citterns
- Scope note
- European wire-strung plucked lutelike chordophones played with a plectrum, very popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, having a wedge-shaped body with a curved bottom and straight shoulders narrowing towards the neck, and a low flat bridge held in position only by the strings it supports. Their most characteristic feature is a long, fretted neck which is half cut away from behind the fingerboard on the bass side, making a channel along which the player's left thumb can slide to facilitate very rapid shifts to and from high positions.
- Date of creation: 13-May-2024
Accepted term: 13-May-2024