Fundamental Music - String Theory

Fundamental Music - String Theory

Let's find out how stringed instruments work!

Violin

Viola

Cello

Double Bass

Harp

Guitar

Ukelele

What are Stringed Instruments?

• Stringed instruments are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when the performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
  

• Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the strings with their fingers or a pick. Others can play by hitting the strings with a light wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow.

Let Me Tell You MORE!

• Some stringed instruments are played hitting the strings with a light wooden hammer. (PIANO)

• In some keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord, the musician presses a key that plucks the string. (HARPSICHORD)

• With bowed instruments, the player pulls a horsehair bow across the strings, causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy, the musician cranks a wheel whose rosined edge touches the strings. (VIOLIN, VIOLA, CELLO, DOUBLE BASS)

Open Ended

Type-to-Me Three Complete Details about String instruments!

CLASSICAL STRINGS

THE ENTIRE STRING FAMILY!!

HOW MANY STRINGED INSTRUMENTS?

Bowed instruments include the string section instruments of the Classical music orchestra (violin, viola, cello and double bass) and a number of other instruments (fiddle, zither). All of the bowed string instruments can also be plucked with the fingers, a technique called "pizzicato". A wide variety of techniques are used to sound notes on the electric guitar, including plucking with the fingernails or a plectrum, strumming and even "tapping" on the fingerboard and using feedback from a loud, distorted guitar amplifier to produce a sustained sound. Some types of string instrument are mainly plucked, such as the harp and the electric bass. Other examples include the sitar, rebab, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, and bouzouki.

Multiple Choice

What material is used to create the bows?

• plastic
• metal
• endpin
• horse hair

What About the Notes and Pitches

• There are three ways to change the pitch of a vibrating string. String instruments are tuned by varying the strings' tension. Instruments with a fingerboard are then played by adjusting the length of the vibrating portion of the strings.

• Pitch can be adjusted by varying the length of the string.^[15] A longer string results in a lower pitch, while a shorter string results in a higher pitch. The frequency is inversely proportional to the length:

What About the Notes and Pitches

• Pitch can be adjusted by varying the tension of the string. A string with less tension (looser) results in a lower pitch, while a string with greater tension (tighter) results in a higher pitch. A homemade washtub bass made out of a length of rope, a broomstick and a washtub can produce different pitches by increasing the tension on the rope (producing a higher pitch) or reducing the tension (producing a lower pitch).

What About the Notes and Pitches

• The pitch of a string can also be varied by changing the weight/thickness of the string. In practical applications, such as with double bass strings or bass piano strings, extra weight is added to strings by winding them with metal. A string with a heavier metal winding produces a lower pitch than a string of equal length without a metal winding.

Multiple Choice

Name the smallest and highest pitched instrument.

• cello
• violin
• viola
• harp

Multiple Choice

Which string instrument can you hear?

• Harp

• Cello

• Violin

• Double Bass

Multiple Choice

Which string instrument can you hear?

• Violin

• Cello

• Viola

• Double Bass