Now updated for CSW19. New words, if any, and new inflections of existing words, are shown in red.
| accordion | a musical instrument played by squeezing. |
| aerophone | any wind instrument. |
| aerophore | a device for playing a wind instrument. |
| alpenhorn alphorn | a long powerful horn used by Alpine cowherds. |
| althorn | an instrument of the saxhorn family, used exclusively in military music, often replacing the French horn. |
| angklung anklong anklung | a musical instrument of S. Asia, composed of bamboo tubes. |
| antara | a type of Andean panpipes. [Am. Sp. from Quechua]. |
| apollonicon | a gigantic barrel organ, partly automatic. |
| archlute | a large double-necked bass lute. |
| armonica harmonica | a mouth-organ; also, an instrument composed of a soundbox and hanging strips of glass or metal, struck by a hammer. |
| arpeggione | an early 19th century bowed stringed instrument. |
| atabal | a cylindrical double-headed bass drum of the Basque region. |
| aulos | an ancient Greek wind instrument > AULOI. |
| autoharp | a zither with a keyboard chord-making mechanism which mutes unwanted strings. |
| bagpipe | a wind instrument consisting of a bag fitted with pipes, usu consisting of a chanter and some drones. |
| bagpiping | playing the bagpipe. N.B. there is no BAGPIPED*. |
| balafon | a musical instrument of Africa. |
| banjolele | a four-stringed musical instrument with a neck like a ukulele and a body like a banjo. |
| balalaika | a Russian musical instrument, like a guitar, with triangular body and three strings. |
| bandoleon bandoneon bandonion | a kind of button accordion popular in S. America. |
| bandore bandora pandora pandore pandura | an ancient lute. |
| bandura | a Ukrainian twelve-stringed instrument of the lute family. |
| banjo | a stringed musical instrument with a head and neck like a guitar and a body like a tambourine, played with the fingers or with a plectrum > BANJOS or BANJOES. |
| banjulele | a small banjo with gut strings. |
| baryton | a kind of SAXOPHONE. |
| bassoon | a large woodwind instrument formed of a long jointed wooden pipe. |
| bazouki bousouki bouzouki buzuki | a Greek long-necked lute with 3 or 4 double courses of metal strings. |
| beatbox | a drum machine; (verb) to use a beatbox > BEATBOXED. |
| berimbau | a Brazilian single-stringed bowed instrument, used to accompany CAPOEIRA > BERIMBAUS. |
| bichord | of a musical instruments, having two strings, especially two strings for each note. |
| biniou | a small high-pitched Breton bagpipe > BINIOUS. |
| bodhran | a shallow one-side drum used in Gaelic music. The 'dh' is silent. |
| bombarde | an alto wind instrument similar to the oboe. |
| bombardon | a brass instrument, the lowest of the saxhorns, in tone resembling the ophicleide. |
| bourdon | the drone bass of a bagpipe or organ. |
| bousouki | see BAZOUKI. |
| bouzouki | see BAZOUKI. |
| buccina | a Roman curved trumpet > BUCCINAS. |
| bugle | a treble instrument with or without keys, usu made of copper, similar to the trumpet, but having the bell less expanded; (verb) to play the bugle. |
| buglet | a small bugle. |
| bullroarer | a wooden slat attached to a thong that makes a roaring sound when the thong is whirled: used esp. by native Australians in religious rites. |
| buzuki | see BAZOUKI. |
| calliope | a keyboard instrument similar to an organ, driven by steam. [From Calliope, the Muse that presides over eloquence and heroic poetry; mother of Orpheus, and chief of the nine Muses]. |
| capodastro capotastro | a moveable bridge secured over the fingerboard and strings of a guitar > CAPODASTROS, CAPOTASTROS. |
| carillon | a chime of bells diatonically tuned, played by clockwork or by finger keys; (verb) to play a chime of bells > CARILLONED/CARILLONNED. |
| carnyx | a long war trumpet used by the Celts. |
| castanet | either of a pair of hollow shell-shaped pieces of ivory or hard wood, bound by a band on the thumb, and struck by the finger to produce a clicking sound used as an accompaniment to Spanish dances and guitars. |
| celesta | a keyboard with bell-like tones. |
| celeste | a soft pedal on a piano. |
| cello | a stringed musical instrument, in full VIOLONCELLO > CELLOS or CELLI. |
| cembalo | a harpsichord > CEMBALOS or CEMBALI. |
| chalumeau | an early rustic reed instrument that developed into the clarinet; now used to refer to the low register of the clarinet > CHALUMEAUX. |
| chanterelle | the treble string of a musical instrument, such as a violin or lute. |
| charango | a small S. American ten-stringed instrument, made from the shell of an armadillo > CHARANGOS. |
| chevalet | the bridge of a stringed instrument. |
| chitarrone | a large lute-like instrument with a long neck > CHITARRONI. |
| chordophone | any instrument in which a string vibrates to produce a sound. |
| cimbalom | a hammered dulcimer, native to Hungary. |
| cithara kithara | an ancient Greek musical instrument like a lyre. |
| cither cithern cithren cittern | an instrument shaped like a lute, but strung with wire and played with a quill or plectrum. |
| citola citole | an early form of the CITHER. |
| cittern | see CITHER. |
| clairschach clarsach | a Scottish folk harp. |
| clarabella | an organ stop having a sweet fluty tone. |
| claribella | an organ stop having a sweet fluty tone. Also CLARABELLA. |
| clarichord clavichord | a old musical instrument, formerly in use, in the form of a spinet. |
| clarinet | a wind instrument, blown by a single reed. |
| clarino | a reed stop in an organ > CLARINI or CLARINOS. |
| clarion | a musical instrument, a trumpet; (verb) to sound a note on a mediaeval trumpet. |
| clarionet | clarinet. |
| clarsach | see CLAIRSHEACH. |
| clavecin | the harpsichord. |
| clavicembalo | a harpsichord > CLAVICEMBALOS. |
| clavichord | see CLARICHORD. |
| clavicytherium | harpsichord-like musical instrument > CLAVICYTHERIA. |
| clavier klavier | the keyboard of a musical instrument; a stringed keyboard instrument, esp the clavichord or the pianoforte. |
| claxon klaxon | a loud mechanical horn. |
| cobza | a Romanian folk instrument. |
| concertina | a (usu hexagonal) musical instrument consisting of a pair of bellows; (verb) to fold up like a concertina. |
| contrabass contrabasso contrabbasso counterbase | the double bass. |
| contrabassoon | a musical instrument playing an octave below the bassoon. |
| contrafagotto | another name for the CONTRABASSOON > CONTRAFAGOTTOS or CONTRAFAGOTTI. |
| cornemuse | a French mouth blown bagpipe with chanter and small drone in one stock, and a separate large drone. |
| cornet | a treble brass valve instrument, more tapering than the trumpet; also, an old woodwind instrument, in latter sense with variant CORNETT. |
| cornett | see CORNET. |
| cornettino | an instrument of the cornet family > CORNETTINI or CORNETTINOS. |
| cornetto | an old woodwind instrument, now revived for performances of early music > CORNETTI or CORNETTOS. |
| corno | the French horn > CORNOS. |
| cornopean | an obsolete name for the cornet-a-piston. |
| cornpipe | a musical instrument made of a stalk of oat or other cereal. |
| cowbell | a bell hung round the neck of a cow. |
| cremona cremorne cromorna cromorne crumhorn krumhorn krummhorn | an ancient double-reed wind instrument. |
| crotale | a small cymbal. |
| crotalum | a clapper or castanet used in ancient religious rites > CROTALA. |
| crumhorn | see CREMONA. |
| crwth | an old Celtic musical instrument. [Welsh crwth]. |
| cuatro | a small guitar-like instrument of Latin America. |
| curtal | an early form of the BASSOON. |
| cymbal | a musical instrument. |
| cymbalo | the dulcimer > CYMBALOES or CYMBALOS. |
| cymbalom | a kind of zither, used in Hungary. |
| daiko taiko | a large Japanese drum. |
| decachord | an old ten-stringed musical instrument. |
| dhol | a large cylindrical drum used in Indian music. |
| dholak | a two-headed Indian drum. |
| diapason | a foundation-stop of an organ (open or stopped diapason) extending through its whole range; also, the whole range or compass of tones. |
| dichord | a musical instrument with two strings. Cf. BICHORD, but BICHORD is adjectival only. |
| didgeridoo didjeridoo didjeridu | a native Australian musical instrument. |
| digitorium | a silent piano for practicing > DIGITORIUMS. |
| dital | a thumb key for sharpening a lute or guitar string by a semitone. |
| djembe | a W. African drum played by beating with the hand. |
| dobro | a type of acoustic guitar with a metal resonator built into the body > DOBROS. |
| dolce | a soft-toned organ stop > DOLCES. |
| drone | the bass-pipe of a BAGPIPE. |
| droome | (Spenser) a drum. |
| drum | a percussion instrument, a skin stretched on a frame; (verb) to play a drum, make a sound like a drum. |
| drumbeat | the sound of a drum. |
| drumhead | the stretched skin or membrane of a drum. |
| drumlike | like a drum. |
| drumroll | a series of notes on a drum. |
| drumstick | a stick with which a drum is beaten. |
| dulcet | a soft-toned organ stop. |
| dulcian | a small bassoon. |
| dulciana | an open diapason organ stop of pleasing tone and small scale. |
| dulcimer dulcimore | a musical instrument like a flat box, with sounding board and wires stretched across bridges. |
| embouchure | the position and use of the lips in producing a musical tone on a wind instrument. |
| erhu | A Chinese two-stringed musical instrument, played with a bow. |
| euphon | a form of glass harmonica. [Gk. euphonia, from eu, well + phone, sound]. |
| euphonium | a musical instrument like a tuba but with somewhat higher pitch > EUPHONIUMS. |
| fagotto | a bassoon > FAGOTTI or FAGOTTOS. |
| fallboard | a cover for a piano keyboard. |
| fiddlestick | a violin bow; (interj.) nonsense. |
| fife | a high-pitched flute; (verb) to play a fife. |
| fingerboard | the part of a violin, etc against which the strings are stopped by the fingers. |
| fingerhole | a hole in a wind instrument for putting the fingers in to modify the pitch. |
| fipple | a plug in the mouthpiece of a wind instrument. |
| flageolet | a small flute or recorder with two thumb holes; a kind of bean. |
| fluegelhorn | a musical instrument. |
| fluework | the flue pipes collectively. |
| flugel | a grand piano or a harpsichord, both being wing-shaped. |
| flugelhorn | a bugle with valves. |
| flute | a wind instrument, esp either of two types consisting of a wooden or metal tube with holes stopped by the fingertips or by keys; (verb) to play the flute. |
| flutelike | like a flute. |
| flutina | a kind of accordion. |
| fluty | like a flute in tone > FLUTIER, FLUTIEST. |
| flutey | like a flute in tone > FLUTEYER, FLUTEYEST. |
| fortepiano | the 18C name for an early type of piano. |
| fretboard | a fingerboard with frets on a stringed musical instrument. |
| fretless | of a musical instrument, without frets. |
| fuzzbox | an electronic device used to distort the sound of eg an electric guitar. |
| fuzztone | a device for distorting the sound of an electric guitar. |
| gamba | (abbrev. of) viola da gamba; also, an organ-stop of stringlike quality. |
| gaita | a Spanish bagpipe. |
| gamelan | an instrument resembling a xylophone. |
| gazoo gazooka kazoo | a musical instrument consisting of a tube that makes a humming sound when breathed into. |
| gedact gedeckt | a flutelike organ stop. |
| gemshorn | a chamois horn; an early wind instrument. |
| gittarone | an acoustic bass guitar > GITTARONES. |
| gittern | an early plucked gut-stringed musical instrument of the guitar kind; (verb) to play on the GITTERN. |
| gju gu gue | a kind of violin formerly used in the Shetlands. [ON gigja]. |
| glockenspiel | a musical instrument, a set of bells. [G. Glocken, bells, + Spiel, play]. |
| gong | a metal disc, usu rimmed, that sounds when struck or rubbed with a drumstick; (verb) to summon by sounding a gong. |
| gonglike | like a gong. |
| gu | see GJU. |
| gue | see GJU. |
| guqin qin | a kind of Chinese zither with silken strings. |
| guimbard | a Jew's-harp. |
| guiro | a notched gourd used as a percussion instrument in Latin America > GUIROS. |
| guitar | a fretted musical instrument, usu six-stringed with a waisted body and a flat back. |
| gusla gusle gusli | a one-stringed Balkan musical instrument. |
| gutbucket | a home-made bass fiddle with a single string. |
| handbell | a bell held in the hand and played by shaking. |
| harmonica | see ARMONICA. |
| harmonicon | a small, flat, wind instrument, in which the notes are produced by the vibration of free metallic reeds. |
| harmoniphon harmoniphone | a keyboard wind instrument with reeds. |
| harmonium | a keyboard instrument in which reeds are made to vibrate by air from a pedal-operated bellows. |
| harp | a musical instrument played by plucking strings stretched from a curved neck to an inclined soundboard; (verb) to play the harp. |
| harpsichord | a musical instrument. |
| hautboy | an archaic name for OBOE. (Also a large kind of strawberry, with variant HAUTBOIS or HAUBOIS). |
| heckelphone | an instrument of the OBOE family. |
| helicon | a large circular brass tuba that fits around the player's shoulder. |
| humbucker | a twin-coil guitar pickup. |
| humstrum | a hurdy-gurdy or other musical instrument. |
| idiophone | a percussion instrument made of naturally resonant material. |
| idiophonic | relating to an IDIOPHONE, a percussion instrument, such as a cymbal or xylophone, made of naturally sonorous material. |
| joanna | a PIANO. |
| kalimba | a musical instrument played with the thumbs, consisting of metal strips along a small hollow piece of wood. |
| kantela kantele | a kind of zither. |
| kaval | a kind of flute played in the Balkans. |
| kazoo | see GAZOO. |
| kettledrum | a drum made of thin copper in the form of a hemispherical kettle, with parchment stretched over the mouth of it. |
| keybugle | a bugle with keys. |
| kit | a small pocket violin. |
| kithara | see CITHARA. |
| klavier | see CLAVIER. |
| klaxon | see CLAXON. |
| kora | a West African musical instrument. |
| koto | a kind of musical instrument > KOTOS. |
| krumhorn | see CREMONA. |
| krummhorn | see CREMONA. |
| lagerphone | a percussion instrument using the tops of beer bottles to make a jingling noise when struck or shaken. |
| langspel langspiel langspil | an old Shetland cithern. |
| lituus | a J-shaped Roman trumpet > LITUUSES. |
| lur | a Bronze Age trumpet. |
| lutelike | like a lute. |
| lyra | as in lyra viol, a lutelike instrument forerunner of the mandolin. No —S. |
| lyre | a musical instrument like the harp, used esp in ancient Greece as an accompaniment to poetry. |
| lyricon | an electronic wind instrument like a large obverse flute. |
| mandola mandora | an ancient lute, a large MANDOLINE. |
| mandolin mandoline | a musical instrument of the lute kind. |
| mandora | see MANDOLA. |
| manzello | a musical instrument like the soprano saxophone > MANZELLOS. |
| maraca | a kind of gourd, used as a musical instrument. |
| marimba | an instrument resembling a xylophone. [African origin]. |
| mbira | an African musical instrument played with the thumbs. |
| mellophone | a brass wind instrument resembling the French horn. |
| mellotron | an electronic keyboard instrument programmed to produce the tape-recorder sounds of orchestral insruments. |
| melodeon melodion | a small reed organ. |
| melodia | a type of organ stop. |
| melodica | a small wind instrument with a mouthpiece at one end and a keyboard. [Portmanteau of MELODEON + HARMONICA]. |
| melodion | see MELODEON. |
| metallophone | an instrument like a xylophone with metal bars, the hammers being operated by hand or by means of a keyboard. |
| metronome | a mechanical device which indicates the exact tempo of a piece of music by producing a clicking sound from a pendulum with an adjustable period of swing. |
| mirliton | a musical instrument resembling a kazoo; any instrument in which a sound is given a nasal quality by means of a vibrating membrane. |
| monochord | a musical instrument having only one string. |
| montre | the visible pipes of an organ, usu. the open diapason. |
| mortbell | a funeral bell. |
| mridamgam mridang mridanga mridangam | a two-headed Indian drum, one head being larger than the other. |
| musette | a small bagpipe formerly in use, having a soft and sweet tone. |
| naker | a kettle-drum. |
| nasard | an organ mutation stop. |
| nebel | a Hebrew instrument, apparently a harp. |
| ngoma | a type of drum. |
| oboe | a double-reed treble woodwind instrument. |
| ocarina | an egg-shaped flute-like wind instrument. [Ital. ocarina, dim. of oca, goose]. |
| octachord | an instrument of eight strings; a system of eight tones. |
| oompahpah | imitating the sound of a tuba. |
| ophicleide | a bass bugle-like keyed brass musical instrument. |
| orchestrina orchestrion | a name given to various keyboard or barrel organ instruments designed to imitate an orchestra. |
| organistrum | an early musical instrument resembling the hurdy-gurdy. |
| orpharion orphareon | a large lute-like stringed instrument with six to nine metal strings. [From Orpheus and Arion, mythical musicians]. |
| ottavino | the PICCOLO > OTTAVINOS. |
| oud | a stringed instrument of Northern Africa, akin to the lute. |
| pandora | see BANDORA. |
| pandore | see BANDORA. |
| pandura | see BANDORA. |
| panharmonicon | a mechanical musical instrument mimicking an orchestra. |
| panpipe | a musical instrument. |
| pantaleon | a kind of large dulcimer with one or two hundred strings of metal and gut. |
| pavillon | the bell of a wind instrument. [Fr. pavillon, pavilion]. |
| pedalier | a pedal-board attached to a piano for the base strings. |
| pegbox | the part of some stringed instruments that holds the tuning pegs. |
| pennywhistle | a cheap toy whistle orig. sold for a penny. |
| pentachord | an ancient musical instrument with five strings. |
| phonofiddle | a one-stringed musical instrument which emits sounds through a metal amplifying horn. |
| phorminx | a kind of lyre used by the Greeks > PHORMINGES. |
| photophone | an apparatus for the production of sound by the action of rays of light. |
| photophony | the art or practice of using the PHOTOPHONE. |
| pianette | a small upright piano. |
| pianino | a small piano, a PIANETTE > PIANINOS. |
| piano | a PIANOFORTE. |
| pianoforte | a large keyboard musical instrument having metal strings struck by hammers and stopped by dampers, with two or three pedals to regulate the volume or length of the notes. [Ital. piano, soft, + forte, loud]. |
| pianola | a type of piano player. |
| pianoless | lacking a piano. |
| piccolo | a small, shrill flute, the pitch of which is an octave higher than the ordinary flute > PICCOLOS. |
| piffero | a type of oboe, a SHAWM; also, a bagpipe with an inflated sheepskin for the reservoir > PIFFEROS. |
| pitchbend | a device that enables a player to bend the pitch of a note on a synthesiser. |
| pitchpipe | a small pipe used to pitch the voice or tune strings. |
| plectre plectron plectrum | a pick for stringed instruments. The pl. of PLECTRUM is PLECTRA or PLECTRUMS. |
| plinky | Of a high pitched sound from a stringed instrument when plucked > PLINKIER, PLINKIEST. |
| ponticello | the bridge of a stringed instrument. |
| poogye | the nose flute of the Hindus. [Hindi pugi]. |
| portative | a portable organ. |
| posaune | the trombone. |
| positif | a feature on older organs, manually controlling soft stops. |
| psaltery psaltry | an ancient stringed musical instrument. |
| pulsatile pulsative | of musical instruments, played by percussion. |
| pulsatively | (adv.) PULSATIVE, of musical instruments, played by percussion. |
| pyramidon | an organ-stop with pipes like inverted pyramids. |
| pyrophone | an organ producing interference-tones by pairs of flames in tubes. |
| qin | see GUQIN. |
| quena | a type of bamboo flute from the Andes. |
| quint | a five-stringed tenor viol. |
| rackett | an old wind instrument of the double bassoon kind, having VENTAGES but not keys. |
| rainstick | a musical instrument consisting of a tube filled with sand or pebbles, which is inverted to produce a sound. |
| rastrum | a music-pen. |
| rebec rebeck | a medieval musical instrument like a mandolin or viol. |
| reedstop | an organ stop that is made up of or that controls a rank of reed pipes. |
| regal | a small portable organ. |
| requintoTD> | a type of small guitar. |
| rhombos | a bull-roarer > RHOMBOI. |
| ribibe ribible | a small three-stringed viol; a REBEC. A RIBIBE can also mean 'an old crone'. |
| rimshot | the deliberate simultaneous striking of skin and rim of drum. |
| rotte | a mediaeval stringed instrument. |
| sacbut sackbut sagbut | a mediaeval music instrument. |
| salicet salicional | an organ stop with a tone like a willow pipe. |
| sambuca sambuke | an ancient triangular stringed instrument. |
| samisen shamisen | a banjo-like Japanese 3-stringed instrument. |
| sancho sanko | a West African guitar > SANCHOS, SANKOS. |
| sang | a Chinese organ played by mouth. |
| sanko | see SANCHO. |
| sansa zanza zanze | an African musical instrument, aka MBIRA. |
| santir santour santur santoor | an Eastern dulcimer. |
| sarangi | an Indian stringed insrument, played like a fiddle. |
| sarod sarode | an Indian instrument like a cello. |
| sarrusophone | a double-reeded musical instrument resembling the bassoon. |
| saxhorn | a brass wind instrument with a long winding tube and a bell opening. [From Antoine or Adolphe Sax]. |
| saxophone | a jazz and dance band instrument with a reed, an S-shaped (properly metal) tube, and about twenty finger-keys. |
| saxtuba | a large bass SAXHORN. |
| saz | a stringed instrument of Turkey and the Middle East > SAZES or SAZZES. |
| seraphine | a kind of small reed organ or harmonium. |
| serinette | a small barrel-organ for training songbirds. |
| sesquialter | a mixture stop on an organ. |
| shakuhachi | a Japanese bamboo flute. |
| shalm shawm | an ancient oboe-like musical instrument. |
| shamisen | see SAMISEN. |
| shawm | see SHALM. |
| shehnai shenai | a double-reed wind instrument of India. |
| shofar shophar | a ram's horn trumpet used in Jewish ceremonies > SHOFARS or SHOFROTH; SHOPHARS or SHOPHROTH. |
| sistrum | a kind of rattle, consisting of a wooden or metal frame fitted with loose strips of metal and disks which jingled when moved > SISTRA or SISTRUMS. |
| sitar sittar | an Indian musical instrument. [Urdu sitar, f. sih three + tar string]. |
| sonometer | a musical instrument having only one string, aka MONOCHORD. |
| sordine sordino sourdine | a mute or damper. The plural of SORDINO is SORDINI. |
| soundpost | a small post on guitars, violins etc. that joins the front surface to the back. |
| sourdeline | a small bagpipe. |
| sousaphone | a musical instrument similar to a tuba. |
| spinet spinette spinnet | a musical instrument like a small harpsichord. |
| squiffer | a concertina. |
| sticcado sticcato | an instrument like a xylophone > STICCADOS or STICCADOES; STICCATOS or STICCATOES. |
| stockhorn | a primitive Scottish musical instrument made of a cow's horn, a sheep's thigh bone or elder pipe, with stops and a single reed. |
| strad | a violin made by Stradivarius. |
| stylophone | a type of battery-powered electronic instrument played with a steel-tipped penlike stylus. |
| subbass | a pedal stop producing the lowest note on an organ. |
| surbahar | an Indian stringed instrument, larger than a sitar. |
| swazzle swozzle | an instrument consisting of two convex pieces of metal, placed in the mouth to make the voice of Mr Punch. |
| symbole | a cymbal. |
| symphonion | a combination of piano and harmonium. |
| taber tabor tabour | a light medieval drum buckled onto the player's chest; (verb) to play on this. |
| tabla | an Indian percussion instrument, a pair of small drums. |
| taborin taborine | , tabourin a small drum longer in body than the TABOR. |
| tabour | see TABER. |
| tabourin | see TABORIN. |
| taiko | see DAIKO. |
| tambour | a drum of various types; a circular embroidery frame; (verb) to embroider on a tambour. |
| tamboura tambur tambura | an Eastern stringed instrument, used to produce a drone. |
| tambourin | a long, narrow, Provencal drum; a two-beat dance style, accompanied by a tambourin. |
| tambourine | a shallow single-headed drum with jingles fitted round its rim, played on by beating or tapping with the hand. |
| tambur | see TAMBOURA. |
| tambura | see TAMBOURA. |
| tamburin | (Spenser) a tambourine. |
| tassa | a large Indian kettledrum worn hanging round the neck. |
| tenoroon | an obsolete tenor bassoon. |
| theorbo | a double-necked lute > THEORBOS. [Ital. tiorba]. |
| theremin | an electronic musical instrument. [From Léon Thérémin (b. 1896), Russian engineer, its inventor]. |
| thumbpiece | a piece that is pressed by the thumb or receives the thumb. |
| timbale tymbal | a kind of kettledrum. |
| timbrel | a kind of drum, tabor, or tabret, in use from the highest antiquity. |
| timpano tympano | a kettledrum; -- chiefly used in the plural TIMPANI or TYMPANI to denote the kettledrums of an orchestra. |
| timps | = TIMPANI, small drums. N.B. no TIMP*. |
| tirasse | a pedal-coupler in an organ. |
| tonette | a kind of simple flute. |
| trem | a lever on an electric guitar for producing a tremolo. |
| triangle | a musical instrument of percussion, formed of a steel rod bent in a triangle form. |
| trichord | an instrument, as a lyre or harp, having three strings. |
| trombone | a brass musical wind instrument, consisting of a tube bent twice on itself, with a slide. |
| trumpet | an orchestral, military and signalling wind instrument of powerful and brilliant tone; (verb) to make a sound of or as of a trumpet. |
| trumpetlike | resembling a trumpet. |
| tuba | an ancient trumpet > TUBAS or TUBAE. |
| tundun turndun | an Australian bull-roarer, an oblong slip of wood, whirled at the end of a string to give a loud whirring noise. |
| tymbal | see TIMBAL. |
| tympan | any drum-like instrument; a TYMPANUM. |
| tympano | see TIMPANO. |
| uillean uilleann | as in uillean pipes, a kind of bagpipes developed in Ireland and operated by squeezing bellows under the arm. |
| uke ukelele ukulele | a small four-stringed guitar originating in Hawaii but developed from an earlier Portuguese instrument. [Hawaiian 'jumping flea']. |
| veena vina | an Indian stringed instrument. |
| ventage ventige | a finger-hole, as in a flute. |
| ventil | a valve for giving sounds intermediate between the open harmonics in wind instruments. |
| vibraharp vibraphone | an instrument having metal bars under which are electrically-operated resonators, played by striking the bars with small hammers. |
| victrola | a type of gramophone. |
| vielle | a French name for the Hurdy Gurdy, a mechanical development of the violin (also once known as a Vielle) with the strings vibrated by a wheel, and keys stopping the strings. |
| vihuela | an old Spanish musical instrument related to the guitar. |
| vina | see VEENA. |
| viol | any member of a class of stringed instruments, forerunners of the violin class. |
| viola | a tenor fiddle, slightly bigger than the violin, tuned a fifth lower. |
| violin | the smallest of the modern stringed instruments with four strings tuned in fifths, held under the chin and played with a bow. |
| violoncello | a musical instrument, aka CELLO > VIOLONCELLI or VIOLONCELLOS. |
| violone | a double-bass viol > VIOLONES. |
| virginal | a small, legless, 16th and 17th C. harp; (verb) to play on the virginal. |
| vocalion | a musical instrument resembling a harmonium. |
| vuvuzela | a South African instrument blown by football fans. |
| waldflute | an organ flute stop of 4 feet in length. |
| waldhorn | a French valveless hunting horn. |
| windbell | a light bell made to be sounded by the wind. |
| wippen | the part of a piano hammer raised when a note is played. |
| wokka | as in wokka board, a piece of fibreboard used as a musical instrument. |
| woodwind | any orchestral wind instrument other than the brass instruments. |
| xylophone | a musical percussion instrument consisting of a graduated series of wooden bars, usu. played by striking with two small round-ended hammers. |
| xylorimba | a combination of xylophone and marimba. |
| yidaki | a long wooden wind instrument played by the Aboriginal people of Arnhem Land > YIDAKIS. |
| zambomba | a Spanish musical instrument consisting of parchment over a jar. |
| zampogna | an Italian bagpipe with 2 drones and 2 conical chanters, all in one stock. |
| zanza | see SANSA. |
| zanze | see SANSA. |
| zel | an Oriental cymbal. |
| zeze | a stringed musical instrument of Africa. |
| zill | one of a pair of finger cymbals. |
| zinke | an old wind instrument, like a cornet. |
| zither zithern | a musical instrument of strings stretched over a horizontal sounding board and plucked with a plectrum. |
| zuffolo zufolo | a small flute used to train songbirds > ZUFFOLI, ZUFOLI or ZUFOLOS. |