STRINGED INSTRUMENT

any musical instrument that produces sound by the vibration of strings, which may be made of vegetable fibre, metal, animal gut, or plastic. In nearly all stringed instruments the sound of the vibrating string is amplified by the use of a resonating chamber or soundboard. The string may be struck, plucked, or rubbed (bowed); in each case the effect is to displace the string from its normal position of rest and to cause it to vibrate in complex patterns. Since most stringed instruments are made from wood or other easily perishable materials, their history before written documentation is almost unknown, and contemporary knowledge of early instruments is limited to the ancient cultures of East and South Asia, the Mediterranean, and Mesopotamia; but even for these places historians must depend largely on iconographic sources rather than surviving specimens. Stringed instruments seem to have spread rapidly from one society to another across the length and breadth of Eurasia by means of great population shifts, invasions and counterinvasions, trade, and, presumably, through sheer cultural curiosity. In the Middle Ages the Crusades stimulated Europe in the adoption of a whole set of new instruments; similarly, the Chinese accepted many new instruments from their Central Asian invaders. Indeed, the only world area that did not echo to the sound of strings was pre-Columbian America. No system of classification can adequately categorize the interactions of natural material, craftsmanship, and man's exuberant imagination that produced an endless variety of stringed instruments. The most widely accepted system of classification is that developed by Hornbostel and Sachs, a method based on the type of material that is set into vibration to produce the original sound. Thus, stringed instruments are identified as chordophonesthat is to say, instruments in which the sound is produced by the vibration of chords, or strings. This main category is then further divided into four subtypeslutes, zithers, lyres, and harpsaccording to the manner in which the strings are positioned in relation to the body of the instrument. Within these categories, the descriptive nomenclature of an instrument is given in terms of parts of the human body: for example, the belly (front), back, sides, and neck. Instruments are not necessarily related only to others in the same classification. Transformations continually occur, and hybrids, according to the Sachs-Hornbostel system, may in fact represent altogether viable subtypes of their own. any musical instrument that produces sound by the vibrations of strings. The strings, which may be of gut, vegetable fibre, plastic, or metal, are plucked, struck, or made to resonate through the use of a bow that is passed over the strings with varying degrees of pressure, according to the type of sound and degree of dynamic required. Stringed instruments can be classified into four types: zithers, in which the strings run the length of the instrument body (e.g., dulcimer, Japanese koto); lutes, in which the strings are stretched over a resonator and a neck (e.g., violin, guitar); lyres, in which the strings run over a resonator to a yoke consisting of two arms and a crosspiece (e.g., ancient Greek lyre , and cithara, or kithara); and harps, in which all the strings lie in the same plane but run at an angle to the resonator. In the West, stringed instruments make up the first section of the orchestra. The most commonly played are those of the violin family, the guitar, and the harp. The piano is a popular keyboard instrument (q.v.) that is stringed. The violin family, or strings, consists of the violin, viola, cello (violoncello), and double bass (or contrabass). The violin is the smallest of the group (but with a four-octave range), and like the viola it is held under the chin. The cello is supported by a spike and is held between the player's feet, and the large double bass is played with the performer either standing up or seated on a high stool. Andrea Amati (c. 152078) is considered the founder of the violin family of instruments as they are recognized today, standardizing the models and beginning the dynasty of makers from Cremona, Italy, and the surrounding Brescian and northern regions. Antonio Stradivari (1644?1737), however, created the outstanding instruments of all time: they are beautiful both in structure and varnish, and they are mellow and strong in sound. The bow was standardized by Franois Tourte (17471835) into a concave, long, thin instrument from the stockier, convex bow. The strings are the main body of the symphony orchestra and also make up the harmonious string quartet (two violins, viola, cello). The violin commands a huge repertory, in classical music as well as in the jazz and folk idioms. The double bass is more closely related to the viola da gamba family (the viols) than the other members of the violin family. Like the viols, it has sloping shoulders, is tuned in 4ths (not 5ths), is played resting on or between the legs rather than the arm, and frequently has a flat, rather than arched, back; it was also the last instrument of the violin family to use a convex bow. The viols, which existed alongside the violins until the 18th century, differ from violins in other ways, including having six strings (rather than four) and a fretted fingerboard. The bass viol is the most frequently played today. The guitar, a waisted instrument with six strings and frets, is strummed or plucked with the fingernails, fingertips, finger picks, or plectrum. The guitar is an ancient instrument and is now frequently associated with Spanish flamenco and popular music, though it also enjoys a large classical repertory through the works of such composers as Heitor Villa-Lobos and Isaac Albenz. Andrs Segovia, in the 20th century, transcribed much classical music for the guitar. Its sound is delicate yet capable of great power and expression. Similar in design to the guitar is the lute, which is also plucked and held in the same manner. The body is pear-shaped and often made with intricately inlaid wood. The lute was frequently used to accompany madrigals during the 16th century and also has medieval associations with the troubadours and minstrels. Similar, but with an even more rounded back and metal strings, is the mandolin. It has frets and is played with a plectrum. Another important plucked instrument, with its origins in ancient Greece, is the lyre. It is plucked with both hands, one using a plectrum. The harp bears little relation to other stringed instruments. An apparently simple idea (6 1/2 octaves of strings stretched vertically between two points changing the pitch according to length) is made more complex through the addition of seven pedals that alter the notes by a tone or semitone. The harp, ornamental in design, is ancient in origin and depicted in many early paintings. It stands on a base and is played tipped back against the shoulder. Of the many ethnomusicological stringed instruments throughout the world, those best known in the West fall predominantly into the zither or lute categories; they include the ch'in of China; the koto and the samisen of Japan; the sitar of India (of Persian origin), which has frets and sympathetic strings; and the sarangi of India, which is played with a bow and has many sympathetic strings. Additional reading Historical surveys, together with information on sound production in different types of instruments, are found in Martha Maas and Jane McIntosh Snyder, Stringed Instruments of Ancient Greece (1989); Hortense Panum, The Stringed Instruments of the Middle Ages, Their Evolution and Development (1939, reprinted 1971; originally published in Danish, 1915); Otto Andersson, The Bowed-Harp: A Study in the History of Early Musical Instruments (1930, reissued 1973; originally published in Swedish, 1923); Werner Bachmann, The Origins of Bowing and the Development of Bowed Instruments Up to the Thirteenth Century (1969; originally published in German, 2nd ed., 1966); and Mary Remnant, English Bowed Instruments from Anglo-Saxon to Tudor Times (1986). The most important family among Western stringed instruments is described and analyzed in David D. Boyden et al., The New Grove Violin Family (1989; also published as Violin Family); and Sheila M. Nelson, The Violin and Viola (1972). Henry Rasof, The Folk, Country, and Bluegrass Musician's Catalogue (1982), provides good coverage of 11 stringed folk instruments. For separate instruments, see Roslyn Rensch, Harps and Harpists (1989), a history with analysis of the instrument design and schools of playing; Joan Rimmer, The Irish Harp, 3rd ed. (1984); Susan Palmer and Samuel Palmer, The Hurdy-Gurdy (1980), a useful account of this little-studied instrument; Pandora Hopkins, Aural Thinking in Norway: Performance and Communication with the Hardingfele (1986), a thorough, original study; R.H. van Gulik, The Lore of the Chinese Lute: An Essay in Ch'in Ideology, new rev. ed. (1969); John Henry Felix, Leslie Nunes, and Peter F. Senecal, The Ukulele: A Portuguese Gift to Hawaii (1980); James Tyler and Paul Sparks, The Early Mandolin (1989); William R. Cumpiano and Jonathan D. Natelson, Guitarmaking, Tradition and Technology: A Complete Reference for the Design and Construction of the Steel-String Folk Guitar and the Classical Guitar (1987); Jos Romanillos, Antonio de Torres, Guitar Maker: His Life and Work (1987); and David Russell Young, The Steel String Guitar: Construction & Repair, updated ed. (1987). Theodore C. Grame