lute

The lute is a plucked string instrument with a pear-shaped body, a flat soundboard, and a distinctive angled pegbox. It was the most important domestic instrument in Europe from the Renaissance through the early Baroque, serving as both a solo instrument and an accompaniment for singers. The lute has its roots in the Arabic oud, which arrived in Europe during the medieval period. Renaissance lute tablature — a notation system showing finger positions rather than pitches — was one of the first forms of instrumental notation. The lute's quiet, intimate sound made it ideal for private music-making. John Dowland, the great Elizabethan lutenist-composer, wrote some of the most beautiful songs in the English language for voice and lute.