NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Bowed string instrument

A string instrument (also "stringed instrument") is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones. A musical instrument is a device that has been constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... A schematic representation of auditory signaling Sound is vibration, as perceived by the sense of hearing. ... A vibration in a string is a wave. ... Hornbostel-Sachs (or Sachs-Hornbostel) is a system of musical instrument classification divised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the Zeitschrift für Musik in 1914. ... At various times, and in various different cultures, various schemes of musical instrument classification have been used. ... Organology is the study of musical instruments. ... A chordophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. ...

Sound production in string instruments

In order for a string instrument to produce sound, its string or strings must vibrate. There are three common ways of bringing this about. Download high resolution version (1100x1500, 94 KB)Photo of my double bass, front and side. ... Download high resolution version (1100x1500, 94 KB)Photo of my double bass, front and side. ...

Instruments such as the guitar and kora are plucked, either by a finger or thumb, or by some other device such as a plectrum. Instruments like the cello and rebec are usually played by drawing a bow across the strings. However, instruments normally bowed are occasionally plucked (this is known as pizzicato), and instruments normally plucked are sometimes bowed (Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin sometimes played the electric guitar this way, for example). The classical guitar typically has 3 nylon and 3 nickel-wound strings. ... The kora (French: cora) is a 21 string harp used extensively by Mandingo peoples in West Africa. ... A plectrum (plural: plectra) is a device for plucking or strumming a stringed instrument. ... A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The cello (also violoncello or cello) is a stringed instrument and a member of the violin family. ... The rebec (sometimes rebeck, and originally various other spellings) is a bowed string musical instrument. ... In music, a bow is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. ... Pizzicato is a method of playing an orchestral string instrument. ... James Patrick Page, known as Jimmy Page, (born January 9, 1944) is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential guitarists in rock and roll. ... Led Zeppelin (clockwise from left: Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham, John Paul Jones) Led Zeppelin was a British band noted for their innovative, influential approach to heavy blues-rock and as one of the most popular and influential bands of all time. ... An electric guitar is a type of guitar with a solid or semi-solid body that utilizes electromagnetic pickups to convert the vibration of the steel-cored strings into electrical current. ...

The third common method of sound production in stringed instruments is to strike the string with a hammer. By far the most well-known instrument to use this method is the piano, where the hammers are controlled by a mechanical action; another example is the hammered dulcimer, where the player herself wields the hammers. It should be noted that the piano is often considered a percussion instrument, since sound production through struck blows defines this instrument family; the proclamation that the piano is a percussion instrument has at times served as rhetoric for composers who relished sharp percussive effects. This article is about the modern musical instrument. ... Hammered dulcimers have two or sometimes three bridges, and are played by striking the strings with small hammers. The hammers are sometimes covered with leather to create a softer sound. ... Percussion instruments are played by being struck, shaken, rubbed or scraped. ...

A variant of the hammering method is found in the clavichord: a brass tangent touches the string and presses it to a hard surface, inducing vibration. This is a very inefficient method of sound production, thus clavichords have a very soft tone. The maneuver can also be executed with a finger on plucked and bowed instruments, where it gives equally soft results. Clavichord A clavichord is a small, very quiet, European keyboard musical instrument. ...

The aeolian harp employs a very unusual method of sound production: the strings are excited by the movement of the air. Aeolian harp in the old castle of Baden Baden, from an article in Scientific American Supplement, No. ...

Some string instruments have keyboards attached which are manipulated by the player, meaning she does not have to pay attention to the strings directly. The most familiar example is the piano, where the keys control the felt hammers by means of a complex mechanical action. Other string instruments with a keyboard include the clavichord (where the strings are struck by tangents), and the harpsichord (where the strings are plucked by tiny plectra). Three Year Old Girl playing with a Keyboard , The musical keyboard, also known as the piano keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers on a musical instrument which produce notes. ... This article is about the modern musical instrument. ... Clavichord A clavichord is a small, very quiet, European keyboard musical instrument. ... A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ... A plectrum (plural: plectra) is a device for plucking or strumming a stringed instrument. ...

With these keyboard instruments too, the strings are occasionally plucked or bowed by hand. Composers such as Henry Cowell wrote music which asks for the player to reach inside the piano and pluck the strings directly, or to "bow" them with bow hair wrapped around the strings. A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played with a musical keyboard. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Henry Cowell (March 11, 1897 - December 10, 1965) was an American composer and teacher. ...

Choosing the contact point along the string

In bowed instruments, the bow is normally placed perpendicularly to the string, at a point half way between the end of the fingerboard and the bridge. However, different bow placements can be selected to change timbre. Application of the bow close to the bridge (known as sul ponticello) produces an intense, sometimes harsh sound, which acoustically emphasizes the upper harmonics. Bowing above the fingerboard (sul tasto) produces a thin, "breathy" sound, emphasizing the fundamental frequency. Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 429 KB)Digital photograph taken by User:Opus33. ... Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 429 KB)Digital photograph taken by User:Opus33. ... Timbre is a relatively poorly defined perceptual quality of sounds. ... This article will be merged with Italian musical terms at some point in the near future. ... In acoustics and telecommunication, the harmonic of a wave is a component frequency of the signal that is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency. ... This article will be merged with Italian musical terms at some point in the near future. ... The fundamental tone often referred to simply as the fundamental, is the lowest frequency in a harmonic series. ...

Similar timbral distinctions are also possible with plucked string instruments by selecting an appropriate plucking point, although the difference is perhaps more subtle.

In keyboard instruments, the contact point along the string (whether this be hammer, tangent, or plectrum) is a choice made by the instrument designer. Builders use a combination of experience and acoustic theory to establish the right set of contact points.

In harpsichords, often there are two sets of strings of equal length. These "choirs" usually differ in their plucking points. One choir has a "normal" plucking point, producing a canonical harpsichord sound; the other has a plucking point close to the bridge, producing a "nasal" sound rich in upper harmonics.

Sound amplification through resonance

A vibrating string on its own makes only a very quiet sound, so string instruments are usually constructed in such a way so as this sound in amplified either by a hollow resonating chamber, a soundboard, or both. On the violin, for example, the taut strings pass over a bridge resting on a hollow box. The strings' vibrations are distributed via the bridge to all surfaces of the instrument, and thus amplified.

Achieving effective and beautiful resonance is something of an art, and the makers of string instruments often seek very high quality woods to this end, particularly spruce (chosen for its combination of lightness and strength) and maple (a very hard wood). Species About 35; see text. ... See also Maple computer algebra system. ...

Production of multiple notes

A single string of a constant tension will only produce one note, so to obtain further notes string instruments employ two methods. Most instruments have more than one string - in the case of the harp or piano, for example, this is the only way in which extra notes are obtained. With instruments such as the violin or guitar the player may press down on the strings with their fingers or some other device in order to effectively shorten the length of it which vibrates. This is known as stopping the string. In such instruments, a fingerboard is often attached to the resonating box - it is between this and the player's finger that the string is stopped.

List of string instruments

Instruments where the strings are usually bowed

A cropped image to show the relative size of a cello to a human (Uncropped Version) The cello (also violoncello or cello) is a stringed instrument and a member of the violin family. ... A Yamaha Electric Cello The Electric Cello is a pickup-based electric instrument based on its cousin, the acoustic Cello. ... A modern crwth in its case The crwth is an archaic stringed musical instrument, associated particularly with Wales, although once played widely in Europe. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ... The Erhu (二胡, Pinyin èrhú), commonly known in the West as the Chinese violin, is a two-stringed bowed instrument, capable of producing sad, mysterious, or joyful melodies. ... The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a fifth apart. ... Categories: Music stubs | String instruments ... Gudok is an ancient Russian string musical instrument, which was played with a bow. ... A Hardanger fiddle or hardingfele (Norwegian) is a stringed instrument very similar to a violin, but different enough that a luthier accustomed to repairing violins who works on a hardangerfele is likely to ruin it. ... The kokyu is a string instrument played with a bow. ... A nyckelharpa The nyckelharpa is a keyed fiddle traditional in Sweden. ... The rebec (sometimes rebeck, and originally various other spellings) is a bowed string musical instrument. ... Various Viola da gamba The viol or viola da gamba family of musical instruments is related to the vihuela, rebec, etc. ... The viola is a stringed musical instrument which serves as the middle voice of the violin family, between the upper lines played by the violin and the lower lines played by the cello and double bass. ... Viola dAmore from the mid eighteenth century (Library of Congress collection) The viola damore is a stringed musical instrument sharing some characteristics with the viol family. ... The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ... An electric violin is simply a violin with an electronic signal output. ... The kit is a stringed musical instrument. ... A Stroh violin has a metal horn and resonator instead of a sound box. ... The violin octet is a family of stringed instruments developed in the 20th century primarily under the direction of Carleen Hutchins; each instrument is based directly on the traditional violin and shares its acoustical properties, with the goal of a richer and more homogenous sound. ... A violotta is a tenor viola (or tenor violin) invented by the German luthier Alfred Stelzner and patented in 1891. ...

Instruments where the strings are usually plucked

A modern guitar and a replica of a Renaissance lute. ... A modern guitar and a replica of a Renaissance lute. ... A musical instrument that belongs to several near-eastern cultures. ... Balalaika The balalaika (балала́йка) is a stringed instrument of Russian origin, with a characteristic triangular body and 3 strings (or sometimes 6, in pairs). ... The banjo is a string instrument, derived from the banjar, a stringed instrument of Caribbean origins, sometimes called the gourd banjo. The banjar, in turn was based on the African akonting. Some etymologists derive it from a dialectal pronunciation of bandore, though recent research suggests that it may come from... An Irish Bouzouki The bouzouki (plural sometimes transliterated as bouzoukia) is the mainstay of modern Greek music. ... The charango (from Quechua kirkinchu, armadillo) is a small South American stringed instrument of the lute family, usually no more than 40 to 60 cm long, traditionally made with the back of an armadillo as its Quechua name suggests, but today made more commonly of wood, with a bowled back... Modern acoustic bass guitars The acoustic bass guitar (ABG) is a popular modern term to describe an acoustic musical instrument based on the configuration of basses pioneered by Leo Fenders electric precision bass. ... The cittern is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance, having evolved considerably since that time. ... Not to be confused with Domra The dombra is a long-necked, two-stringed instrument, possessing a resonating chamber, somewhat similar to a banjo or a lute, and especially popular in the Central Asian nations. ... Dulcimer is the name given to two types of stringed musical instrument: The Appalachian dulcimer, a three-course, fretted, plucked instrument which is also referred to as a mountain dulcimer or just a dulcimer, and The Hammered dulcimer, which is a hammer-struck, trapezoid-shaped zither The instruments are quite... Fender Precision Bass Bass Guitar is a commonly spoken phrase used to refer to the electric bass and horizontal acoustic basses, a stringed instrument similar in design to the electric guitar, but larger in size, commonly fretted and sometimes fretless and with a lower range. ... The classical guitar typically has 3 nylon and 3 nickel-wound strings. ... Fender Precision Bass Bass Guitar is a commonly spoken phrase used to refer to the electric bass and horizontal acoustic basses, a stringed instrument similar in design to the electric guitar, but larger in size, commonly fretted and sometimes fretless and with a lower range. ... Modern acoustic bass guitars The acoustic bass guitar (ABG) is a popular modern term to describe an acoustic musical instrument based on the configuration of basses pioneered by Leo Fenders electric Precision bass. ... An electric guitar is a type of guitar with a solid or semi-solid body that utilizes electromagnetic pickups to convert the vibration of the steel-cored strings into electrical current. ... Dobro is a trade name, originally used by the Dopyera brothers and now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation. ... The Gusli (гусли) is an ancient Russian musical instrument, a kind of a harp, not to be confused with Balkan Gusle. ... The harp is a chordophone whose strings are positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ... A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ... A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played with a musical keyboard. ... Kacapi is a zither-like Sundanese musical instrument played as the main accompanying instrument in the Tembang Sunda or Kacapi Suling genre, or an additional instrument in Gamelan Degung performance. ... A kantele (or kannel) is a traditional Finnish plucked string instrument. ... The kora (French: cora) is a 21 string harp used extensively by Mandingo peoples in West Africa. ... Masayo Ishigure plays the koto The Koto (âµ) is a traditional stringed musical instrument from Japan resembling a zither. ... The lute is a plucked string instrument with a fretted neck and a deep round back. ... A Lyre is a stringed musical instrument well known for its use in Classical Antiquity. ... A mandola is a stringed musical instrument. ... Carved and round backed mandolins (front) A mandolin is a stringed musical instrument. ... A monochord is a musical and scientific instrument dating back to ancient human history. ... For the device drawn across the strings of string instruments such as the violin to make them sound, see bow (music). ... Front and rear views of an oud. ... ... Psaltery of the 14th century from the book: De Arythmetica, De Musica by M. Servinius Boetius Picture of a Psaltery from Ala Bohemica A psaltery is a stringed musical instrument dating back to at least 300 BC. It consists of a soundboard with several pre-tuned strings that are usually... This article is about the instrument, for the Indonesian island see Rote Island. ... Sarod The sarod is an Indian classical musical instrument which probably originates from the Senya rebab, an Indio-Persian instrument played in India to the 19th century. ... Kitagawa Utamaro, Flowers of Edo: Young Womans Narrative Chanting to the Samisen, ca. ... Premla Shahane playing a sitar, 1927 A sitar The sitar is a Hindustani classical music instrument. ... The tres is a Cuban musical instrument. ... Ukulele The ukulele (pronounced , or the Anglicised ), or uke, is a fretted string instrument which is, in its construction, essentially a smaller, four-stringed version of the guitar. ... State nickname: The Aloha State Other U.S. States Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Governor Linda Lingle Official languages Hawaiian and English Area 28,337 km² (43rd) - Land 16,649 km² - Water 11,672 km² (41. ... Woman playing the vina, by Raja Ravi Varma Veena (also spelled vina) is a stringed instrument used in Carnatic music. ... A minstrel playing a vihuela. ... Paul Panhuysen is a composer, visual artist, and the director of Het Apollohuis. ... Sound sculpture is one term for the multimedia artform where, as the name suggests, sculpture produces sound or, less often, the reverse. ... A Musima Guitar Zither 45 strings with 21 melody, 24 chords The zither is a musical string instrument, mainly used in folk music. ...

Instruments where the strings are usually struck

The Chapman Stick is a musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. ... Clavichord A clavichord is a small, very quiet, European keyboard musical instrument. ... Hammered dulcimers have two or sometimes three bridges, and are played by striking the strings with small hammers. The hammers are sometimes covered with leather to create a softer sound. ... This article is about the modern musical instrument. ... The santur (سَنتور) is a hammered dulcimer of Persia. ... Iran (Persian: ایران) is a Middle Eastern country located in Southwest Asia. ... The Warr guitar is a musical instrument developed by Mark Warr that looks very much like a standard electric guitar, but is played touch-style like a Chapman Stick. ...

Instruments played in some other way

Aeolian harp in the old castle of Baden Baden, from an article in Scientific American Supplement, No. ... Drawing of a hurdy gurdy A hurdy gurdy (alternately, hurdy-gurdy) is a stringed musical instrument. ... Ellen Fullman (born 1957) is a composer. ... Ellen Fullman (born 1957) is a composer. ... Map of Earth showing curved lines of longitude Longitude, sometimes denoted λ, describes the location of a place on Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime Meridian. ...

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