a thin plate of wood or a stretched membrane lying directly under the strings of a stringed musical instrument. It vibrates in response to the vibrations of the strings (transmitted to it by the bridge, an elastic piece of wood held under pressure or tension between the strings and soundboard), amplifying the faint sound produced by the string alone.

The soundboard's size, shape, and material have an effect on the instrument's tone quality. Low notes, for example, may suffer if a soundboard is too small.