The bandura was played by the kobzari's who were itinerant bards many of the kobari's were blind musicians. In the early 20th century there was much interest in the development of the bandura. An ethnographic conference in Kharkiv 1935 was held to which all the kobzari's were assembled. Their stories were collected and their songs were recorded. During the early Soviet years many Kobzari's and Ukrainian artists were persecuted. The bandura for a long time has remained a favorite of the Ukrainian Cossacks. In contemporary times the evolution of the bandura is also heading in the direction of adding repertoires ranging from European classical, jazz, avantgarde (experimental) and so on.

The Bandura in Ukrainian Music Education: Music conservatories in the 20th century offer courses that teach the bandura through out Ukraine. The concept of Bandura in formal education is atributed to a music accademy in 1738 called the "Hlukhiv ". Both the violin and bandura were taught to students who attended this school. This was considered to be the first education center in Tsarist times. Musicians would prepare in this school prior to singing or recitles for the Tzar this format of education continued till the 1900s. After a multi talented musician though trained as engineer was Hnat Khotkevych, he had composed and written the first primer for the bandura. Formal courses started after the cultural revolution of the former Soviet Union. Many bandurists along with others were persecuted under the Stalinist era 1920s to 1950s.

Orchestration of the Ukrainian Bandura: Orchestral arrangements of the Kyiv bandura were also made available. This family of bandura’s is as follows “prima” > alto > bass and contrabass bandura, also a child-size Kyiv bandura aka "baby bandura" has been made too. The Kyiv bandura has developed into a very capable virtuosic instrument in whose original music such as suites, sonatas, and also concertos are being components for it by professional composers. The Kyiv bandura has developed into a very capable virtuoso instrument, with original music such as suites, sonatas and concertos being composed for it by professional composers.

Playing Techniques: The bandura is held upright when played in which the musician sits on a stool or chair or sometimes stands in performance. Both the fingers of the left and right hand pluck the strings either in corralation with each other or independant from each other depending on the melody. .

Types of bandura: The most common types of bandura are the "Kyiv", "Kharkiv", "Poltavka", "Honcharenko", "Vetzal" and "Baby" banduras.

The Kyiv or Chernyiv Bandura: The design of the Kyiv bandura is inspired from the classical bandura. Strings are arranged in a chromatic tuning they were added in 1925 by the bandura maker Olexander Kornievsky. In 1959 the Chernyiv musical instrument factory had begun manufacturing a scientifically redesigned instrument by a master bandura maker Ivan Skliar. The Lviv musical instrument factory now manufactures small size concert banduras with an adjustable mechanism with 65 strings and a full range geared toward younger players. These instruments were designed by Professor Vasyl Herasymenko and will no doubt help establish a professional class of bandurists. Several new courses of the bandura are now emerging in universities through out the Ukraine.

The Kyiv bandura has been stable in its shape and in methodology of teaching and playing since its original design. The Kyiv bandura in its contemporary form is made in all different shapes, sizes and types. Most of the Kyiv bandura have at least 12 bass strings and 43-treble strings the strings are chromatically tuned. The professional type of bandura is the same as the "prima". In which this instrument may have 62 to 65 strings and a universally applied tuning mechanism allows for the rapid tuning of the strings. There are similar sizes of shapes of bandura for children in who have 42 strings available.

The Staroskitska or Classical bandura: The kobzari's briefly used classical bandura to perform religious, epic and folk song. For the past 300 years the size and shape of the classical bandura has remained stable in its development. In this bandura's present form this bandura has about 20 to 23 strings.

The Kharkiv Bandura: During the 1900's to 1920's a man by the name of Hnat Kholtevyech was responsible for the innovation of this style of playing and bandura making. in which it became known as the "Kharkiv bandura". This type of bandura then later on was taught in the Karchiv conservatory in which orchestral-models of the bandura were made "Piccolo" > "prima" in which would be the lead or solo Kharkiv bandura > in 1946 the Honcharenko brothers developed some chromatically tuned bandura's.

Anatomy of bandura: The Kyiv or Chernyiv bandura has about 12 bass strings and 24 melody strings. My bandura has the common "zither" type tuning pegs, and the tuner its self in Ukrainian is called a "klutch" meaning "Key". Many bandura’s are tuned diatonic but over all there are chromatic "concert" banduras in many types too. Some even have adjustable tuners that can raise or lower the pitch. The tunings are arranged chromatically according to the bass and treble strings.