Lira (Pear-shaped Fiddle)
The lira has a pear-shaped, hollowed-out soundbox and a short neck, without frets, the neck continues
from the soundbox, and is equipped with rear pegs. The instrument also is fitted with a ridge, and is
equipped with three single chords attached to the lower edge of the body, the tailpiece, or to a stringholder
it is played with a bow.
With the passage of years the pear-shaped lira underwent certain morphological modifications, an evolutionary
process centred on the island of Crete. The original form of the pear-shaped lira is the liraki(small lira), however
the very different requirements for the accopmaniment of song, led in time to the creation of a larger kind of instrument
which gradually evolved into the vrondolira, or thunderlira. In between the two above-mentioned instruments
an inetermediate type of lira was created, the common lira.