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Chapter 4 : Stringed Instruments

STRINGED INSTRUMENTS Image from Pixabay Fretted Stringed Instruments Lute Viola (6 strings) Cittum Mandolin (4 or 5 strings) Guitar (6 strings) Banjo (5 or 6 strings) Ukuelele (4 strings) Unfretted Stringed Instruments Lyre Violin (4 strings) Viola (4 strings) Cello Double Bass (4 strings) LUTE A plucked stringed instrument, the R.H. plucking the strings (the plectrum is NOT used).  It is an ancient and widely distributed family shaped somewhat like a half pear with its stalk, sliced in half, the stalk representing the finger-board which is fretted.  There is no bridge and each string is duplicated in unison – the number of strings varying at different periods and indifferent countries.  The head or peg box is bent back from the neck at an angle. The Lute Excerpt from Barbara Thomas' manuscript The ancient Thespotamia Lute dates bac to 2000 B.C.  The Lute with a few embellishments is still in use in Arabia and during the 20th c ...