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Glite Dictionary
🎼 A Spanish lute 🎸 A Mexican guitar
vihuela

vihuela

9.9
An old Spanish instrument like a small guitar played by plucking
  • noun
  • /viˈweɪlə/
  • Archaic
translation icon : vihuela
  • Some of the more popular string instruments were guitars, violins, psalteries, vihuelas, mandolins, and contrabass.
  • a vihuela and guitar

Examples

  • To master the vihuela, she practiced daily, learning to pluck its strings with precision and care.

  • Performance on Lute, Guitar, and Vihuela: Historical Practice and Modern Interpretation (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997).

    Academic text (2010)

  • It evolved from a rapidly changing family of instruments, including the lute, vihuela, cittern, four-course guitar, and harp-guitar.

    Academic text (2010)

  • At the concert, the musician played a beautiful melody on his vihuela, captivating the audience.

  • During the Renaissance fair, guests enjoyed the enchanting tunes produced by a vihuela alongside other string instruments.

Surface Forms

vihuela singular
vihuelas plural

Etymology

Vihuela comes from Spanish and is a small form of viola, a name for a string instrument, so think of it as a 'little viola' that you pluck like an early guitar, which explains why the Renaissance vihuela is a plucked, guitar-like instrument.