What is "tambura"

Tamboura \Tam*bour"a\, n. 1. (Mus.) A stringed musical instrument resembling a lute but lacking frets, with a small round body and a long neck, used to produce an accompaniment for singing; -- called also tambur, tambour, and tampur. [Also spelled tambura.]

n. A type of stringed instrument found throughout the world, similar to a lute.

The word tambura refers to several stringed musical instruments:

• Tanbur, a long-necked, string instrument originating in the Southern or Central Asia (Mesopotamia and Persia/Iran)
  • Iranian tanbur (Kurdish tanbur), used in Yarsan rituals
  • Turkish tambur, instrument played in Turkey
  • Yaylı tambur, also played in Turkey
  • Tanpura, a drone instrument played in India
  • Tambura (instrument), played in Balkan peninsula
  • Tamburica, any member of a family of long-necked lutes popular in Eastern and Central Europe
  • Tambouras, played in Greece
  • Tanbūra (lyre), played in East Africa and the Middle East
  • Tamboori, an Indian melodic instrument similar to a Tanpura

The word may also refer to:

• Tambura River, in Romania
• Tumbura, a town in South Sudan
  • Tumbura Airport, an airport serving the above town
• "Tambura", a hidden track from P.O.D.'s album The Fundamental Elements of Southtown
• Tambur, an old name for Hemşin, a town in Rize Province, Turkey

The tambura is a stringed instrument that is played as a folk instrument in Macedonia and Bulgaria. It has doubled steel strings and is played with a plectrum, in the same manner as a mandolin.