Balalaika

Balalaika

A tenor balalaika
String instrument
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	321.321 (Necked bowl lute)

The balalaika is a musical instrument from Russia. The Balalaika family includes the piccolo balalaika, prima balalaika, sekunda balalaika, alto balalaika, bass balalaika and contrabass balalaika. They all have three strings. There are many ways to tune balalaika; the most common tuning is E-E-A. The prima balalaika is played with the fingers, the sekunda and alto either with the fingers or a pick depending on the music being played. The basses and contrabasses, which have legs that rest on the floor, are played with leather picks.

Early pictures of the balalaika show it had between two and six strings, like some Central Asian instruments. Frets on earlier balalaikas were made of animal gut and tied to the neck so that they could be moved around by the player.