High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The music of Crete is a traditional form of Greek folk music called (kritika). The lyra is the dominant folk instrument on the island; it is a three-stringed bowed string instrument, closely related to the medieval Byzantine lyra. It is often accompanied by the Cretan lute (laoúto), which is similar to both an oud and a mandolin. Thanassis Skordalos and Kostas Moundakis are the most renowned players of the lyra.