Stringed Instrument 101 – Your Guide to the Best Music Instruments Family

The world has been used to music instruments that produce amazing sound with their vibrating strings. These stringed instruments have been around for far longer than most can remember. Hard to believe that the first stringed instrument was born with humans stretching the remaining tendons and sinews of their evening meal across wooden fixing. Yet, this is most likely what happened. Whatever might have happened, a variation in the music instruments was born.

A stringed music instrument is one that produces sound by making use of string vibrations. The most common string music instruments in the string family are guitar, electric bass, violin, viola, cello, double bass, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, and harp. Vibrations are controlled and even maximized to produced variety of sound and music that we are used to today.

World Famous Guitar

Guitar has been the most iconic instrument of the popular artistic musical world for decades! Evolving from early harps and lutes, the guitar has made its mark. There were numerous different plucked instruments that were being constructed and used in Europe and the far east, during the Middle Ages. History lessons aside, here are some more types of the iconic guitar:

Electric Guitar

Electric guitars are very popular amongst advanced guitarists. These may have solid, semi-hollow, or hollow bodies. Ones with solid bodies use amplification but still have lower sound. Electromagnetic pickups, and occasionally piezoelectric pickups use a radio transmitter that gets vibrations from the steel strings amplified through a patch of cables. These are unique in many ways. There are valves or vacuum tubes also called the pre-amp in the amplifier. This used sound that is frequently modified through other devices or effects units in the setup. Resulting sound is crisp, loud and plentiful. Finding your favorite guitar for sale is easier than many other music instruments too.

Acoustic Guitar

These acoustic guitars are very famous and generally use steel strings. They have arched top with different variants having different shapes. The acoustic guitar group also includes unamplified guitars designed to play in different registers like the acoustic bass guitar. This one has resembling tuning to that of the electric bass guitar, and electro-acoustic ones. These also have pick-ups.

Classical Guitar

These are also known as” Spanish” guitars, are generally threaded with nylon strings, plucked with the musician’s fingers, played in a seated position and are used to play a diversity of styles including classical music. The classical guitar’s wide, flat neck allows the musician to play scales, arpeggios, and certain passion forms more fluently and with lower adjacent strings hindrance than on other styles of guitar. Flamenco guitars resemble in construction, but are associated with a potent percussive tone.

Authentic Bass Guitar

There are many names for the bass guitar including just the bass and electric bass. This one appears in its design to an electric guitar but is different with a longer neck and scale length. The four- string bass, most popular of its variants, is generally tuned the same as the double bass (E, A, D, and G). More plainly, the bass guitar is an altering guitar because of its notated bass clef with an octave higher than it sounds (similar to double bass). It also has pickups and uses an amplifier and speaker for live performances, just like the electric guitar.

Other Noteworthy Stringed Instruments

So, why are stringed instruments called what they are when most are made from wood? Usually, these have hollow bodies to allow sound to vibrate inside. They may be made from different wood types. Yet, all stringed instruments make sound through their strings. These strings may be nylon, steel or occasionally even animal guts. Their strings produce sound when plucked or drawing a bow across them. Some more important ones in addition to the guitar are:

Majestic Violin

Violin is known to have the highest pitch amongst stringed instruments and is smallest in size. You will find more types of violins available (up to 34 different types) than any other instrument. Violins are sub-divided into two major groups. Most common violins are 24-inches in length with a slightly longer bow. It is played by resting it between the chin and left shoulder. Using the left hand to hold its neck and also press down on the strings to change their pitch. Right hand runs the bow across the strings or plucks them as preferred.

Beautiful Viola

Notably larger in size, the viola is considered to be a direct cousin of the violin. It has thicker strings and a length just slightly longer than two feet. The viola is known for its richer, warmer music. A typical orchestra will usually have anywhere from 10 to 14 violas played traditional into Alto Clef.

Amazing Cello

Cello is known for its larger size (around four feet) and thicker strings to violin or viola. This one is also attributed to having the most human voice resembling sound in all stringed instruments. Also, the beautiful cello can and does make a wider variety of tones including bright advanced ones and warm low. Your typical orchestra will have anywhere in the range of 8 to 12 cells with their harmonious melodious sound.

Double Bass

Accredited to be the largest stringed instruments, double bass also produces lowest-pitched sound. Its body stands on the ground while being played supported with a metal peg. The neck will be resting on the left shoulder of its player. Sound is produced in a movement much similar to the cello with left hand changing the pitch. Right hand runs the bow across or plucks the strings.

Final Words

Stringed instruments are some of the finest music makers in history. Regardless of their origins, stringed instruments have grown to be one of the largest family of instruments. The guitar, the cello, violins are some of the most famous. Other parts of the world are more used to ones like the bouzouki, the lute or the ukulele. All these are amazing and play a vital role in how we know and love music. Find your love with stringed instrument and you will never go non-stringed.