - plucked lute of Yugoslavia; wire strings; several soundholes.
Tamburitza - main instrument of Slavonic music; an instrument of the Tanbur-lute family, which originally came from Asia.
Tanbur - name applied to various long-necked lutes of the Middle East, Iran and Central Asia. The Iranian instrument has a body traditionally carved from solid mulberry wood, and 3 strings.
Tanpura - long-necked ancient lute of India; four strings; provides the reference point for melodic improvisations by performers of the other instruments.
Tantan - Brazilian drum.
Tapan - Double-headed drum 50 to 60cm diameter, rope strung. Found in Bulgaria.
Tar - double bowl shaped lute with sheep skin vellum, three double ocurses of strings, played with a plectrum.
Tarambuka - Bulgarian clay drum, similar to the Turkish and Arabic Darabuka.
Tarkas - wooden flute with mouthpiece.
Tarogato - woodwind instrument with a reed, similar to an oboe; 30-40cm; dark, penetrating tone. A Hungarian instrument of this name exists (or Tarogata? possibly a historical Basque/Catalan instrument)
Tarota - Catalan folk oboe, pitched lower than the Gralla in C
Tenora - A double reed woodwind instrument (shawm) pitched in B flat from the Basque and Catalan regions, see also tiple or tible which is of the same family and pitched higher in F.
Thavil - two-headed drum originating from Southern India; for festivals.
Tilinca - A Romanian flute without finger holes.
Timba - Tall tapered Brazilian drum.
Timbales - pair of metal-shelled, single-headed, cylindrical drums.
Tin Whistle - 6 hole fipple flute popular in the British and Ireland. See Flageolet and Penny Whistle.
Tiple - in Spain, Colombia, Puerto Rico, etc., a small type of guitar; 12 metal strings in four courses. Also refers to treble pitched (F) double reeded woodwind instruments in catalunya. (Tiple means treble in Spanish, and is therefore applied to various types of instrument)
To'ere - Tahitian slit log drum; hollowed out trunk of tou wood, struck eith a wooden beater; the larger the instrument, the deeper the sound.
Tonbak - (or Tombak) - drum used in Iranian classical music; carved from wood, open at the lower end, covered with goat or calf-skin at the wider, upper end; played with the fingers of both hands. Also known in Pakistan as Dumbeck.
Tres - type of guitar with 3 single or double courses of strings. Found in Cuba.
Trombita - large horn, similar to the alpenhorn.
Tsymbaly - The Ukrainian hammered dulcimer.
Tulum - bagpipe of Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Tuohitorvi - Karelian (Finnish/Russian border) birch bark instrument of the brass family, related to the cornett, lysarden and serpent.
Txistu - Basque whistle with three holes. Wooden made, Chromatic, usually in G or C#. less than two octaves. also the TXIRULA: A higher pitched variant of txistu in C.
Txun-Txun - A percussion instrument from the French part of Basque Country. It has usually 6 strings giving C and D over a resonant wooden box, hit with a stick. It is usually played with the txirula.
Tzeze - A simple stick zither from Uganda (apparently there is a pic in Eyewitness books - Music pub. Dorling Kindersley, London 1989)
Tzoura - Greek 6 string long-necked lute, Similar to, but smaller than a bouzouki, the middle one out of the Baglama, Tzoura, Bouzouki family.
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Ud - (also spelt aud or oud) short necked, bowl back plucked lute of the Arab world, the direct ancestor of the European lute; principal instrument of the Arab world.
Udu drum - clay pot with 2 holes, cupped alternatively; sound produced by compression and release of the air inside it.
Uilleann Pipes - see union pipe; ('Uilleann' is Gaelic for elbow)
Ukelin - American 20th century hybrid instrument which is both plucked and bowed
Ukulele - (or Ukelele) small guitar shaped instrument of Hawaiian origin, 4 nylon strings. Came to Hawaii with Portuguese immigrants. (see cavaquinho)
Union Pipe - type of bellows-blown bagpipe known in Ireland from 18th century. See Uilleann Pipes. Has a conical chanter which has a two octave range, 3 drones, and 3 keyed chanters known as regulators.
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Vibraphone - of the bar percussion family; metal; similar in appearance to the xylophone.
Vielle - French name for the Hurdy Gurdy, a mechanical development of the violin (also once known as a Vielle) with the strings vibrated by a wheel, and keys stopping the strings. See also Hurdy Gurdy and Nyckelharpa.
Vihuela - plucked chordophone of the guitar family. Now popular in Central America, it is very similar to the Spanish renaissance vihuela.
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Whistle - an end blown flute with a fipple. all kinds exist around the world. See flageolet.
Wuankara - Chinese bamboo pipe.
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Xirula - Small three hole flute from the Basque region
Xylophone - Percussion instrument consisting of a series of graduated wooden bars that are struck with mallets to produce sound. Xylophones originated in South East Asia, and later became very prominent in African music.
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Y
Yang Qin - Chinese hammered dulcimer; came into China from Persia in the 17th century and now regarded as a Chinese national instrument. see Hammered Dulcimer.
Yue Qin - Chinese moon guitar, circular body, 4 strings.
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Z
Zampona - panpipe; reed pipe, different length of reed bound together, known in Europe as a pan flute, and in Peru and Bolivia as Siku. Neither mouth piece or finger holes.
Zampogna - Italian bagpipe with 2 drones and 2 conical chanters, all in one stock.
Zither - the family name of all instruments which have strings stretched across a box. Popular in central Europe, In addition to the melody strings, the Concert Zither has a guitar type fretboard (similar to the epinette des vosges), and other models have strings grouped together in chords.
Zurna - another name for shawm; folk oboe of the Arab world, and Turkey. Also known in Iran as Surna, The Indian Shahnai is similar.
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