Possible Clues:

• Troubadour’s instrument
• Vermeer's 'Woman With a ___'
• One instrument or another needing no introduction
• Renaissance Faire instrument
• Ukulele forebear
• Instrument akin to an oud
• Instrument with a pear-shaped body
• Medieval guitar
• Balladeer's accessory
• Subject of a lesson for Katharina in 'The Taming of the Shrew'