String Instruments

Cello

part of the violin family of musical instruments. It has four strings and is usually played with a bow; sometimes the strings are plucked. The cello is shaped like a violin 1500s in Italy important part of symphony orchestras and chamber music. The cello is larger than a violin or a viola.

Chordophones

produce sound by vibrating strings

acoustic guitar

produces sound through vibrations of the strings.

four types of pianos

upright pianos, player pianos, grand pianos, and electronic pianos.

Guitar

used to play popular, folk, and classical music. Guitars have a fingerboard that has divisions called frets. Ancient Egypt

Bow

used to play stringed instruments such as the violin, viola, cello, and bass. Most bows are a piece of wood with as many as one hundred and fifty hairs from a horse's tail attached in two places and drawn fairly tight. The strings of some bows are made of nylon or some other synthetic fiber. Other bowstrings are made of fiberglass or a carbon fiber. A musician uses a tacky substance called rosin to increase the friction of the bow on the strings.

Clavichord

Pressing keys activates a metal blade that strikes the strings and produces the sound on this instrument. The clavichord was popular in the 1400s

String instruments are categorized according to how sound is produced.

Stringed instruments are played by plucking or strumming the strings with the fingers, using a bow, or striking the strings with a hammer.

Banjo

The origin of the banjo can be traced to Asia or the people of western Africa who were brought to America as slaves. The banjo is similar to a drum in that it has a goatskin or calfskin stretched over the head on one side. Most banjos have four or five strings and are used mostly in folk, country, and jazz bands.

Plucked Instruments

four or more strings. pluck the strings with a finger, thumb, or pick. The strings on instruments such as the guitar, banjo, or mandolin are plucked to produce sound. This means that the string is pressed against the fingerboard, which changes the length of the string.

Tone

any sound made on a musical instrument. These tones, also called notes, are arranged on a scale in a rising or falling pitch and are assigned the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

Harpsichord

harpsichord also resembles a piano in that it has one or two keyboards . 1500's used in ensembles to play chamber or orchestra music.

Bowed Instruments

have four strings. When a bow is drawn across the strings, sound is produced. The most common bowed instruments are the violin, viola, bass, and cello.

pickups

(a transducer that measures vibration)

Violin

The violin is a four-stringed instrument played with a bow or by plucking the strings. Bows were used to play stringed instruments in many countries dating back to the tenth century AD. Violins first appeared in the 1500s in Europe. Those produced in the 1500s and 1600s by the Amati family were famous for their quality. classical music in orchestra or chamber music. It is also used in jazz and country music, where it is referred to as a fiddle.

Harp

There are forty-seven strings of various lengths on a harp. Each string is tuned to a different pitch. The strings are plucked to produce the notes. The musician sits with the harp between the knees and uses the fingers and thumbs of both hands to pluck the instrument. A harp is approximately seventy inches tall. The harp developed in many of the early civilizations and first appeared in Europe in the 700s.

octave

These letters are repeated on the eighth note

1700s, an Italian named Bartolomeo Cristofori developed a keyboard instrument called the pianoforte

This was the first instrument to use hammers to strike the strings. Many musical instrument makers improved the pianoforte during the 1700s and 1800s

frets

a fingerboard with divisions which represent the position of a specific note or tone.

Zither

a musical instrument that has the shape of a flat wooden box. There are more than thirty strings on top of the box. The zither has a fingerboard that has five strings and frets similar to those of a guitar. The left hand plays the melody by pressing the strings against the fingerboard. The other hand uses a plectrum to strum the other strings. Some zithers do not have frets on the fingerboard. The zither is used to play folk music and is popular in Germany and Austria.

Mandolin

a pear-shaped instrument that is similar to a lute. Mandolins usually have either four or five pairs of strings. The musician plucks or strums the strings with a plectrum, and changes pitch by pressing the strings against the fingerboard. The mandolin was used in classical music

Lute

a pear-shaped instrument with a fingerboard that has frets similar to a guitar. There are eleven strings on a lute. The instrument is played by using one hand to pluck the strings while pressing the strings to the fingerboard with the other. Variations of the lute were used in civilizations throughout history including ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The lute was brought to Europe in the 800s AD

luthier

a person who makes and repairs stringed instruments

plectrum)

a pick

pitch

a sound refers to the highness or lowness of the sound that is heard by a listener. A low-pitched sound has a lower frequency than a high-pitched sound. pitch on a string is affected when the length of the string is changed by the musician.

study of musical instruments

all use vibration to produce sound

manuals

keyboards

Bass

largest of the instruments in the violin family and also has the lowest pitch. The musician either plucks the strings or uses a bow with one hand. The other hand is used to press the strings against the fingerboard to change the pitch. Almost all basses have four strings. The bass instrument is approximately six feet long. Basses are used in symphony orchestras and jazz bands.

courses

lutes had double strings

Viola

member of the violin family that is similar in appearance to a violin, only larger. The pitch of the viola is lower than a violin, yet higher than a cello or bass. The viola has four strings and is played with a bow or by plucking the strings. The origins of the viola can be traced to the 1500s. prominently in chamber and symphonic music

Struck Instruments

producing sound is by striking the string with a hammer. The sound on a piano is produced when the musician presses a key, which causes a hammer to strike a string.

Lyre

similar to a small harp. It has a crossbar attached to a bowl-shaped frame. There are from four to ten strings on a lyre, which are either plucked or strummed with a plectrum . important part of the music of ancient Greece.

Ukulele

similar to the guitar only smaller in size. It is a four-stringed instrument that is played by plucking or strumming the strings with one hand while pressing the strings to the fingerboard with the other. The Portuguese brought the ukulele to Hawaii. important in hawaii

Piano

sound from a piano is produced when the musician presses a key, which causes a hammer to strike a string. Most pianos have more than two hundred strings, which vary in length from six inches to about eighty inches. Each string is tuned to a different pitch. A standard piano keyboard contains eighty-eight keys.

Electric guitars

that change the vibrations of the guitar strings into electric impulses. Electric guitars were developed in the 1930s. An amplifier is used to increase the sound of the music.

Musical instruments are classified

the following categories: aerophones, chordophones, idiophones, membranophones, and electrophones.

Dulcimer

uses the striking of strings to produce sound. Sound is produced by using hammers to strike the strings, or by plucking or strumming the strings. popular in Europe, Asia, and North America as early as the 1400s

soundboard

which represent the position of a specific note or tone.