Balalaika (Russian Triangular Lute)
Three-stringed Russian lute with a characteristic triangular body, plucked or strummed to accompany folk songs and dances. The balalaika became a symbol of Russian folk music in the 19th century, when Vasily Andreyev standardised its sizes into a whole family of instruments; it is played solo and in orchestras, and its bright, percussive tone carries well in open-air music-making. The body is usually of spruce or maple, with three strings historically of gut and now of nylon or metal, and the left hand often uses a single downward stroke that produces the crisp, rhythmic drive of dance tunes.