Like most bowed lyras, it is played upright, usually supported on the knee, held with the left hand touching the strings with the nails laterally, while the right hand moves the bow.

The repertory of this traditional instrument is known only through records of older players, or people who have known them.

On the other hand, in recent years an increased interest around this instrument has led to its use by music groups of traditional music and to the appearance of new manufacturers in different parts of Calabria.

The Calabrian lira is closely related to the bowed lyra (Greek: λύρα) of the Byzantine Empire.

Similar bowed instruments descendants of the Byzantine lyra have continued to be played in many post-Byzantine regions until the present day with small changes: the gadulka in Bulgaria, the lyra of Crete and the Dodecanese in Greece, the lyra of Pontos and the classical kemenche (Turkish:Armudî kemençe, Greek:Πολίτικη Λύρα ~ Politiki lira) in Turkey.