Lute

Lute (Arabic, "the wood" ), a stringed musical instrument of the guitar class, introduced into Europe by the Arabs soon after their conquest of Spain. It was very popular during the Middle Ages and up to the close of the 17th century, but, except in the East, now exists only in the form of the guitar, banjo, and similar instruments. When it had reached its full development the lute usually consisted of the following parts: a back, which was usually rounded or pear-shaped; a belly with a large sound-hole in the centre or sometimes several sound-holes; the neck with frets formed by fastening strings of catgut tightly round it in such a manner as to produce semi-tones; the head or cross on which were the pegs or screws for tuning the strings; and the bridge to which the lower ends of the strings were fixed. The strings, the number of which was gradually increased from eight to twenty - four, were made of catgut and were arranged in pairs of unisons, half the number passing over the finger-board and the other half lying beside it. Lutes were generally ornamented with ivory, tortoiseshell, and mother-of-pearl.