Lithuanian folk instruments

Birbynė is a Lithuanian reed wind instrument whose history runs from shepherds' straw or feather pipes to the refined stage birbynė with an animal-horn bell.

Daudytės are long Lithuanian wooden lip trumpets, 140-250 cm birch-bark-wrapped tubes, used by men in pairs in northeastern Lithuania to play sutartinės and herding signals.

Dūdmaišis, or Labanoro dūda, is a Lithuanian reed bag aerophone with a leather bag, melodic pipe, and drone pipes; it spread in Lithuania from the sixteenth century, especially in eastern Lithuania and Lithuania Minor.

Kerdžiaus trimitas is a Lithuanian mouthpiece aerophone: a wooden signal trumpet wrapped in birch bark or bark, used by herdsmen to manage the herd and by hunters to call dogs.

Lamzdelis, also called lumzdelis, is a Lithuanian end-blown whistle flute with 3-8 finger holes, known especially through makers and players from the Kupiškis area.

Molinukas is a Lithuanian clay whistle: a whistle vessel flute close to the ocarina, often shaped like a bird or small animal and associated with children and imitating nature sounds.

Ožragis is a Lithuanian wind instrument made from a goat horn: a lip or reed aerophone used throughout Lithuania for herdsmen's signals and song or dance melodies.

Ragai are Lithuanian lip-blown wind instruments made from animal horn, metal, or wood. They were key signaling tools for herdsmen and hunters, while in northeastern Lithuania tuned wooden horns were used to play sutartinės.

Skudučiai are one of the most important Lithuanian wind instruments: a set of 5-8 separate pipes used by a group of players to create the polyphonic sound characteristic of sutartinės.

Švilpa is a long Lithuanian whistling instrument: a natural flute without finger holes, regarded as a prototype of the modern transverse flute and associated with solo music-making in northeastern Lithuania.

Basetlė is the bass bowed instrument of Lithuanian village bands: a double-bass or cello type with 2-4 strings, known in Lithuania, especially Žemaitija, from the eighteenth century.

Cimbolai are a Lithuanian struck string instrument: a trapezoid resonator with 12-33 metal strings struck with small hammers, especially associated with Dzūkija, eastern Lithuania, and older village bands.

Dzindzinis is a Lithuanian bowed monochord: a wooden board about 100 cm long with a single lengthwise string, used by young people in the first half of the twentieth century for dance and song melodies.

Kanklės are the most important Lithuanian plucked string instrument: a chordophone of the Baltic psaltery family, linked with sutartinės, home music-making, relics of the cult of the dead, and the later development of concert kanklės.

Pūslinė is a simple Lithuanian folk bass string instrument made from a wooden stick, an inflated dried pig bladder, and 1-3 strings, providing a low accompanying role in a village band.

In Lithuanian ethnic music, smuikas became one of the main melody-leading village-band instruments. Known in folk speech as griežynė, it spread across Lithuania and developed a local playing manner.

In Lithuanian tradition, būgnas is a struck membranophone used from old times as a ritual and signaling instrument, a military kettledrum, and later a rhythm-supporting instrument in bands and orchestras.

Būgnelis, or tambourine, is a small Lithuanian struck membranophone: a skin-covered frame with metal plates or jingles that supports rhythm in village bands and folklore ensembles.

Kelmas is a drum type common in Žemaitija, with a body made from a whole or rotten tree stump and one end covered with dog or goat skin.

Barškutis is a Lithuanian shaken idiophone and toy: a rattle made from a bladder, clay, wickerwork, or a wooden ball with pebbles, whose sound comes from objects rattling inside or outside it.

Dambrelis is a small plucked idiophone: a metal, more rarely wooden, frame with a tongue vibrated by a finger, while the mouth cavity shapes the sound; it has long been known in Lithuania.

Džingulis is a Lithuanian shaken idiophone: a decorated branched staff used by the wedding inviter in Užnemunė and Lithuania Minor, with magical power attributed to its rattling.

Kleketas is a Lithuanian shaken idiophone: a board with a handle and wooden beaters, used as a clacking signal and rhythm instrument by herdsmen, night watchmen, hunting beaters, and church rituals.

Rinkinė is a Lithuanian herding signal tool and shaken idiophone: a forked or cross-shaped staff strung with stove rings, used by shepherds to discipline cattle and by masked performers for rhythm.

Skrabalai are Lithuanian shaken idiophones: wooden or metal boxes with clappers, once hung on livestock necks and later adapted for rhythm and even xylophone-like orchestral playing.

Tabalai are Lithuanian struck idiophones: horizontally hung maple or ash boards whose beating announced death, called people to work, communal labor, or prayers.

Terkšlė is a Lithuanian scraped idiophone: a frame with a toothed cylinder and slapping slats, used as a signal instrument for calendar festivals, church rites, herding, and hunting.