The European lute is featured in instrumental music from the early Renaissance to the late Baroque periods. There is evidence of the lute in Europe as early as the 12th century, but it really became popular in the 15th century, falling out of use around 1800.

The lute enjoyed a revival with the early music movement of the twentieth century, and has grown in popularity.

The lyre is a string instrument that dates back to 1400 BC in Greece, known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later periods.

The lyre is similar in appearance to a small harp but with distinct differences. In organology, lyre is defined as a "yoke lute", being a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke that lies in the same plane as the sound-table and consists of two arms and a cross-bar.

The psaltery of Ancient Greece is a harp-like stringed instrument.

The word psaltery derives from the Ancient Greek ψαλτήριον (psaltḗrion), and that from the verb ψάλλω (psállō), "to touch sharply, to pluck, pull, twitch"

The psaltery was originally made from wood, and relied on natural acoustics for
sound production.