Chordophones

Category of musical instruments in which the generator of sound is a vibrating stretched string.  There are five basic types including:  A) Harp; B) Lute; C) Lyre; D) Musical Bow; E) Zither.

Sometimes these terms can be combined (such as “bow-harp” or “harp-lute”) or extended (such as “pluri-arch” meaning ‘many bows’).  They may also be identified by how they are played:  Bowed – Plucked – Struck – Strummed.  Chordophones are one of the four main categories in the the original Erick von Hornbostel – Curt Sachs scheme of musical instrument classifications.