Folk and World Music Instruments
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
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Saarangi - See sarangi.
Sabar - a Wolof orchestra of five to seven drums carved from solid mahogany. Each drummer plays one drum with one hand and a stick. It is composed of solo drums called n'der and gorong yeguel, three accompanying drums known as gorong talmbat, M'bumg m'bung bal and M'bung m'bung tungoné. The bass drum is the lambe (Senegal).
Sabaro - a large Mandinka drum carved from mango or mahogany wood. It is played with one hand a short stick. The head is covered with shaved goat skin (West Africa).
Sac de gemecs - Catalan bagpipe (Spain).
Sack pipa - Swedish bagpipe. It has a single reed chanter and a single drone.
Sakara - a Yoruba round ceramic drum covered with goatskin, played with a stick (Nigeria).
Sälgflöjt - Swedish flute.
Saliamiya - three-holed flute from Egypt.
Sampho - small Cambodian barrel drum.
Samsien - See Shamisen.
Sanduri - Greek term for the zither.
Sanfona- Portuguese hurdy-gurdy.
San hsien - See
Sanko – a Japanese hourglass shaped drum.
Sanpi - Chinese word for flute.
Sanshin - See shamisen.
Santoor – Indian zither, struck with two hammers. In India it is known as the 'shata tantra veena' the hundred-stringed lute.
Santour - See santoor.
Santouri - See santoor .
Santur – See santoor .
Sanxian - Chinese long-necked lute with 3 strings and a small snake-covered head. It is known as shamisen in Japan.
Sanza - 1. Pygmy plucked thumb piano composed of a set of iron keys set over an inverted bridge on a sound board.2. A thumb piano with three rows of keys from Mozambique. 3. General term for thumb pianos.
Sao Tre - Vietnamese transverse bamboo flute.
Sao Ba Nguoi - 1. a flute that allows two players to perform it at once. 2. A novelty instrument invented by Khac Chi that combines three flutes into one instrument that allows three players to perform on it at once (Courtesy of Khac Chi).
Sarangi – the most common bowed instrument in North Indian classical music. It is made from one piece of wood with a goatskin sound table with 3-4 main gut strings and 23- 35 sympathetic strings and no frets.
Sarod - a short-necked, unfretted, waisted lute carved from a block of teak and covered with a skin belly. Its broad, triangular fingerboard is superimposed with a thin sheet of polished metal. It has four to eight main strings and 11-15 sympathetic strings. The sarod traces its genealogy and origin back to the rabab.
Sartenes - frying pans in Spanish. Used as a percussion instrument in Spain and Spanish America. In parts of Spain, a single pan, sartén, is played with a cuchara (spoon) and a dedal (thimble).
Sarune - shawm from Sumatra (Indonesia).
Sarune bolon - shawm with detachable bell from Sumatra (Indonesia).
Sarune etek - small shawm from Sumatra (Indonesia).
Satara – South Asian double flutes, one drone, one melodic.
Sattar - a long-necked bowed instrument used by the Uigurs, a Turkman people from Western China. It has one metal playing string and 10 sympathetic strings.
Saung - Burmese harp.
Saung Gauk – Burmese bent harp.
Saz - 1. Family of long thin-necked fretted lutes played throughout Turkey - baglama (middle sized saz six strings grouped in pairs), cura (small three stringed saz), divan &meydan have 9 strings. The sound is metallic. 2. Armenian lute, with three strings, a small oval sounding box and an unusually long neck.
Scacciapensieri - Italian jew's harp.
Schoor Thom - large Cambodian bass drums.
Scorriu - an instrument that was developed by Sardinian bandits to scare the horses of their victims or the police. It is made out of a cork cylinder with a dog skin membrane. When rubbed, the instrument produces a loud screeching sound that scares horses.
Scottish smallpipes - a bellows blown bagpipe from the Scottish lowlands, related to the Northumbrian smallpipes.
Scraper – a percussion instrument consisting of a rough serrated surface in any various shapes that is scraped by a hard object.
Se - Chinese zither.
Sebi - Egyptian end-blown reed flute.
Segundo - The middle (or second) drum in the set of three tumbadoras used in Cuban drumming.
Senj - Iranian metal castanets.
Sentir- a Moroccan three-stringed long-necked lute with a body made from a single piece of wood, and covered with camel skin. Also known as sintir, hejhuj, gogo, gnbri and guimbri.
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Sentir. Photo by Angel Romero
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Sekere – See shekere. Seke-seke - metal rattle or ears that are used on a jembe (West Africa). Also known as ksink-ksink.
Seljefløyte - Swedish and Norwegian willow flute. Originally, it was called birch flute. It exists in two forms: an end-blown flute, often called a whistling flute, and a side-blown flute. In ancient times the willow flute was made of willow bark. During a short time in the spring, when the willow sap rose, the bark of the tree was easy to detach from the trunk. When the bark eventually dried up, the flute could no longer be played.
The only recourse was to wait until the next spring. Today, willow flutes are often made of plastic, and are usually 40 to 80 centimeters long. Air is blown into a hole on the side of the flute, and a wooden stick inserted into the end of the flute leads the flow of air through the resonating chamber. The willow flute does not have finger holes. The pitch can be varied both by adjusting the level of air pressure exerted, and by covering the end hole completely or partially with the forefinger.
Selnien - vertical cymbals used by Tibetan monks in Buddhist rites.
Selnyen – See Selnien. Senh Tien - a small hand held percussion instrument made from two pieces of flat wood. The upper piece is grooved to produce a rasping sound when rubbed by a small stick, and the lower piece is struck against the upper as in a clapper. Small bells and jingles are attached. The playing technique is complex, alternating rapidly between rasping, clasping, and jingling sounds (Courtesy of Khac Chi).
Senufo – a large buzzing Malian xylophone.
Sepik flutes - the longest flutes in the world, from Kanengara (Papua New Guinea).
Serraggia - an ancient one-string bowed instrument from Sardinia (Italy), used during carnival. It is made of a cane with one brass string. The instrument is rubbed with a bow made from horse hair.
Setar
Shahnai - north Indian shawm.
Shaker – a percussion instrument consisting of a receptacle filled with a rattling substance such as seeds, beans or pebbles.
Shakuhachi - traditional Japanese end-blown flute made from bamboo. Recent models are also made out of wood.
Shamisen – a long necked Japanese 3-string fretless lute plucked with a heavy ivory plectrum.
Shan Osi – Burmese long drum.
Shanz - Mongolian three stringed banjo played with a plectrum.
Shawm - double reed wood instrument. The predecessor of the modern clarinet.
Shekere - calabash shaker embroidered with beads to give shaker sound (Nigeria). Known as chékere in Cuba.
Shenai - South Asian Indian shawm.
Sheng - Chinese mouth organ. It consists of a bundle of between 17 to 36 pipes seated on a small wind chamber. A free brass reed is placed in the root of the instrument. It is the predecessor of other free reed instruments such as the accordion and is one of the oldest varieties of Chinese instruments. It first appeared in 551 BC during the Zhou Dynasty (1111 to 222 BC).
Shevi - Armenian flute.
Shiko - see ashiko.
Shime-daiko - small rope tuned Japanese drum.
Shinobue – Japanese bamboo transverse flute.
Shiqin - A stone zither or xylophone of Southern China.
Sho - Japanese mouth organ consisting of 17 reed pipes inserted into a cup-shaped wind chest. Blowing into this wind chest while closing holes in the pipes produces a series of chords. The pipes sound whether the player breathes in or out, so a constant tone may be obtained. Has to be heated before playing.
Shuang Guan - a small Chinese double-reed wind instrument.
Shudraga - Mongolian three stringed banjo played with a plectrum. Shurle - Istrian reed instrument with two chanters (Croatia).
Shuye - Chinese leaf reed.
Shvi – An end-blown flute-like instrument. It is played solo or in ensembles, and has historically been a tool of music-making for shepherds in Armenia.
Si yo tan ka - Lakota (Native American) word for the flute or whistle.
Siesenki - Polish bagpipe.
Sihu - four-stringed type of Mongolian Khuuchir.
Sikadraha - a Malagasy scraper. A long piece of bamboo with transverse ridges cut into it that is played by scraping with a stick.
Siku - Andean double-row panpipe.
Sil - a large Tibetan cymbal.
Silverbasharpa - ancestor to Swedish Nyckelharpa.
Sinding - a harp from West Africa with five strings made out of hemp. The resonating body is a calabash stretched with goat skin. A tin rattle may be attached to the instrument. Plucking the string sets the rattle in motion, adding a percussive element to the hollow sound.
Sintir - See sentir.
Sitar - Indian classical string instrument with 13 sympathetic strings, 6-7 melody strings, and a resonant body fashioned from a gourd base. The frets are movable.
Last Updated 04/26/2007 08:28AM; 17,159 Hits 
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