Cordophones

Cordophones are a broad family of musical instruments in which sound is produced by a vibrating string or strings stretched between fixed endpoints. The vibrating strings may be plucked, bowed, or struck, and in keyboard instruments the strings are typically sounded by hammers. The resonant body, soundboard, or frame amplifies the vibration, contributing to timbre and volume. In the Hornbostel-Sachs system, chordophones form one of the principal instrument categories.

Strings on cordophones may be made from gut, silk, metal, or synthetic materials such as nylon. Pitch is determined by string length, tension, and mass, while the instrument’s construction—neck, body, and bridge arrangement—shapes its timbre and volume.

The main subgroups include lutes, zithers, and harps. Lutes have a neck and a hollow body, with strings running along the neck and typically plucked or strummed (examples include the guitar, lute, mandolin, and sitar). Zithers feature strings stretched across a flat or curved board, often without a distinct neck (examples include the dulcimer, kantele, koto, and guzheng). Harps have strings attached to a frame and run perpendicular to the soundboard, ranging from small folk harps to large concert harps. Keyboard instruments with strings, such as the piano, harpsichord, and clavichord, are also classified as chordophones because their sound results from vibrating strings.

Cordophones are found in nearly all musical cultures and play a central role in many traditions, from ancient lute music to contemporary guitar and violin repertoire. Notable examples include the violin family, guitars, pianos, sitars, erhu, guqin, and koto.