Strings 101
A Stringed Instrument is a Musical Instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings.
In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, they are called chordophones.
The most common string instruments in the string family are guitar, violin, viola, cello, Double Bass, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, and harp.
When we talk about construction of stringed instruments, there are 3 main types
- Lutes - instruments in which the strings are supported by a neck and a bout, for instance a guitar, or violin.
- Harps - instruments in which the strings are contained within a frame.
- Zithers - instruments with the strings mounted on a body, such as a guqin, or an autoharp.
There are also differing methods of playing stringed instruments which can be another way to categorize them.
All string instruments produce sound from one or more vibrating strings, transferred to the air by the body of the instrument or by a pickup in the case of electronically amplified instruments.
As we said, they can be categorized by the primary method used to make the strings vibrate.
The three most common techniques are
- Plucking, either using the fingers, thumbs or some king of tool like a plectrum on instruments like a guitar, ukelele or mandolin
- Bowing a method used in some string instruments, including the violin, viola and cello. The bow consists of a stick with many hairs stretched between and fixed at its ends. Bowing the instrument's string causes friction to occur, which makes the string vibrate.
- Striking is the third common method of sound production in stringed instruments is to strike the string with a hammer. The most common instrument to use this method is the piano, where the hammers are controlled by a mechanical action.