The mandora, a plucked double-stringed instrument, appeared in southern Europe around the 9th century. Equipped with gut strings and smaller than the cittern, it is the direct ancestor of the Italian mandolin which is very similar to it.

Ancestor of fiddles, violas and violins, the medieval fiddle comes from the rebec (VIIIth century), the first bowed strings instrument of the Western world, itself descending from the rebab of the Persians (whose strings were made of horsehair). An instrument named ravanastron, having belonged to an Indian ruler in the Vedic period, could be the link with the so-called inventors of bowed instruments: the Chinese of antiquity.

A pear shaped short necked instrument without frets, the oud is the preferred instrument of the Arab world which names it "Amir Altarab", meaning the prince of enchantments. The oud was introduced in Europe in the beginning of the 8th century during the conquest of Spain by the Moors and it was during the Crusades that it was distributed throughout Europe. It's name comes from the francization of the Arabic "al'ud" (piece of wood) which gave the name of lute to the European instrument that made its appearance towards the middle of the Middle Ages and which is directly inspired by the oud. Excavations in the tomb of Queen Nefertiti revealed a probable ancestor of the instrument; a lute named "nefer" from the 14th century BC with a similar shape. The Persian "barbat", which is carved in a single piece of wood, has the characteristic shape of the oud in a smaller version and would also be a likely ancestor. The five doubled strings are plucked using a traditionally elongated plectrum made of buffalo horn, eagle feather or, nowadays, plastic, which the Turks call "mızprap" and which the Arabs call "risha" (feather in Arabic). A sixth single string ("bamteli" in Turkish) can be added and modern ouds sometimes have up to eight strings.

With its narrow long neck, this Turkish stringed instrument originates from the Iranian "tambur" (880 BC). He is the favorite instrument of the Turkish "aşik" (pronounced achik), a kind of bard poet, musician, composer and singer. There are several types of saz, from the small "cura" (pronounced djoora) to the large "divan", the most common being the "bağlama" (pronounce baalama). The one played by François Rainville is a "cöğür saz" (pronounce djeu-ur). In Turkey, each region has its own specific tuning. The saz is the most used instrument in folk and popular music in the Turkish world.

Instrument consisting of a rectangular triangular or trapezoidal sound box on which are stretched a variable number of strings that are struck with hammers, plucked with the fingers or a plectrum or, from the seventeenth century, sometimes played with a bow.

Instrument consisting of a long and narrow rectangular sound box on which are stretched a variable number of strings that are struck with hammers or plucked with fingers or a plectrum. Since the Middle Ages psaltery has been used to play a drone accompanying the song or the three-hole flute in several regions of southern Europe. All strings are tuned to play one or two notes, often in fifths. It has several names including stringed drum, "tun tun" and Béarn drum (instrument that inspired the design of the one of Skarazula). It is still used today to accompany folk songs, especially in the Pyrenees.