Barbiton
The barbiton, or barbitos (Gr: βάρβιτον or βάρβιτος; Lat. barbitus), is an ancient stringed instrument related to the lyre known from Greek and Roman classics. The Greek instrument was a bass version of the kithara, and belonged in the zither family, but in medieval times, the same name was used to refer to the barbat; a different instrument that is a variety of lute. The barbat or barbud, began being translated into Latin as barbiton sometime during the late Middle Ages, a mistaken practice which has passed into English and other European languages through long misuse. The barbat is an unrelated lute-family instrument developed in Persia, whereas the barbiton (a bass kithara) was developed in Greek-speaking western Anatolia, where it was popular, and spread into the rest of the Aegean. Throughout this article barbiton refers only to the Anatolian / Aegean instrument, and barbat is the only name used to refer to the lute-family instrument from Persia. {| class=wikitable
| + Differences between the barbat and the barbiton |
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| ! Barbat |
| ! Barbiton |
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| The barbat has always had a finger board for changing the pitch of the strings. |
| The barbiton has never had a finger board; its strings’ pitch could not be changed without retuning. |
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| Like all instruments in the lute family, different chords are played on the barbat by fingering the pitch of the strings. |
| Like all instruments in the lyre / kithara family, different chords were played on the strings by resting fingers against strings for the unwanted notes, to silence them. |
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| For most chords all of the strings of the barbat would sound for any one chord. |
| For all chords, only a few of the barbiton's strings would sound; most of its strings were silent for any one chord. |
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| Since neither instrument was familiar to European musicians of the late Middle Ages – both had fallen out of use in the occident sometime between the mid-Imperial period and the end of the Roman empire – the error was neither caught nor corrected. The mistake seems to be perpetually dredged up from the earlier erroneous texts. |
