Bowed string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by a bow rubbing the strings. The bow rubbing the string causes

vibration Vibration is a mechanical phenomenon whereby oscillations occur about an equilibrium point. The word comes from Latin ''vibrationem'' ("shaking, brandishing"). The oscillations may be periodic, such as the motion of a pendulum—or random, su ...

which the instrument emits as sound. Despite the numerous specialist studies devoted to the origin of the bowing the problem of the origin of the bowing is unresolved Some say that the bow was introduced to Europe from the Middle East while others say the bow was not introduced from the Middle East but the other way round and that that the bow may have had its origin from a more frequent intercourse with North Europe and Western Europe The history of the violin, and other instruments played on with the bow from the remotest times to the present by Sandys, William, 1792-1874; Forster, Simon Andrew, 1801-1870
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List of bowed string instruments

Violin family

* Pochette *

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 regu ...

(violino) *

Viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

(altviol, bratsche) *

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

(violoncello) *

Double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

(contrabasso) ;Variants on the standard members of the

violin family The violin family of musical instruments was developed in Italy in the 16th century. At the time the name of this family of instruments was viole da braccio which was used to distinguish them from the viol family (viole ''da gamba''). The stand ...

include: *

Tenor violin A tenor violin (or tenor viola) is an instrument with a range between those of the cello and the viola. An earlier development of the evolution of the violin family of instruments, the instrument is not standard in the modern symphony orchestra. I ...

* Five string violin * Cello da spalla *

Baroque violin A Baroque violin is a violin set up in the manner of the baroque period of music. The term includes original instruments which have survived unmodified since the Baroque period, as well as later instruments adjusted to the baroque setup, and mode ...

Kontra , et, Kolmekeelne vioola , image= Haromhuros bracsa.png , image_capt=A ''kontra'' shown from the front and the side , background=string , hornbostel_sachs= , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= g – d – a , r ...

Kit violin The pochette is a small stringed instrument of the bowed variety. It is essentially a very small violin-like wood instrument designed to fit in a pocket, hence its common name, the "pochette" (French for ''small pocket''). Also known as a pocket ...

* Sardino * Stroh violin * Låtfiol *

Hardanger fiddle A Hardanger fiddle ( no, hardingfele) is a traditional stringed instrument considered to be the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than ...

Lira da braccio The lira da braccio (or ''lyra de bracio''Michael Praetorius. Syntagma Musicum Theatrum Instrumentorum seu Sciagraphia Wolfenbüttel 1620) was a European bowed string instrument of the Renaissance. It was used by Italian poet-musicians in court ...

Octobass The octobass is an extremely large and rare bowed string instrument that was first built around 1850 in Paris by the French luthier Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875). It has three strings and is essentially a larger version of the double bas ...

Viol family (Viola da Gamba family)

* Treble viol (treble viola da gamba) * Alto viol (alto viola da gamba) * Tenor viol (tenor viola da gamba) *

Bass viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitch ...

(bass viola da gamba) :Variants on the standard four members of the

viol The viol (), viola da gamba (), or informally gamba, is any one of a family of bowed, fretted, and stringed instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes where the tension on the strings can be increased or decreased to adjust the pitc ...

family include: *

Pardessus de viol The pardessus de viole is the highest-pitched member of the viol family of instruments. It is a bowed string instrument with either five or six strings and a fretted neck. The pardessus first appeared in the early 18th century, and was commonly p ...

Division viol The division viol is an English type of bass viol, which was originally popular in the mid-17th century, but is currently experiencing a renaissance of its own due to the movement for historically informed performance. John Playford mentions th ...

Lyra viol The lyra viol is a small bass viol, used primarily in England in the seventeenth century. Described as "the smallest of the bass viols", one should consider that the consort bass was much larger in 17th century England than most bass viols nowa ...

Baryton The baryton is a bowed string instrument similar to the viol, but distinguished by an extra set of sympathetic but also pluckable strings. It was in regular use in Europe until the end of the 18th century. Design The baryton can be viewed as a ...

Violone The term violone (; literally "large viol" in Italian, " -one" being the augmentative suffix) can refer to several distinct large, bowed musical instruments which belong to either the viol or violin family. The violone is sometimes a fretted ...

Viola d'amore The viola d'amore (; Italian for "viol of love") is a 7- or 6- stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin. Structure and sound The vio ...

* Lirone * Vihuela de arco

Lyra and rebec type

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 ...

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 K ...

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 ...

Gadulka The gadulka ( bg, гъдулка) is a traditional Bulgarian bowed string instrument. Alternate spellings are "gǎdulka", "gudulka" and "g'dulka". Its name comes from a root meaning "to make noise, hum or buzz". The gadulka is an integral part o ...

Lijerica ) * Gudok (''russian: гудок'' '' uk, гудок'') * Kemenche * Rabel (instrument) * Rabāb (Arabic الرباب) * Rebec * violin The lijerica () is a musical instrument from the Croatian region of Dalmatia and Croatian parts of eastern H ...

Ghaychak Ghaychak or Gheychak ( Persian: غیچک) is a bowed lute used in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan. The name is similar to the Central Asian ghijak, but that instrument is more closely related to the kamancheh. Double-chambered bowl lu ...

* Pochette *

Rebec The rebec (sometimes rebecha, rebeckha, and other spellings, pronounced or ) is a bowed stringed instrument of the Medieval era and the early Renaissance. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and one to five strings. Origi ...

Rabeca The rabeca or rabeca chuleira is a fiddle originating in Portugal, commonly used in Portugal, Northeastern Brazil, where it is most commonly used in Brazilian forró music, and Cape Verde. It is descended from the medieval rebec. History The rab ...

* Rebab *

Kemenche Kemenche ( tr, kemençe) or Lyra is a name used for various types of stringed bowed musical instruments originating in the Eastern Mediterranean, particularly in Armenia, Greece, Iran, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. and regions adjacent to the Black S ...

Kamancheh The kamancheh (also kamānche or kamāncha) ( fa, کمانچه, az, kamança, hy, Քամանչա, ku, کەمانچە ,kemançe) is an Iranian bowed string instrument used in Persian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Kurdish, Georgian, Turkmen, a ...

* Shah Kaman *

Kemençe of the Black Sea The Kemençe of the Black Sea ( tr, Karadeniz kemençesi, el, Ποντιακή λύρα ''Pontiakí lýra'' or ''Pontic lyre'', lzz, Çilili (ჭილილი), hy, քամանի ''Qamani'') is a Greek and Turkish traditional musical instr ...

Classical kemençe The classical ''kemenche'' ( tr, Klasik kemençe), ('pear-shaped kemenche') or ( el, πολίτικη λύρα, 'Constantinopolitan lyre') is a pear-shaped bowed instrument that derived from the medieval Greek byzantine lyre. It was mainly u ...

Chinese bowed instruments

Banhu The ''banhu'' ( 板胡, pinyin: bǎnhú) is a Chinese traditional bowed string instrument in the huqin family of instruments. It is used primarily in northern China. ''Ban'' means a piece of wood and ''hu'' is short for ''huqin''. Like the mor ...

* Daguangxian * Dahu *

Dihu The ''dihu'' ( 低胡, pinyin: dīhú) is a large bowed string instrument from China. It has a large soundbox covered on one end with snakeskin. Like most other members of the huqin family of instruments, it has two strings and is held vertically ...

Diyingehu The bass ''gehu'' (低音革胡; pinyin: ''dīyīngéhú'', ; also called ''digehu'' or ''beigehu'' 倍革胡, literally "bass ''gehu''") is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the ''huqin'' family. It was developed by Yang Yusen along with t ...

Erhu The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two- ...

Erxian The ''erxian'' ( 二弦; pinyin: èrxián; literally "two string") is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the ''huqin'' family of instruments. It has two strings and is used primarily in Cantonese music, most often in "hard string" chamber en ...

Gaohu The ''gaohu'' ( 高胡; pinyin: ''gāohú'', ; Cantonese: gou1 wu4; also called ''yuehu'' 粤胡) is a Chinese bowed string instrument developed from the ''erhu'' in the 1920s by the musician and composer Lü Wencheng (1898–1981) and use ...

Gehu The ''gehu'' ( 革胡; pinyin: géhú) is a Chinese instrument developed in the 20th century by the Chinese musician Yang Yusen ( 杨雨森, 1926–1980). It is a fusion of the Chinese huqin family and the cello. Its four strings are also ...

Huqin ''Huqin'' () is a family of bowed string instruments, more specifically, a spike fiddle popularly used in Chinese music. The instruments consist of a round, hexagonal, or octagonal sound box at the bottom with a neck attached that protrudes u ...

Jiaohu The ''jiaohu'' ( 角胡; pinyin: jiǎohú) is a Chinese bowed string instrument in the huqin family of musical instruments. Although very similar to the Jinghu and Ehru in physical structure, the Jiaohu is a traditional Chinese instrument. It is ...

* Jinghu * Jing erhu * *

Laruan The ''lāruǎn'' ( 拉阮; also spelled ''la ruan'') is a relatively new Chinese string instrument blending the acoustics of the ''ruan'' with that of the Western cello. Its larger counterpart is the ''dalaruan'' (大拉阮), which corresponds to ...

* Leiqin * Matouqin * Maguhu * Sanhu * Sihu * Tiqin * Tihu * Tuhu *

Yehu The ''yehu'' () is a bowed string instrument in the ''huqin'' family of Chinese musical instruments. ''Ye'' means coconut and ''hu'' is short for ''huqin''. It is used particularly in the southern coastal provinces of China and in Taiwan. The i ...

Yazheng The yazheng (simplified: 轧筝; traditional: 軋箏; pinyin: zházhēng; also spelled ''zha zheng'' or ''zha cheng'') is a Chinese string instrument. It is a traditional zither similar to the guzheng but bowed by scraping with a sorghum stem dust ...

* Xiqin *

Zhonghu The ''zhonghu'' (), short for ''zhongyin erhu'' () is a low-pitched Chinese bowed string instrument. Together with the erhu and gaohu, it is a member of the huqin family. It was developed in the 1940s as the alto member of the huqin family (si ...

* Zhuihu *

Zhuiqin The ''zhuihu'' ( 坠胡, pinyin: zhùihú; also called ''zhuiqin'' or ''zhuizixian'') is a two-stringed bowed string instrument from China. In construction, it resembles the ''sanxian'', and likely evolved as a bowed version of that musical instrum ...

* Wenzhenqin * Zhengni

Rosined wheel instruments

The following instruments are sounded by means of a turning wheel that acts as the bow. *

Organistrum The organistrum is an early form of hurdy-gurdy. Generally considered the ancestor of all subsequent hurdy-gurdies, the organistrum differs substantially from later instruments in that it was played by two individuals: one turned the crank while ...

Hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...

* Donskoy ryley * Dulcigurdy a.k.a. Vielle à roue et à manche *

Drejelire The drejelire is a string instrument with a keyboard, specifically, a type of hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much l ...

* Lira * tekerő * Ninera * Kaisatsuko * Violano Virtuoso *

Wheelharp The wheelharp is a musical instrument with bowed strings controlled by a keyboard and foot-controlled motor, similar to Leonardo da Vinci's viola organista, a keyboard-operated string instrument for continuously sounding strings by rubbing the stri ...

Viola organista The viola organista is a musical instrument designed by Leonardo da Vinci. It uses a friction belt to vibrate individual strings (similar to how a violin produces sounds), with the strings selected by pressing keys on a keyboard (similar to an or ...

* Harmonichord *

Bowed clavier The bowed clavier (', ' or ' in German) is a keyboard instrument strung with gut strings, the tone of which is produced by a steadily revolving, well rosined cylinder powered by a foot pedal, a mechanism similar to that found in the hurdy-gurdy. T ...

Other bowed instruments

Masenqo The Masenqo ( am, ማሲንቆ; Tigrinya: ጭራ-ዋጣ (ዋጣ) is a single-stringed bowed lute commonly found in the musical traditions of Ethiopia. As with the krar, this instrument is used by Ethiopian minstrels called '' azmaris'' ("singer ...

* Violoncello da spalla *

Ravanahatha A ravanahatha (variant names: ''ravanhatta'', ''rawanhattha'', ''ravanastron'', ''ravana hasta veena'') is an ancient bowed, stringed instrument, used in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and surrounding areas. It has been suggested as an ancestor of t ...

Ajaeng The ''ajaeng'' is a Korean string instrument. It is a wide zither with strings of twisted silk. It is played with a slender stick of forsythia wood that is drawn across the strings in the manner of a bow (music), bow. The ''ajaeng'' mainly plays ...

* Yaylı tambur * Kingri string Instrument * Shichepshin * Đàn nhị * Đàn hồ *

Đàn gáo The đàn gáo ("coconut shell fiddle") is a bowed string instrument, a part of the traditional Vietnamese orchestra. It is similar to the đàn hồ. The instrument originated from South Viet Nam, and is used in entertainment contexts. It ...

Sohaegeum The sohaegeum () is a North Korean musical instrument, developed in the 1960s. It is essentially a modernized form of the '' haegeum'' (a traditional Korean bowed vertical fiddle). ''So'' (hanja: 四) in ''sohaegeum'' means "four", because it ha ...

* Haegeum *

Kokyū The is a traditional Japanese string instrument, the only one played with a bow. A variant of the instrument also exists in Okinawa, called in Okinawan. The , like the , has its origins in Okinawa. Although it is similar to Chinese , it a ...

* sorud *

Chuurqin The ''morin khuur'' ( mn, морин хуур, morin khuur), also known as the horsehead fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered ...

* Daxophone *

Arpeggione The arpeggione is a six-stringed musical instrument fretted and tuned like a guitar, but with a curved bridge so it can be bowed like a cello, and thus similar to the bass viola da gamba. The instrument is sometimes also called a guitar violonce ...

Bowed psaltery The bowed psaltery is a type of psaltery or zither that is played with a bow. In contrast with the centuries-old plucked psaltery, the bowed psaltery appears to be a 20th-century invention. History Violin zither In 1925 a German patent was issu ...

* Bowed dulcimer *

Jouhikko The ''jouhikko'' (Finnish: �jou̯hikːo is a traditional, two- or three-stringed bowed lyre, from Finland and Karelia. Its strings are traditionally of horsehair. The playing of this instrument died out in the early 20th century but has been r ...

Talharpa The talharpa, also known as a tagelharpa (tail-hair harp) or the stråkharpa (bowed harp), is a four-stringed bowed lyre from northern Europe. It was formerly widespread in Scandinavia, but is today played mainly in Estonia, particularly among th ...

* Gue *

Vielle The vielle is a European bowed stringed instrument used in the medieval period, similar to a modern violin but with a somewhat longer and deeper body, three to five gut strings, and a leaf-shaped pegbox with frontal tuning pegs, sometimes with a ...

Giga Giga ( or ) is a unit prefix in the metric system denoting a factor of a short-scale billion or long-scale milliard (109 or ). It has the symbol G. ''Giga'' is derived from the Greek word (''gígas''), meaning "giant". The ''Oxford English Dic ...

Fiðla The ''Icelandic fiddle'' (Icelandic: fiðla �fɪðla is a traditional Icelandic instrument that can be described as a box with two brass strings which is played with a bow. The strings stretch across one end of the box to the other where they ...

Tautirut The ''tautirut'' (Inuktitut syllabics: or ''tautiruut'', also known as the Eskimo fiddle) is a bowed zither native to the Inuit culture of Canada. Lucien M. Turner described the "Eskimo violin" in 1894 as being The Canadian anthropologist Er ...

* Agiarut *

Crwth The crwth (, also called a crowd or rote or crotta) is a bowed lyre, a type of stringed instrument, associated particularly with Welsh music, now archaic but once widely played in Europe. Four historical examples have survived and are to be fo ...

* Neola *

Bowed guitar Bowed guitar is a method of playing a guitar, acoustic or electric, in which the guitarist uses a bow, rather than the more common plectrum, to vibrate the instruments' strings, similar to playing a viola da gamba. Unlike traditionally bowed ...

* Musical saw *

Morin khuur The ''morin khuur'' ( mn, морин хуур, morin khuur), also known as the horsehead fiddle, is a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is considered ...

* Gusle *

Saw duang A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mov ...

* Saw sam sai *

Saw u The ''saw u'' ( th, ซออู้, , ; also spelled ''saw ou'') is a Thai bowed string instrument. It has a lower pitch than the saw duang and is the lowest sounding of the saw family. Reliable evidence shows that pattern of the Saw U was prob ...

Salo (instrument) The salo or saw lo (Thai: สะล้อ) is a Thai spiked-fiddle with three strings (strung on 2-pegs), native to Lan Na in the north. Strung today with 3 wires for strings, but formerly had silk strings. See also *Traditional Thai musical i ...

Tro Khmer The ''tro Khmer'' () is a traditional bowed string instrument from Cambodia. Its body is made from a special type of coconut covered on one end with snake skin, and it has three strings. Instruments are not standardized, and coconuts vary in ...

Tro sau toch The ''tro'' ( km, ទ្រ) is Cambodia's traditional spike fiddles, bowed string instruments that are held and played vertically. Spike fiddles have a handle that passes through the resonator, often forming a spike, on the bottom side where it ...

Tro sau thom The ''tro'' ( km, ទ្រ) is Cambodia's traditional spike fiddles, bowed string instruments that are held and played vertically. Spike fiddles have a handle that passes through the resonator, often forming a spike, on the bottom side where it ...

Tro u The ''tro'' ( km, ទ្រ) is Cambodia's traditional spike fiddles, bowed string instruments that are held and played vertically. Spike fiddles have a handle that passes through the resonator, often forming a spike, on the bottom side where ...

huqin ''Huqin'' () is a family of bowed string instruments, more specifically, a spike fiddle popularly used in Chinese music. The instruments consist of a round, hexagonal, or octagonal sound box at the bottom with a neck attached that protrudes u ...

Sarangi The sārangī is a bowed, short-necked string instrument played in traditional music from South Asia – Punjabi folk music, Rajasthani folk music, and Boro folk music (there known as the ''serja'') – in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. It is ...

* Sarangi (Nepali) * Sarinda *

Esraj The (from the pa, ਇਸਰਾਜ) is an Indian stringed instrument found in two forms throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is a relatively recent instrument, being only about 300 years old. It is found in North India, primarily Punjab, whe ...

Nyckelharpa A nyckelharpa (, "keyed fiddle", or literally "key harp", plural ) is the national musical instrument of Sweden. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to chang ...

(Swedish keyed fiddle) *

Gudok The gudok (, russian: гудок), gudochek (, russian: гудочек) is an ancient Eastern Slavic string musical instrument, played with a bow.

Kobyz The Kobyz ( kk, қобыз, ''Qobyz''; ba, ҡумыҙ; tt-Cyrl, кубыз) or ''kylkobyz'' ( kk, қылқобыз, ''qylqobyz''; ba, ҡыл ҡумыҙ; tt-Cyrl, кылкубыз) is an ancient Turkic bowed string instrument, spread among Ka ...

Sorahi The Sorahi (Persian صراحی) is a new Iranian musical instrument. A member of the family of bowed string instruments developed by the Iranian musician M. R. Shajarian, This string instrument can cover the sound range produced by soprano, alto, ...

* Byzaanchy *

Igil The ''igil'' ( Tuvan: игил) is a two- stringed Tuvan musical instrument, played by bowing the strings. (It is called "ikili" in Western Mongolia.) The neck and lute-shaped sound box are usually made of a solid piece of pine or larch. The ...

* Imzad * Umbang

References

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