Cobza
multi-stringed instrument
The cobza (also cobsa, cobuz, koboz) is a multi-stringed instrument of the lute family of folk origin popular in Romanian, Moldovan and contemporary Hungarian folk music. The cobza is a pear-shaped string instrument with a short neck and wooden body, traditionally used to provide rhythm and harmony in folk music. It can be played solo or in groups and is usually strummed with a folded goose feather. It is considered the oldest accompaniment instrument in the region comprising Romania and Moldova. The usage of a related musical instrument in Hungary may date back to at least the 16th century, possibly arriving with the Magyar tribes as early as the 9th and 10 centuries. The usage of the modern Romanian cobza in Hungary started following the Táncház movement of the late 20th century.
It is distinct from the Ukrainian Kobza, an instrument of different construction and origin.
Overview
The Romanian Cobza is metal-strung (although modern nylon-strung models exist, mostly in Hungary), and has a very short neck without frets (although a newer fretted cobza can be found in the Republic of Moldova), with a bent-back pegbox. The back is ribbed. It is usually double or triple strung, and often has a characteristic flat end clasp.
“Cobza” enters the record as multi-stringed instrument. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Cobza, multi-stringed and instrument can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 6, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2216785. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cobza” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.