Cretan Lyra

​

The Cretan lyra (Greek: Κρητική λύρα) is a Greek pear-shaped, three-stringed bowed musical instrument, central to the traditional music of Crete and other islands in the Dodecanese and the Aegean Archipelago, in Greece. The Cretan lyra is considered as the most popular surviving form of the medieval Byzantine lyra, an ancestor of most European bowed instruments.
There are three major types of Cretan lyras:
1. The lyraki (Greek: λυράκι), a small model of lyra, almost identical to the Byzantine lyra devoted only to the performance of dances (Anoyanakis, 1976)
2. The vrontolyra (Greek: βροντόλυρα), which gives a very strong sound, ideal for accompaniment songs.
3. The common lyra (Greek: λύρα κοινή), popular in the island today; designed after the combination of lyraki with the violin.
The influence of the violin caused the transformation of many features of the old form of Cretan Lyra (lyraki) into the contemporary lyra, including its tuning, performance practice, and repertory. In 1920, the viololyra was developed in an effort of local instrument manufacturers to give the sound and the technical possibilities of the violin to the old Byzantine lyraki. Twenty years later a new combination of lyraki and violin gave birth to the common lyra. Other types include the four-stringed lyra.