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The balalaika(巴拉莱卡)also called the "Russian guitar", is a (传统的)Russian musical instrument, It has a long neck, a wooden triangle-shaped body and strings(弦). It's usually used to play Russian music with (手指).

Russians like the balalaika. The music played with it can be cheerful, as if the farmers were (跳舞) happily to celebrate their harvest. It can also be

energetic, as if the workers were working hard to make their country (更强壮) and richer. If a Russian moves to live or work abroad. he will (正常情况下) take a balalaika with him. When he feels lonely and sad, he will play it to cheer himself up.

The balalaika was first played by the poor. At that time, balalaikas were (生产) by the players themselves. They were simple with different numbers of strings from two to even (六).Later a Russian musician, a (先驱者) Vasily improved the balalaika. He (创建)a whole family of balalaikas of different sizes, all with three strings. The smallest is 60-70cm long. The biggest is almost 2 metres high with a leg to sit on the floor.

Today, there are (职业的) balalaika groups performing around the world. More and more people get to know the balalaika and are attracted by its Russian style music.