what is a lute

A lute is a stringed musical instrument that is plucked with the fingers or a plectrum. It has a deep, round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. The lute is widely recognizable for its round shape and softness of tone, and it originally evolved from the Middle Eastern oud. The body of a lute is constructed of thin strips of wood, cut into a tapered shape, bent and glued together edgewise. The soundboard is glued to the front of the body, and the strings are tied through the bridge and stretched along a neck, across a fingerboard which is fitted with a number of tied frets, over a nut and into one or more pegboxes, where they are tuned by adjusting the tension. Building a lute requires a large amount of careful manual work by a highly skilled woodworker, so the instruments are expensive and are usually made to the specifications of the buyer. The lute was the most popular instrument in its heyday, and it was ubiquitous in the 16th century. It was the first instrument that people would keep in their household, and it was the instrument of the court virtuoso musicians. The player of a lute is called a lutenist, lutanist or lutist, and a maker of lutes (or any similar string instrument, or violin family instruments) is referred to as a luthier.