Russian Musical Instruments

http://goeasteurope.about.com/od/russia/ss/russianculture_5.htm\

ZE BALALAIKA [bah-lah-LIEK-ah]

A sort of triangular guitar which is sometimes brightly painted with traditional Russian designs or scenes from folktales. It has only three strings. Here is an audio clip of the balalaika.

ZE ACCORDIAN (Bayan)

Is able to play 46 notes on the chromatic scale. It is not diatonic, and quite possibly has the greatest range of treble notes among the accordians. Their size ranges from an accordion with 20 treble keys and 12 bass buttons, to the modern Chromatic Button Accordions which have up to 6 rows of treble buttons and 160 bass buttons. Dear Tetris players, is this tune familiar? :)

http://www.sandiegoaccountantsguide.com/library/Kolyosnaya-lira.php

ZE KOLYOSNAYA LIRA (Violin)

A violin-esque antique instrument which is actually Ukrainian. Its first recorded appearance was probably 1000 years ago. Instead of being played with a bow like the violin, there is a rosined wheel positioned at the end of the instrument which is turned with a crank. Because the wheel turning is more constant than pulling a bow across the strings, the sound produced is a lot smoother. A folksong featuring the kolyosnaya lira can be heard here.