Musical instruments are diverse in form and function, and over the centuries, there have probably been thousands of different instruments and variants within the basic categories of wind, string, and percussion, not to mention more recent electronic inventions. The following list of over 150 weird and obscure musical instruments includes a wide range of ancient, folk, and traditional musical instruments, as well as medieval, classical, jazz, and contemporary instruments, but excluding extremely well-known instruments like the violin, trumpet, and piano. Inevitably, this list will grow - I welcome additional information from readers. As with the other glossaries on the Phrontistery, only words that appear in at least one major English dictionary are included.
Word
|
Definition
|
abeng | Jamaican bugle made from cow horn
|
aerophone | musical instrument like a concertina
|
angelot | musical instrument resembling a lute
|
arpeggione | stringed instrument like the cello
|
bandore | bass cittern
|
banjolin | combination of banjo and mandolin
|
banjulele | combination of banjo and ukulele
|
barbiton | lute or lyre with many strings
|
bellonion | mechanical instrument combining trumpets and drums
|
bombard | instrument like the bassoon
|
bombardon | large keyless bass trumpet
|
buccina | Roman curved trumpet
|
carillon | set of bells of different sizes
|
cavaquinho | four-stringed Brazilian ukulele
|
celesta | keyboard instrument with hammers that strike on steel plates
|
cervelat | short bassoon-like instrument
|
chitarrone | long double-necked lute
|
cithara | ancient Greek musical instrument like a lyre
|
clavichord | old keyboard stringed instrument
|
clavicylinder | square keyboard instrument whose sound produced from a glass cylinder
|
clavicymbal | old name for a harpsichord
|
claviole | keyed string instrument
|
concertina | accordion-like instrument with two sets of keys
|
crwth | Welsh six-stringed instrument played with a bow
|
curtal | kind of archaic bassoon
|
diaulos | ancient Greek double flute
|
dichord | musical instrument with two strings
|
didgeridoo | Australian aboriginal instrument consisting of a long wood or bamboo tube
|
dilruba | Indian stringed instrument like a small sitar
|
dyphone | double lute with fifty strings
|
esraj | Indian stringed instrument with sympathetic strings, played with a bow
|
euphonon | keyboard instrument resembling the organ in sound
|
flageolet | small flute or recorder with two thumb holes
|
flautino | small flute or piccolo
|
gaita | Spanish bagpipes
|
glockenspiel | small bells or bars struck by hammer or keyed levers
|
gorah | bow-and-string instrument of Khoekhoe people
|
gue | two-stringed violin from the Shetland Islands
|
guiro | serrated gourd scraped with stick to produce music
|
gusli | Russian zither
|
harmoniphone | keyboard instrument with reeds
|
helicon | bass tuba
|
humpenscrump | crude musical instrument like a hurdy-gurdy
|
idiophone | percussion instrument made of naturally resonant material
|
jazzophone | musical instrument like a kazoo with a trumpet bell
|
kakaki | West African ceremonial trumpet
|
kalimba | African musical instrument made of metal strips along a hollow wooden tube
|
kantele | Finnish zither
|
kent-bugle | an obsolete keybugle
|
keybugle | bugle with keys
|
kit | a small pocket violin
|
kora | musical instrument similar to a harp
|
koto | obnoxious-sounding Japanese stringed instrument
|
lagerphone | percussion instrument with bottlecaps loosely nailed to pole
|
lautenclavicymbel | lute harpsichord with gut strings
|
lituus | long curved trumpet
|
lur | ancient Scandinavian trumpet
|
lyrichord | kind of obsolete harpsichord
|
lyricon | electronic wind instrument like a large obverse flute
|
lysarden | old wind instrument like a cornett or serpent
|
magadis | ancient bridged stringed instrument
|
manzello | variant form of soprano saxophone
|
marimbaphone | marimba with steel keys
|
melodikon | keyboard instrument that brings tuning forks in contact with rotating cone
|
metallophone | instrument like the xylophone but with metal bars
|
mirliton | reed pipe
|
molimo | wooden trumpet used by Mbuti pygmies
|
molo | two or three-stringed lute of West Africa
|
monochord | musical instrument having only one string
|
nyatiti | eight-stringed lyre used by Luo people
|
obeophone | mechanical keyboard instrument used to imitate woodwind instruments
|
ocarina | egg-shaped flute-like wind instrument
|
ophicleide | keyed bass brass musical instrument
|
organistrum | early musical instrument resembling the hurdy-gurdy
|
orguinette | mechanical instrument with reeds and bellows, playing music from a paper roll
|
orpharion | large lute with six to nine pairs of strings
|
oud | wooden Middle Eastern lute
|
pandora | musical instrument like a lute
|
panharmonicon | mechanical musical instrument operated by a cylinder
|
pantaleon | large dulcimer
|
phorminx | seven-stringed Greek lyre
|
pianette | small upright piano
|
pibcorn | old Welsh instrument like a hornpipe
|
pipa | Chinese lute
|
pluriarc | West African stringed instrument like a zither
|
polyphone | many-stringed instrument like a lute
|
posaune | archaic trombone
|
psaltery | ancient stringed musical instrument
|
quena | vertical bamboo flute used in the Andes
|
quinticlave | upright brass-wind instrument like a keyed bugle
|
quinton | five-stringed tenor viol
|
ravanastron | ancient Hindu stringed instrument played with a bow
|
rebec | medieval musical instrument like a mandolin or viol
|
regal | a small portable organ
|
riqq | Middle Eastern tambourine
|
sackbut | early wind instrument resembling the trombone
|
salpinx | ancient Greek trumpet
|
sansa | set of small cymbals played with the thumbs
|
sarangi | Indian fiddle
|
sarinda | stringed instrument of India played with a bow
|
sarod | bowed or plucked South Asian string instrument
|
saron | Indonesian instrument with seven bronze bars struck with mallet
|
sarrusophone | double-reeded musical instrument resembling the bassoon
|
saxhorn | brass instrument like a trumpet
|
schryari | old and very loud double-reed wind instrument
|
se | twenty-five-stringed Chinese zither
|
seraphine | reed keyboard instrument
|
serpentcleide | musical instrument like an ophicleide with a wooden body
|
shakuhachi | end-blown bamboo Japanese flute
|
shawm | double-reeded wind instrument
|
shofar | ram's horn trumpet used in Jewish ceremonies
|
sistrum | thin oval Egyptian percussion instrument shaken in the hand
|
sitar | long-necked Indian plucked string instrument
|
sourdine | muted trumpet
|
spinet | keyed instrument like the harpsichord
|
stritch | straightened alto saxophone
|
symphonia | old name for the hurdy-gurdy or other musical instruments
|
syrinx | rock-cut tunnel; pan pipes
|
tabor | light medieval drum buckled onto the player's chest
|
tamburitza | guitar or mandolin of the Balkan region
|
terpodion | piano-like instrument whose sound is made from wooden blocks
|
theorbo | large double-necked lute
|
theremin | electronic instrument with tones created by placing hands near oscillators
|
tibia | ancient Roman flute
|
timbal | kettle drum
|
timbrel | tambourine-like percussion instrument
|
tintinnabulum | percussion instrument of many bells in succession
|
tonitruone | musical instrument that imitates sound of thunder
|
trautonium | electronic musical instrument like a theramin
|
trigon | ancient Greek triangular harp
|
ukeke | Hawaiian mouth harp with two or three strings
|
valiha | bamboo tubular zither used in Madagascar
|
vandola | stringed lute-like Spanish instrument
|
veena | Indian seven-stringed lyre
|
vibraslap | modern percussion instrument with rod and ball
|
vielle | four-stringed instrument played with a small wheel
|
vihuela | early Spanish guitar
|
virginal | small keyed instrument like a harpsichord
|
vocalion | small organ whose reeds produce tone like a human voice
|
waldhorn | French valveless hunting horn
|
xylorimba | combination of xylophone and marimba
|
yang-chin | Chinese hammered dulcimer
|
zambomba | Spanish percussion instrument
|
zampogna | Italian bagpipe
|
zanze | African musical instrument like castanets
|
zel | form of Oriental cymbal
|
zeze | stringed instrument resembling a zither
|
zill | finger cymbals used in belly dancing
|
zinke | old wind instrument resembling the cornet
|
zither | musical instrument with strings laid over horizontal board
|
zufolo | small flute used to train songbirds
|
zugtrompete | slide trumpet
|
zurla | Yugoslavian shawm
|
zurna | Turkish bagpipe or shawm
|
I hope you have found this site to be useful. If you have any corrections, additions, or comments, please contact me. Please note that I am not able to respond to all requests. Please consult a major dictionary before e-mailing your query. All material on this page © 1996-2021 Stephen Chrisomalis. Links to this page may be made without permission.