As their name suggests, stringed instruments use vibrated strings to produce sound \u2013 but how are these instruments played and what are the different types? <\/p>
Stringed instruments are a family of instruments that produce sound from vibrated strings. These can be plucked with the fingers or a plectrum, like the acoustic<\/a><\/strong> guitar<\/a><\/strong>; made to sound by drawing a bow across the strings, like a violin<\/a><\/strong> or cello; or hit with a light wooden hammer, as inside a modern-day piano.<\/p>\n Strings are one of the five main families of instruments, the others being percussion<\/a><\/strong>, woodwind<\/a><\/strong>, brass<\/a><\/strong> and keyboard.<\/p>\n Modern bowed stringed instruments \u2013 violin<\/a><\/strong>, viola<\/a><\/strong>, cello<\/a><\/strong> and double bass<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 make up the string section of the western symphony orchestra<\/a><\/strong>. Early versions of these instruments such as the viol or viola da gamba first appeared in Spain in the mid-to-late 15th century, and were most popular in the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The modern violin<\/a><\/strong> first appeared in the early 16th century. The viola<\/a><\/strong>, cello and double bass are larger cousins of the violin, which produce deeper sounds.<\/p>\n The body of modern bowed stringed instruments generally comprise a hollow, wooden box (or soundbox), fingerboard and four strings made or steel, nylon or gut. The bow<\/a><\/strong> is a wooden stick strung with horse or synthetic hair. Rosin<\/a><\/strong>, a sticky substance similar to sap, is used by string players to add friction to the bow hair so that it grips the strings and allows them to \u2018speak\u2019. The player rubs the hardened cake of rosin<\/a><\/strong> onto the bow hair to achieve an even coat. As it\u2019s applied, the cake becomes a white powder which bonds to the bow hair.<\/p>\n The player holds the bow with their right hand and with their left hand holds the instrument\u2019s fingerboard, using the fingers as stops on the strings to create notes of different pitches. The violin and viola<\/a><\/strong> are held under the player\u2019s chin, while the cello and double bass<\/a><\/strong> are head upright against the payer\u2019s body \u2013 a metal spike, attached to the bottom of the instrument, anchors it to the floor.<\/p>\n\n
What are the types of stringed instruments?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Bowed stringed instruments<\/h3>\n
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