Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Lute

LUTE, an instrument of the guitar family. It has five to six pairs of strings, each pair tuned in unisons or octaves. The several frets of the lute are distinguished by the letters of the alphabet. The lute consists of four parts: The table; the body, which has 9 or 10 sides; the neck, which has as many stops or divisions; and the head or cross, in which the screws for tuning it are inserted. The performer strikes the string with the fingers of the right hand, and regulates the sounds with those of the left. Simply constructed, it is called the French lute. With two necks — one for the bass notes — it is called a theorbo.