Tuning
The old model of the Cretan lyra (also called lyraki ~ small lyra), is tuned 5-1-4. The performer plays the melody on the 1st and 3rd string, using the 2nd string as a drone (Magrini 1997), similarly to the Byzantine lyras from ca. 1190 AD, found in the excavations of Novgorod (Anthony Baines, 1992).
The contemporary lyra replaces the drone strings with three strings in succession (d-a-e'). The contemporary lyra modelled after Stagakis' design is tuned in fifths, and like the violin, it uses no drone string, and all strings may be fingered and used as melody strings.
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Common lyra
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Lyraki
Read more about this topic: Cretan Lyra