A mandolin (Italian: mandolino pronounced [mandolino]; literally "small mandola") is a musical

instrument in the lute family and is usually plucked with a plectrum or "pick". It commonly has four
courses of doubled metal strings tuned in unison (8 strings), although five (10 strings) and six (12
strings) course versions also exist. The courses are normally tuned in a succession of perfect fifths.
It is the soprano member of a family that includes the mandola, octave mandolin, mandocello and
mandobass.
There are many styles of mandolin, but three are common, the Neapolitan or round-backed
mandolin, the carved-top mandolin and the flat-backed mandolin. The round-back has a deep
bottom, constructed of strips of wood, glued together into a bowl. The carved-top or arch-top
mandolin has a much shallower, arched back, and an arched topboth carved out of wood. The
flat-backed mandolin uses thin sheets of wood for the body, braced on the inside for strength in a
similar manner to a guitar. Each style of instrument has its own sound quality and is associated with
particular forms of music. Neapolitan mandolins feature prominently in European classical music
and traditional music. Carved-top instruments are common in American folk music and bluegrass
music. Flat-backed instruments are commonly used in Irish, British and Brazilian folk music. Some
modern Brazilian instruments feature an extra fifth course tuned a fifth lower than the standard
fourth course.

Other mandolin varieties differ primarily in the number of strings and include four-string models
(tuned in fifths) such as the Brescian and Cremonese, six-string types (tuned in fourths) such as the
Milanese, Lombard and the Sicilian and 6 course instruments of 12 strings (two strings per course)
such as the Genoese.[1] There has also been a twelve-string (three strings per course) type and an
instrument with sixteen-strings (four strings per course).
Much of mandolin development revolved around the soundboard (the top). Pre-mandolin
instruments were quiet instruments, strung with as many as six courses of gut strings, and were
plucked with the fingers or with a quill. However, modern instruments are louderusing four
courses of metal strings, which exert more pressure than the gut strings. The modern soundboard is
designed to withstand the pressure of metal strings that would break earlier instruments. The
soundboard comes in many shapesbut generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls
or other projections. There is usually one or more sound holes in the soundboard, either round, oval,
or shaped like a calligraphic f (f-hole). A round or oval sound hole may be covered or bordered with
decorative rosettes or purfling.[2][3]