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

TYPES OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS

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 frame

Example: Harp

Zithers strings mounted on a body,

Example: an autoharp, a piano

LIST OF INSTRUMENTS

Violin
Cello
Viola
Double bass
Mandolin
Banjo
Harp
Lute
Zither

PLAYING TECHNIQUES
Plucking
Plucking is a method of playing on using either a finger,
thumb, or quills to pluck the strings.
Bowing
The 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.
Striking
The 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 hollowbodied 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 highestsounding 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.

THANK YOU