Two strings are typically tuned to the same note, with the third string a perfect fourther higher. It has a flat back and triangle table, or belly, which tapers to a fretted neck, and the three strings can either be plucked with the fingers, or if they are metal, with a leather plectrum.
The balalaika comes in six sizes, ranging from piccolo to double bass. It is possible that the emergence and evolution of the balalaika was a product of interaction with Asian-Oriental cultures. It derived from the dombra, or domra, a three-stringed lute played in Russia and Central Asia. The Balalaika is a Russian stringed instrument developed in the 18th century.
