Greek musical instruments were grouped under the general term of "all developments from the original construction of a tortoise shell with two branching horns, having also a cross piece to which the stringser from an original three to ten or even more in the later period, like the

Byzantine era The Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World ( grc, Ἔτη Γενέσεως Κόσμου κατὰ Ῥωμαίους, also or , abbreviated as ε.Κ.; literal translation of ...

". Greek musical instruments can be classified into the following categories:

Ancient

Aulos An ''aulos'' ( grc, αὐλός, plural , ''auloi'') or ''tibia'' (Latin) was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology. Though ''aulos'' is often translated as "flute" or "double flute", it was usu ...

Barbiton The barbiton, or barbitos ( Gr: βάρβιτον or βάρβιτος; Lat. ''barbitus''), is an ancient stringed instrument related to the lyre known from Greek and Roman classics. The Greek instrument was a bass version of the kithara, an ...

Chelys The chelys or chelus ( el, χέλυς, la, testudo, both meaning "turtle" or "tortoise"), was a stringed musical instrument, the common lyre of the ancient Greeks, which had a convex back of tortoiseshell or of wood shaped like the shell. The wor ...

Cithara The kithara (or Latinized cithara) ( el, κιθάρα, translit=kithāra, lat, cithara) was an ancient Greek musical instrument in the yoke lutes family. In modern Greek the word ''kithara'' has come to mean "guitar", a word which etymologic ...

(or Kithara) *

Crotalum In classical antiquity, a crotalum ( κρόταλον ''krotalon'') was a kind of clapper or castanet used in religious dances by groups in ancient Greece and elsewhere, including the Korybantes. The term has been erroneously supposed by some w ...

Epigonion The epigonion ( el, ἐπιγόνιον) was an ancient stringed instrument, possibly a Greek harp mentioned in Athenaeus (183 AD), probably a psaltery. Description The epigonion was invented, or at least introduced into Greece, by Epigonus of ...

Harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

Kanonaki The qanun, kanun, ganoun or kanoon ( ar, قانون, qānūn; hy, քանոն, k’anon; ckb, قانون, qānūn; el, κανονάκι, kanonáki; he, קָאנוּן, ''qanun''; fa, , ''qānūn''; tr, kanun; az, qanun; ) is a string ...

Lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...

Pan flute A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...

(Syrinx) *

Pandura The pandura ( grc, πανδοῦρα, ''pandoura'') or pandore, an ancient string instrument, belonged in the broad class of the lute and guitar instruments. Akkadians played similar instruments from the 3rd millennium BC. Ancient Greek artwork d ...

Phorminx :''Phorminx is also a genus of cylindrical bark beetles.'' The phorminx ( grc, φόρμιγξ) was one of the oldest of the Ancient Greek stringed musical instruments, in the yoke lutes family, intermediate between the lyre and the kithara. It co ...

Rhoptron A rhoptron (( el, ρόπτρον), plural: rhoptra) was a buzzing drum used in Ancient Greece associated with the Corybantes. According to Plutarch, it made a frightening sound, resembling a mix of animal noises and lightning, and was used by the Pa ...

Sambuca Sambuca () is an Italian anise-flavoured, usually colourless, liqueur. Its most common variety is often referred to as ''white sambuca'' to differentiate it from other varieties that are deep blue (''black sambuca'') or bright red (''red sambuc ...

Salpinx A salpinx (; plural salpinges ; Greek σαλπιγξ) was a trumpet-like instrument of the ancient Greeks. Construction The salpinx consisted of a straight, narrow bronze tube with a mouthpiece of bone and a bell (also constructed of bronze) of ...

Sistrum A sistrum (plural: sistra or Latin sistra; from the Greek ''seistron'' of the same meaning; literally "that which is being shaken", from ''seiein'', "to shake") is a musical instrument of the percussion family, chiefly associated with ancient ...

Psaltery A psaltery ( el, ψαλτήρι) (or sawtry, an archaic form) is a fretboard-less box zither (a simple chordophone) and is considered the archetype of the zither and dulcimer; the harp, virginal, harpsichord and clavichord were also inspired by ...

Tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

Trigonon A trigonon (trígōnon, from Greek "τρίγωνον", "triangle") is a small triangular ancient Greek harp occasionally used by the ancient Greeks and probably derived from Assyria or Egypt. The trigonon is thought to be either a variety of the s ...

Water organ The water organ or hydraulic organ ( el, ὕδραυλις) (early types are sometimes called hydraulos, hydraulus or hydraula) is a type of pipe organ blown by air, where the power source pushing the air is derived by water from a natural source ...

(Hydraulis) File:Mildenhall treasure great dish british museum, detail-- dancer with cymbals.jpg, Roman art, 4th century A.D. Dancer with cymbals. File:Mildenhall treasure great dish british museum, detail-- satyr with pan pipes.jpg, Mildenhall treasure, great dish, British Museum, detail-- satyr with pan pipes File:Mildenhall treasure, great dish, British Museum, detail-- aulos and tambourine.jpg, Mildenhall treasure, great dish, British Museum, detail-- aulos and tambourine File:Mildenhall treasure, great dish, British Museum, frame drum.jpg, Mildenhall treasure, great dish, British Museum, frame drum

Medieval and modern

String instruments 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. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the Str ...

Byzantine lyra The Byzantine lyra or lira ( gr, λύρα) was a medieval bowed string musical instrument in the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire. In its popular form, the lyra was a pear-shaped instrument with three to five strings, held upright and played by ...

Bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), 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 ...

Cretan lyra ) * Lira da braccio * Rabāb (Arabic الرباب) * Lijerica * Violin , musicians = * Andreas Rodinos * Alekos Karavitis * Antonis Papadakis (Kareklas) * Kostas Mountakis * Nikos Xilouris * Psarantonis * Ross Daly * Yiorgos Kalou ...

Calabrian lira The Calabrian lira ( it, lira Calabrese) is a traditional musical instrument characteristic of some areas of Calabria, region in southern Italy. Characteristics The lira of Calabria is a bowed string instrument with three strings. Like most bo ...

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

Mandola The mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Ireland and UK) is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola ...

* Oudola *

Oud , image=File:oud2.jpg , image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921 , background= , classification= * String instruments *Necked bowl lutes , hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum , ...

* Politiki lyra (Constantinople lyra) *

Santouri The santur (also ''santūr'', ''santour'', ''santoor'') ( fa, سنتور), is a hammered dulcimer of Iranian origins.--- Rashid, Subhi Anwar (1989). ''Al-ʼĀlāt al-musīqīyya al-muṣāhiba lil-Maqām al-ʻIrāqī''. Baghdad: Matbaʻat al-ʻ ...

Laouto The laouto ( el, λαούτο, pl. laouta ) is a long-neck fretted instrument of the lute family, found in Greece and Cyprus, and similar in appearance to the oud. It has four double-strings. It is played in most respects like the oud (plucked w ...

(big and small) *

Lavta The lavta is a plucked string music instrument from Istanbul. Description The Lavta has a small body made of many ribs made using carvel bending technique. Its appearance is somewhat like a small (Turkish) oud - the strings are made from gut l ...

(Politiko laouto) * One stringed lyra (rare) * Macedonian lyra *

Pontian lyra Pontian may refer to: * Pope Pontian (died 235), 3rd-century Catholic Pope * Pontian Greeks, a group of ethnic Greeks traditionally from the Pontus and Pontic Mountains regions in northern Turkey * Pontian Islands, a group of islands on the coast ...

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Baglamas The baglamas ( el, μπαγλαμάς) (plural '' baglamades'') or baglamadaki (), a long necked bowl-lute, is a plucked string instrument used in Greek music; it is a smaller version of the bouzouki pitched an octave higher (nominally D-A-D ...

Tzouras The ''tzouras'' ( el, τζουράς), is a Greek stringed musical instrument related to the bouzouki. Its name comes from the Turkish cura. It is made in six-string and eight-string varieties. The six-string model has the same arrangement of ...

Tambouras The tambouras ( el, ταμπουράς ) is a Greek traditional string instrument of Byzantine origin. It has existed since at least the 10th century, when it was known in Assyria and Egypt. At that time, it might have between two and six strings ...

Thaboura The thaboura ( el, θαμπούρα), is a type of a string instrument, evolved from the Greek musical instrument tambouras. It is bigger than tambouras and it has 3 strings or 3 pairs of strings. The thaboura's history stretches back to the Byzant ...

* Karantouzeni *

Bağlama 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, Azerbaijani music, Kurdish music, Armenian music and in parts of Syria, Iraq ...

Aerophones An aerophone () is a musical instrument that produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes (which are respectively chordophones and membranophones), and without the vibration of the instru ...

Askomandoura Askomandoura ( el, ασκομαντούρα) is a type of bagpipe played as a traditional instrument on the Greek island of Crete, similar to the '' tsampouna''. Its use in Crete is attested in illustrations from the mid-15th Century.Ioannis Tsouc ...

Floghera The floghera ( el, φλογέρα, ) is a type of flute used in Greek folk music. It is a simple end-blown bamboo flute without a fipple, which is played by directing a narrow air stream against its sharp, open upper end. It typically has seven fin ...

Gaida A gaida is a bagpipe from Southeastern Europe. Southern European bagpipes known as ''gaida'' include: the , , (), () () or (), ''(')'', , also . Construction Bag Gaida bags are generally of sheep or goat hide. Different regions have ...

* Karamuza * Klarino *

Lalitsa The lalitsa ( el, λαλίτσα) is a wind-blown musical instrument of Greece, widely used in Greek folk music. The flute it is Vessel flute, much like the floghera, though lalitses themselves have no finger holes. See also *Greek musical instrume ...

* Mantura *

Souravli The souravli ( el, σουραύλι; Cretan Greek: θιαμπόλι ''thiamboli'', or φιαμπόλι ''fiamboli''; Cypriot Greek: πιθκιαύλιν "pithkiavlin") is a Greek folk instrument, a type of a fipple flute made of reed or wood. It ha ...

(Thiamboli) *

Tsampouna The tsampouna (or tsambouna; el, τσαμπούνα) is a Greek musical instrument and part of the bagpipe family. It is a double- chantered bagpipe, with no drone, and is inflated by blowing by mouth into a goatskin bag. The instrument is wides ...

Zurna The zurna (Armenian language, Armenian: զուռնա zuṙna; Classical Armenian, Old Armenian: սուռնայ suṙnay; Albanian language, Albanian: surle/surla; Persian language, Persian: karna/Kornay/surnay; Macedonian language, Macedonian: з ...

Percussion instruments A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

Cochilia The Chochilia ( el, κοχύλια), are a kind of a Greek traditional auxiliary percussion instrument. They are shells from the sea, which become auxiliary musical instruments with the appropriate processing. Each chochilia has its own musical tone ...

* Crotala * Daouli *

Koudounia The Koudounia ( el, κουδούνια), are bell-like percussion instruments. Most often, they are made from copper and upon playing (that is, hitting them with a stick) they give out a special ringing sound. Originally the koudounia had been used ...

Toubeleki The toubeleki ( el, τουμπελέκι and τουμπερλέκι and ντουμπελέκι), is a kind of a Greek traditional drum musical instrument. It is usually made from metal, open at its downside and covered with a skin stretched over i ...

Trigono Trígono ( el, Τρίγωνο, , meaning "triangle") is a former municipality in the Evros regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Orestiada, of which it is a municip ...

* Tympano * Zilia

External links

Tα μουσικά όργανα των αρχαίων Eλλήνων/ancient Greek instruments
Greek culture {{Greece-stub