Chordophone

Chordophone [Gk. chorde, string + phone, sound], musical instr. having strings as tone-producing elements, the pitch of the instr. being dependent on the strings. The oldest forms of chordophone are idiochord: a narrow strip of a cane segment is loosened by 2 longitudinal incisions, then raised and held taut by a very small piece of wood inserted under it at each end. Such instrs. are found in the Malagasy Republic, the Malay Archipelago, and W. Africa (169). Sachs, Curt. Handbuch der…