STRINGED INSTRUMENTS

INTRODUCTION• Stringed instruments also called chordophones are musical

instruments that produce sound from the vibrations of the string.

• In most of the instruments the vibrations are transferred to its body, which also vibrates with the air inside it.

• The pitch can be changed by the thickness, tightness, and length of the string and can be played in many ways, which may be made of :

• vegetable fiber

• metal

• animal gut

• silk

• plastic

• nylon.

WORKING OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS

• All string instruments make sounds with tensioned strings. • String instruments can be struck, plucked, bowed. • Electric guitars converts vibration to an electric signal.• Tone

• Longer strings - lower tone• Shorter ones – higher tone.

• Sound • Tighter strings - higher sound• Looser strings – lower sound. • Thicker strings - lower sound• Thinner strings –higher sound

• String instruments can be divided in three groups.

• Lutes – strings supported via neck and a bout

Example: a guitar, a violin, or a saz

• Harps –contains strings within a frameExample: Harp

• Zithers – strings mounted on a body,Example: an autoharp, a piano

TYPES OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS

LIST OF INSTRUMENTS

• Violin• Cello• Viola• Double bass• Mandolin• Banjo• Harp• Lute• Zither

PLAYING TECHNIQUES

• PluckingPlucking is a method of playing on using either a finger, thumb, or quills to pluck the strings.

• BowingThe bow consists of a stick with many hairs stretched between its ends. Bowing the instrument's string causes a stick-slip phenomenon to occur, which makes the string vibrate.

• StrikingThe common method of sound production in stringed instruments is to strike the string

ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS• A vibrating string on its own makes only a very quiet

sound, so string instruments are usually constructed in such a way that this sound is coupled to a hollow resonating chamber, a soundboard, or both.

• The strings vibrations are distributed via the bridge and sound post to all surfaces of the instrument, and are thus made louder.

• The sounding board of the instrument provides a larger surface area to create sound waves than that of the string.

• A larger vibrating surface moves more air, hence produces a louder sound.

ELECTRONIC AMPLIFICATION• Most string instruments converts the string's vibrations

into an electrical signal that is amplified and then converted back into sound by loudspeakers. 

• Amplified string instruments can be much louder ,so musicians can play them in relatively loud rock, blues, and jazz ensembles.

• Amplified instruments can also have their amplified tone modified by using electronic effects such as distortion, reverb, or wah-wah.

• Bass-register string instruments such as the double bass and the electric bass are amplified with bass instrument amplifiers that are designed to reproduce low-frequency sounds

ACOUSTIC GUITAR

• "Acoustic guitar" refers to hollow-bodied guitars without electric amplification. They may have nylon or steel strings.

ELECTRIC GUITAR • Electric guitars are most often

made with solid bodies since they depend upon electromagnetic pickups and amplifiers to produce the sound and are not dependent upon the resonance of the hollow body like the acoustic guitar.

VIOLIN• The violin, the most commonly

used member of the modern string family, is the highest-sounding instrument of that group.

• Strings characteristically produce a fundamental resonance plus all the string harmonics.

• The sound of the instrument is enhanced by body resonances including the air resonance of the f-holes.

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