German-Swiss-American mathematical physicist Albert Einstein (1879–1955) playing the violin music room of the S.S. Belgenland en route to California. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 1931

Child actor Matthew “Stymie” Beard (1925–1981) with a collection of musical instruments – a guitar, a mandolin and a banjo. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). Circa 1932

A wandering minstrel singing traditional Nepalese songs and playing an ancient instrument near an ancient religious statue. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images). January 1961

Sporting an eye-catching net costume, exotic dancer Rose Hardaway entertains the audience at London's Stork Club, near Piccadilly. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 1954

A Sudanese tribesman playing a bagpipe. Fellow tribesmen perform the dance of death to this music. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). August 1952

Two children singing Christmas carols to the strains of a violin outside the door of someone's house. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 18th December 1924

A Bedouin Arab chanting ancient chants to the accompaniment of a one-stringed fiddle, while a fellow tribesman listens. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1950

A contortionist banjo player called Smith goes in for his solo. (Photo by Henri Manuel/Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Circa 1910

Renee Adoree (1898–1933) and Ernest Torrence (1878–1933), stars of MGM's “The Cossacks”, playing a pair of mismatched balalaikas during filming. The film was directed by George W Hill and Clarence Brown. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Circa 1928

An elderly woman playing the violin on the street appears to be watched by a group of undressed mannequins. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 9th August 1966

Retired 90 year old Frank Foss of St. Petersburg, Florida, with his home made banjo, made from a frying pan, a length of wood and some strings. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 2nd July 1972

Some of the members of the Waiata Maori Choir have some singing practice during a visit to London. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 23rd September 1937

Christmas day in Bolivia with folk musicians playing for the fiesta. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images). 1st December 1960

A young member of the Sudan Defence Forces Band practises his clarinet from a blackboard in the Khartoum barrack square. (Photo by Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Getty Images). 1st April 1952

Chinese actress Chin-Yu blowing an “erh-hu”, an ancient musical instrument which doubles as a string instrument and a wind instrument, at a party marking Red China's 10th anniversary. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 20th October 1959

Sudanese natives continuously playing an instrument, which resembles the bagpipes, by breathing through their nostrils and using their cheeks as a reservoir, then letting the wind escape slowly through their lips. (Photo by Ball/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). 10th March 1925

Nikolai Ribinsky, a Red Army musician, playing an unusually-shaped balalaika during rehearsals at the Royal Albert Hall, London. (Photo by Kent Gavin/Keystone/Getty Images). 18th February 1963

A man wheels a bicycle with a drum on the back which is being beaten by his friend. The drum is beaten around the streets at Christmas time to announce special events. (Photo by Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1950

Two musicians play instruments in Calabria, southern Italy. (Photo by Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1950

A trio of musicians attract a small crowd of children on Southsea beach. (Photo by F J Mortimer/Getty Images). Circa 1895

A street musician in Marrakesh, Western Morocco, draws a home-made bow across his traditional instrument. (Photo by Evans/Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1950

Men of the Shilluk tribe sititng in front of their hut in Sudan. One is smoking a large pipe. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1950

The music of the harp accompanies the Aymara Indian dance of the scissors. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1955

Nigerian musicians playing traditional stringed instruments during the Queen's visit to Nigeria. (Photo by Joseph McKeown/Picture Post/Getty Images). 18th February 1956

A pierced and tattooed woman from the Nuba tribe in Central Sudan, Africa, from a book called “The Last Of The Nuba”, by the German film maker, actress and photographer Leni Riefenstahl. (Photo by Leni Riefenstahl/Keystone/Getty Images). 1972

One of the Korean farmers' daughters at an annual dance to herald the arrival of summer in the Chonju district of Korea. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). 21st May 1963

Four women from a Chinese Orchestra playing traditional Chinese musical instruments. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Circa 1920

A young woman illustrating how to play an antelope's horn which makes a natural aerophone and is used by the tribes of East Central Africa. (Photo by Sherman/Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1956

American-Chinese actress Anna May Wong sitting holding a string instrument. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1930

Djambul Djasayev (1846–1945) a folk singer from Kazakhstan. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Circa 1910

A bejewelled Moroccan woman keeps time with the music on her hand drum. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images). Circa 1955

In the town of Urgup in Cappadoccia a townsman plays the Saz, Turkey's national instrument, which is like a lute. (Photo by George Pickow/Three Lions/Getty Images). Circa 1955

A vina (veena) player in Shan Kar's Company. Basically a large wooden instrument with a resonating bowl, long neck and a second resonating bowl on the underside of the neck. There are two main types, one from southern and one from northern India. (Photo by Sasha/Getty Images). 25th April 1934

Sergeant Major J. Smith plays the mouth organ at Aldershot military base in Hampshire. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 8th April 1931

Members of Irving Aaronson's dance band, the Commanders, at the plaza. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). September 1926