Renaissance (1400-1699)
26 instruments
Guitar
Over 50 million guitars sold annually worldwide. The classical guitar has nylon strings, t...
Violin
The queen of instruments. Antonio Stradivari violins sell for over 15 million dollars. Ove...
Cello
The closest instrument to the human voice according to many. Four strings tuned CGDA. The ...
Trombone
The only brass instrument that uses a slide instead of valves. Seven slide positions creat...
French Horn
Over 20 feet of tubing coiled into a compact shape. The most difficult brass instrument to...
Banjo
Origins trace to African instruments like the akonting. Popularized in American minstrel s...
Oboe
The orchestra tunes to the oboe A. Double reed instrument with a distinctive penetrating t...
Bassoon
Eight feet of wooden tubing folded in half. Double reed larger than an oboe reed. Over 20 ...
Marimba
Originated in Africa, developed in Central America. Wooden bars with resonator tubes under...
Timpani
Also called kettledrums. The only drum with definite pitch. A pedal changes the pitch by a...
Shamisen
A three-stringed lute with a square body covered in skin. Played with a large plectrum cal...
Viola da Gamba
A bowed string instrument played between the legs. Six or seven strings with frets. The mo...
Harpsichord
The dominant keyboard instrument before the piano. Strings are plucked by quills, not stru...
Clavichord
The most intimate keyboard instrument. Tangents strike the strings directly. The volume is...
Hardanger Fiddle
Norways national instrument. Eight strings, four are played and four are sympathetic. Deco...
Bodhran
The heartbeat of Irish traditional music. A frame drum played with a double-ended stick ca...
Alphorn
A wooden horn up to 12 feet long. Made from two halves of spruce bound together. The natur...
Cornett
Not a cornet. A curved wooden instrument with finger holes and a cup mouthpiece. The most ...
Serpent
A bass wind instrument shaped like a snake. Made of wood covered in leather. Finger holes ...
Viola
The middle voice of the string family. Larger than the violin with a deeper tone. Four str...
Double Bass
The largest and lowest string instrument. Over 6 feet tall. Four or five strings tuned in ...
Viola dAmore
The viola of love. Seven playing strings plus seven sympathetic strings. The flame-shaped ...
Shekere
A gourd covered in a net of beads or shells. Shaken or struck for different sounds. Over 6...
Erke
A large trumpet from the Andes. Made from a single long cane tube with a cow horn bell. Ov...
Chenda
A cylindrical drum from Kerala, India. Over 1,500 years of tradition. Used in Kathakali da...
Tanpura
A drone instrument essential to Indian classical music. Four or five strings tuned to the ...