The following list of musical instruments is not exhaustive, but only seeks to cover the primary instruments used in the featured recordings. First are the uillean pipes. Described in the Harvard Dictionary of Music as Irish bagpipes, uillean pipes are mellower in sound than the Scottish bagpipe. ⁽¹⁰⁾ (See also "Scottish Pipers" on the "European Elements" page.) At the time that the first British colonies were being established, the use of all such pipes in Great Britain was waning, having been displaced in popularity by the fiddle. ⁽¹¹⁾ The Fiddle, a.k.a. Violin, is very much an archetypal instrument that is wide spread throughout the world. While the violin was probably brought to America by Europeans, one notable player being Thomas Jefferson, it is likely that the instrument was quickly adopted by African immigrants because of their familiarity with similar African instruments (such as the "Goje" pictured on this page). The Guitar, originally from the Near East, was probably brought to the new world by the Spanish. ⁽¹²⁾ Although it was known in the southern region in the 19th century, its use was not widespread until the early 20th century when it was used by popular professional musicians like the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers. ⁽¹³⁾ Therefore, the use of the guitar in the recorded selections was probably a relatively recent innovation. The Banjo was brought to the new world by Africans. It is not likely that any were carried as luggage on the middle passage, so presumably new facsimiles approximating the original were built by enslaved Africans after their arrival in America. Eileen Southern quotes an Englishman named Cresswell, writing in 1774, and apparently describing an African-American banjo.

This instrument (if it may be so called) is made of a Gourd something in the imitation of a Guitar, with only four strings and played with the fingers in the same manner. ⁽¹⁴⁾