Alfonso X: Instruments, Then & Now ( II ) Medieval Instruments
VII : Miscellaneous Medieval Instruments VI a : Winds Medieval
Instruments VI b : Winds Medieval Instruments VI c : Winds
Medieval Instruments VII : Miscellaneous Suggestions & Links
Contact Me Cantiga CCX  I know these are chordophones and could
have gone next to the gamba-style fiddle in the first half, but
they are also very strange. I suppose if we have bowed guitars
we should expect bowed banjos and that is exactly what these
look like. The entire instrument is rather large: it would
likely be in the tenor range or lower, which would make it
unusual for the time. The body could be vaulted, carved out of a
single piece, but it seems more lightweight than that would
probably be. The face could be wood but seems to me to be more
likely skin. The neck has a separate fingerboard (which is
unusual) that extends over the body. If the face were wood it
would be unnecessary. There is a tailpiece holding--on one
instrument 4, on the other 3--strings bu