7-448: The lavta is a plucked string music instrument from Istanbul . The Politiko Laouto 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 like an oud but it has only 7 strings in 4 courses and is tuned D AA dd aa, it is also sometimes tuned to Turkish Bolahenk tuning C G D A. The adjustable frets are made from tied bits of gut on
14-545: A neck ; the strings run along the neck and can be stopped at different pitches. The zither family (including the Qanún/kanun , autoharp , kantele , gusli , kannel , kankles , kokles , koto , guqin , gu zheng and many others) does not have a neck, and the strings are stretched across the soundboard. In the harp family (including the lyre ), the strings are perpendicular to the soundboard and do not run across it. The harpsichord does not fit any of these categories but
21-444: Is also a plucked string instrument, as its strings are struck with a plectrum when the keys are depressed. Bowed string instruments, such as the violin , can also be plucked in the technique known as pizzicato ; however, as they are usually played with a bow , they are not included in this category. Struck string instruments (such as the piano ) can be similarly plucked as an extended technique . Plucked string instruments are not
28-407: The strings . Plucking is a way of pulling and releasing the string in such a way as to give it an impulse that causes the string to vibrate. Plucking can be done with either a finger or a plectrum . Most plucked string instruments belong to the lute family (such as guitar , bass guitar , mandolin , banjo , balalaika , sitar , pipa , etc.), which generally consist of a resonating body, and
35-603: The violin , with 3 on the right side and 4 on the left side of the open tuning head. Known as a lavuta ( լավութա ) in Armenian, also occasionally called Politiko Laouto (Lute from Constantinople ) in Greek , is an instrument that was popular in the early 20th century, particularly among the Greek and Armenian communities of Istanbul, but also the Turkish community, it was one of the many instruments played by noted Turk Tanburi Cemil Bey . It
42-448: The fingerboard, at the microtonal intervals of the makam system. This is more closely related to instruments like tanbur than to the fretless oud and the 12-frets of the octave laouto . The bridge usually has peacock-shaped ends. The fingerboard is flush with the soundboard, is often unvarnished, and has a carved and inlaid rosette. The politiko laouto have a pegbox like the oud (angling down), The tuning pegs are shaped like those of
49-522: Was gradually replaced by the oud and survived until this day. From the 1980s there has been a revival of interest in this instrument, and now It is possibile to find the lavta again both in Turkey and in Greece. Right hand technique is similar to an oud, with a long thin plectrum. Plucked string instrument Plucked string instruments are a subcategory of string instruments that are played by plucking
#839160