which instruments use 弾く and which use 引く?

Question

I was wondering how do we identify what instruments may be used with the verb 引く, or 弾く, or both?

If both 引く and 弾く can be used is there any difference in nuance between one vs the other?

Answer 1

引く and 弾く, while pronounced the same, mean different things:

• 引く means to pull, draw or otherwise move or lead in a literal or mostly literal sense (e.g. 手を引く, to lead someone by the hand; 引っ込める, to withdraw or retract)

• 弾く means to play, for a wide variety of instruments, ranging from the piano to the violin, i.e. string instruments and keyboards (potentially caused by the piano and harpsichord in particular secretly being string instruments at heart).

Some instruments, however, use entirely different words, like 打つ for drums, especially the 太鼓.

Edit: Confusingly, 打つ is also used for an entirely different sense of the word play; namely that to play a single move in 碁.