The kamancheh [kamAnce] is the traditional classical bowed lute of Persian classical music and dates back to antiquity.It has a small, hollowed hardwood body on which four strings are tensed on a thin stretched fish-skin membrane.

The Kamantcheh is a spike fiddle which is played vertically in the manner of the European viol, and the musician rotates it to move the bow from one string to other. The player pulls the bowstring with the right hand fingers, which allows him subtle tone variations.

Kaman [kamAn] in Persian, means bow and Tcheh [ce] is a diminutive suffix.

The fouth string appeared in the early 20th century, probably from the influence of the western violin.