string instrument from Greek classical antiquity, origin attributed to the god Hermes
Factsheet
Hornbostel–Sachs classification 321.2
(Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum)
(Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum)
Developed Sumer, Iraq, Bronze Age
Hornbostel–Sachs classification 321.2
(Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum)
(Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum)
Developed Sumer, Iraq, Bronze Age
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Lyre
Lyre - Wikipedia
3 weeks ago - Kithara (cithara) — the version ... musicians. Lyre-guitar — a modern instrument that combines a guitar and a zither. Also called a "harp guitar". Phorminx — an ancient wooden-frame lyre intermediate in size between the smaller tortoise-shell lyre and larger kithara, which replaced it. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Klaus Wachsmann; Bo Lawergren; Ulrich Wegner; John Clark (2002). "Lyre (from Gk.; Lat. lyra)...
Britannica
britannica.com › art › lyra-musical-instrument
Lyra | musical instrument | Britannica
…lyre, krar (the ancient Greek lyra), has a bowl-shaped resonator and is emphatically secular in its use and connotations; indeed, Ethiopian and Eritrean tradition casts it as the instrument of Satan. The construction of this six-stringed instrument illustrates the sort of change that is of wide occurrence in contemporary instrument…
Lyre
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The Lyre Of Megiddo - YouTube
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What is a Lyre Harp, and Why is it so Amazing? - YouTube
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The Greek Lyra (made to party!) - YouTube
04:05
What Is the Ancient Greek Lyre? Sound, History and Technique - YouTube
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Greek Traditional Instruments - 7 - Lyra (Crete) - YouTube
What kind of instrument is a lyre?
A lyre is a stringed instrument similar to the guitar or violin. It is considered a member of the zither family.
study.com
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Lyre History, Types & Music | Study.com
How is a lyre different from other stringed instruments?
The lyre is a stringed instrument distinguished by its yoke, featuring two arms and a crossbar that project from and remain level with its body. The strings stretch from a tailpiece on the bottom to the crossbar. Unlike instruments where strings are stopped, lyre strings vibrate freely along their full length when plucked.
Lyres come in two main types: box lyres, with a boxlike wooden body, and bowl lyres, which feature a rounded body, often with a tortoiseshell back. While the lyre was significant in ancient Babylonia, Egypt, and Greece, today, it is mainly found in East Africa. In Ethiopia and Eritrea, the large, rectangular, 10-stringed beganna is used for sacred music, while the smaller, bowl-shaped krar is used for secular purposes.
britannica.com
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Lyre | Ancient Greek Musical Instrument & Symbol of Poetry | ...
What kind of music can I play on a lyre?
Great for early music, folk, spiritual songs, and original compositions.
puresmusic.com
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What is a Lyre instrument? | Pures Music™
Study.com
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Lyre History, Types & Music | Study.com
July 15, 2026 - Ancient Greek lyres were smaller in size and meant to be held with two hands, one to hold the base and the other to strum the strings. The instruments were often split into two varieties; the lyra and the kithara. Lyras were often associated with amateur musical practice, while the kithara ...
Crete Villas 4U
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Traditional musical instrument of Crete, Lyra
The Cretan Lyre (lyra), the three-stringed bowed musical instrument, is the dancing alert for local people and those who admire it's doric and vibrant sound, the principal instrument of Cretan traditional music that speaks to the cordial soul.
Britannica
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Lyre | Ancient Greek Musical Instrument & Symbol of Poetry | Britannica
July 20, 1998 - The lyre, a stringed instrument with a U-shaped frame, held a significant position in ancient societies. In ancient Greece, it symbolized wisdom and moderation as an attribute of Apollo, the god of music and prophecy.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Cretan_lyra
Cretan lyra - Wikipedia
May 11, 2026 - The Cretan lyra (Greek: Κρητική λύρα) is a pear-shaped three-stringed Greek lyra, a traditional musical instrument, central to the traditional music of Crete and other islands in the Dodecanese and the Aegean Archipelago, in Greece.
EBSCO
ebsco.com › research-starters › music › lyre
Lyre | Music | Research Starters | EBSCOhost
July 15, 2026 - The lyre is a stringed musical instrument with a rich history that spans various ancient cultures, including the Egyptians, Greeks, and Germanic tribes. Commonly recognized for its distinctive U-shape, the lyre typically features several strings ...
Orchestral Tools
orchestraltools.com › lyra
Orchestral Tools - Lyra—From Harp to Zither
Lyra - From harp to zither - Explore the magical resonance of the open string, from harp to zither—Lyra offers a carefully curated history of plucked string instruments for contemporary composition. With 11 instruments from Western European music traditions, you have an array of character soloists at your fingertips. Lyra gives you spirit, nuance, and detail for your songs, stories, scores, and productions.
Price: €149.00
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Byzantine_lyra
Byzantine lyra - Wikipedia
1 week ago - The use of the term lyra for a bowed instrument was first recorded in the 9th century, probably as an application of the term lyre of the stringed musical instrument of classical antiquity to the new bowed string instrument.
Pures Music™
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What is a Lyre instrument? | Pures Music™
November 11, 2025 - In historical texts, the term 'latin lyra' is often used to refer to the lyre and its variations, highlighting its classification as a stringed instrument with deep roots in Greek and Latin civilizations. Folk lyres have more strings (10–19), tuned to modern scales. The ancient lyre played a seven-note scale, similar to contemporary musical scales.
Britannica
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Lira | Turkish, Anatolian, Stringed | Britannica
July 20, 1998 - Lira, in music, a pear-shaped bowed instrument with three to five strings. Closely related to the medieval rebec and, like the rebec, a precursor of the medieval fiddle, the lira survives essentially unchanged in several Balkan folk instruments, ...
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Lyre-guitar
Lyre-guitar - Wikipedia
June 24, 2026 - The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 1980. ISBN ... Bonner, Stephen (1972). The classic image: European history and manufacture of the lyre guitar, 850–1840. Bois de Boulogne: Harlow. ISBN ... Einige Worte über die neue französische Lyra (Lyre-Guitarre.)
Handmade Sound
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Lyre: History, How It Is Made, and How to Play It - Handmade Sound
December 31, 2022 - The Lyre (lyra) is a musical instrument that belongs to the chordophone category and is specifically part of the bowed lute family. This definition indicates that the instrument falls under one of the lute subcategories, and in the Hornbostel-Sachs ...
The Instruments Wiki
instruments.fandom.com › wiki › Lyre
Lyre | The Instruments Wiki | Fandom
The Lyre is a stringed musical instrument well known for its use in classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" (lyra) and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written ...
Wikisource
en.wikisource.org › wiki › A_Dictionary_of_Music_and_Musicians › Lyre
A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Lyre - Wikisource, the free online library
LYRE (λυρα), an ancient musical instrument, in use among the Greeks, and undoubtedly derived by them from Asia. It consisted of a hollow body or sound-chest, from which were raised two arms, sometimes also hollow, which were curved both ...
HowStuffWorks
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The Light and Airy Lyre Has Plucked Its Way Through the Ages | HowStuffWorks
June 28, 2023 - "Orpheus the famous singer who could move rocks and trees and animals with his music played a lyre. And when Orpheus was killed the gods placed his lyre in the sky — it became the constellation, Lyra." ... Another Greek god also had ties to the lyre, according to Martin. "We get the word 'lyric' as in 'lyric poetry' from the instrument that was used to accompany ancient songs and recitations," he says.
NamuWiki
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Lyre (instrument) - NamuWiki
April 15, 2026 - However, in Greece and Rome, the existence of this instrument was so unfamiliar and its appearance has not been handed down to this day, so it was translated and described as a similar stringed instrument, a lyre.[4] In any case, since it is the first musical instrument made by God in Greek mythology , it is often used in Western countries along with treble clefs and notes as a symbol of music .
Pures Music™
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Buy Our Lyre Harp – Perfect Instrument for All Levels | Pures Music™
August 12, 2026 - The lyre is a stringed instrument, with its smaller size and distinct shape that has a rich history dating back thousands of years. The Harp, with its larger size, Its resonant strings produce a wide range of tones that can fill any space with ...
Healing Sounds
healing-sounds.com › healing sounds › lyre harps › what is a lyre? learn about this ancient stringed instrument | shopify blog
What is a Lyre? Learn About This Ancient Stringed Instrument | Shopify Blog
April 21, 2025 - The lyre instrument resonates through millennia, a captivating symbol of music, poetry, and ancient traditions. Its delicate strings have soundtracked myths, accompanied poets, and offered solace across diverse cultures.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Lyra - Greek - The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Known also as Kamānja rūmī (Byzantine fiddle) this pear-shaped bowed instrument is found on the Greek islands (Dodecanese and Crete). This is decorated with a pompom at the lower end and long rear pegs that gives the back the appearance of a rabbit. On the northern mainland (Thrace and Macedonia) and rectangular-shaped instrument, Turkish influenced the Pontic lyra is found.