LAUTE(LUTE)
Lute can refer generally to any string instrument having the strings running in a plane
parallel to the sound table,more specifically to any plucked string instrument with
a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of
European lutes.
The European lute and the modern Near-Eastern oud both descend from a common ancestor
via diverging evolutionary paths. The lute is used in a great variety of instrumental music
from the Medieval to the late Baroque eras and was the most important instrument for
secular music in theRenaissance.[1] It is also an accompanying instrument, especially in
vocal works, often realizing a basso continuo or playing a written-out accompaniment. The
player of a lute is called a lutenist, lutanist, "lewtist" or lutist, and a maker of lutes is
referred to as aluthier.