String Instruments | Can’t Sleep? Learn What Makes Them Sing

String instruments have been part of human culture for thousands of years, producing music through vibrating strings in countless shapes and sizes. This episode explores how string instruments create sound, the families they belong to, their development across different cultures, and the techniques musicians use to bring them to life. Along the way, you’ll hear about bowed, plucked, and struck instruments and their enduring role in music around the world.

It’s steady and consistent, with no whispering and no sudden changes, just enough to give your mind something to follow as you wind down. Happy sleeping!

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast, Where I help you drift off one fact at a time. I'm your host, Benjamin Boster, And today's episode is about string instruments. Today we have a sponsored episode from Karina. She says, Happy birthday to Jordan, From Karina. In musical instrument classification, String instruments, Or chordophones, Are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, Plucks, Or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some string instruments like guitars by plucking the strings with their fingers or a plectrum, A pick. And others by hitting the strings with a light wooden hammer, Or by rubbing the strings with a bow, Like violins. In some keyboard instruments, Such as the harpsichord, The musician presses a key that plucks the string. Other musical instruments generate sound by striking the string. With bowed instruments, The player pulls a rosined horsehair bow across the strings, Causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy, The musician cranks a wheel whose rosined edge touches the string. Bowed instruments include the string section instruments of the orchestra and western and classical music, Violin, Viola, Cello, And double bass. And a number of other instruments, Vials and gambas, Used in early music from the Baroque music era, And fiddles used in many types of folk music. 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 pluck drum, Strumming and even tapping on the fingerboard, And using feedback from a loud distorted guitar amplifier to produce a sustained sound. Some string instruments are mainly plucked, Such as the harp and the electric bass. Other examples include the sitar, Rebab, Banjo, Mandolin, Ukulele, And bouzouki. In the Hornbastilzak's scheme of music instrument classification, Used in organology, String instruments are called chordophones. In most string instruments, The vibrations are transmitted to the body of the instrument, Which often incorporates some sort of hollow or enclosed area. The body of the instrument also vibrates along with the air inside it. The vibration of the body of the instrument and the enclosed hollow or chamber make the vibration of the string more audible to the performer and audience. The body of most string instruments is hollow, In order to have better sound projection. Some, However, Such as electric guitar and other instruments that rely on electric amplification, May have a solid wood body. Dating to around circa 13, 000 B. C. , A cave painting in the Trois-Phazères cave in France depicts what some believe is a musical bow, A hunting bow used as a single-stringed musical instrument. From the musical bow, Families of stringed instruments developed, Since each string played a single note. Adding strings added new notes, Creating bow harps, Harps, And lyres. In turn, This led to being able to play dyads and chords. Another innovation occurred when the bow harp was straightened out and a bridge used to lift the strings off the stick neck, Creating the lute. This picture of musical bow to harp bow is theory and has been contested. In 1965, Franz Jahnl wrote his Criticism, Stating that the early ancestors of plucked instruments are not currently known. He felt that the harp bow was a long cry from the sophistication of the civilization of Western Asia in 4000 B. C. That took the primitive technology and created technically and artistically well-made harps, Lyres, Scissoras, And lutes. Archaeological digs have identified some of the earliest stringed instruments in ancient Mesopotamian sites, Like the lyres of Ur, Which include artifacts over 3, 000 years old. The development of lyre instruments required the technology to create a tuning mechanism to tighten and loosen the string tension. Liars with wooden bodies and strings used for plucking or playing with a bow represent key instruments that point towards later harps and violin-type instruments. Moreover, Indian instruments from 500 BC have been discovered with anything from 7 to 21 strings. In Vietnam, A 2, 000-year-old singularly stringed instrument made of deer antler was also discovered. String instrument design was refined during the Renaissance and into the Baroque period, 1600-1750, Of musical history. Violins and guitars became more consistent in design and were roughly similar to acoustic guitars of the 2000s. The violins of the Renaissance featured intricate woodwork and stringing, While more elaborate bass instruments, Such as the bandura, Were produced alongside quill-plucked sitterns and Spanish body guitars. In the 19th century, String instruments were made more widely available through mass production, With wood string instruments a key part of orchestras. Cellos, Violas, And upright basses, For example, Were now standard instruments for chamber ensembles and smaller orchestras. At the same time, The 19th century guitar became more typically associated with six-string models rather than traditional five-string versions. Major changes to string instruments in the 20th century primarily involved innovations in electronic instrument amplification and electronic music. Electric violins were available by the 1920s and were an important part of emerging jazz music trends in the United States. The acoustic guitar was widely used in blues and jazz, But as an acoustic instrument, It was not loud enough to be a solo instrument. So these genres mostly used it as an accompaniment rhythm section instrument. In big bands of the 1920s, The acoustic guitar played backing chords, But it was not loud enough to play solos like the saxophone and trumpet. The development of guitar amplifiers, Which contained a powerful amplifier and a loudspeaker in a wooden cabinet, Let jazz guitarists play solos and be heard over a big band. The development of the electric guitar provided guitarists with an instrument that was built to connect to guitar amplifiers. Electric guitars have magnetic pickups, Volume control knobs, And an output jack. In the 1960s, Larger, More powerful guitar amplifiers were developed, Called stacks. These powerful amplifiers enable guitarists to perform in rock bands that played in large venues, Such as stadiums and outdoor music festivals. String instruments can be divided into three groups. Lutes, Instruments that support the strings via a neck and a bowed or a gourd. For instance, A guitar, Violin or saz. Harps, Instruments that contain the strings within a frame. Zithers, Instruments that have the strings mounted on a body, Frame, Or tube, Such as a guqin, Cymbalum, Autoharp, Harpsichord, Piano, Or valiha. It is also possible to divide the instruments into categories focused on how the instrument is played. All string instruments produce sound from one or more vibrating strings, Transferred to the air by the body of the instrument, Or by a pickup in electronically amplified instruments. They're usually categorized by the technique used to make the strings vibrate, Or by the primary technique in the case of instruments where more than one may apply. The three most common techniques are plucking, Bowing, And striking. An important difference between bowing and plucking is that in the former, The phenomenon is periodic, So that the overtones are kept in a strictly harmonic relationship to the fundamentals. Plucking is a method of playing on instruments such as a vena, Banjo, Ukulele, Guitar, Harp, Lute, Mandolin, Oud, And sitar, Using either a finger, Thumb, Or quills to pluck the strings. Instruments normally played by bowing may also be plucked, A technique referred to by the Italian term pizzicato. Bowing, Italian arco, Is a method used in some string instruments, Including the violin, Viola, Cello, And the double bass of the violin family, And the old vial family. The bow consists of a stick with a ribbon of parallel horsetail hairs stretched between its ends. The hair is coated with rosin so it can grip the string. Moving the hair across a string causes a stick-slip phenomenon, Making the string vibrate and prompting the instrument to emit sound. Darker grades of rosin grip well in cool, Dry climates, But may be too sticky in warmer, More humid weather. Violin and viola players generally use harder, Lighter-colored rosin than players of lower-pitched instruments, Who tend to favor darker, Softer rosin. The third common method of sound production in stringed instruments is distract-a-string. The piano and hammered dulcimer use this method of sound production. Even though the piano strikes the strings, The use of felt hammers means that the sound that is produced can nevertheless be mellow and rounded, In contrast to the sharp attack produced when a very hard hammer strikes the strings. Violin family string instrument players are occasionally instructed to strike the string with the stick of the bow, A technique called coleño. This yields a percussive sound along with the pitch of the note. A well-known use of Koleño for orchestral strings is Gustav Holst's Mars movement from the Planet Suite. Some instruments that have strings have an attached keyboard that the player presses keys on to trigger a mechanism that sounds the strings, Instead of directly manipulating the strings. These include the piano, The clavichord, And the harpsichord. With these keyboard instruments, Strings are occasionally plucked or bowed by hand. Modern composers, Such as Henry Cowell, Wrote music that requires that the player reach inside the piano and pluck the strings directly, Bow them with bow hair wrapped around the strings, Or play them by rolling the bell of a brass instrument, Such as a trombone on the array of strings. However, These are relatively rarely used special techniques. Steel-stringed instruments such as the guitar, Bass, Violin, Etc. Can be played using a magnetic field. An E-Bow is a small handheld battery-powered device that magnetically excites the strings of an electric string instrument to provide a sustained singing tone reminiscent of a held bowed violin note. Third bridge is a plucking method where the player frets a string and strikes the side opposite the bridge. The technique is mainly used on electric instruments, Because these have a pickup that amplifies only the local string vibration. It is possible on acoustic instruments as well, But less effective. For instance, A player might press on the 7th fret on a guitar and pluck it at the head side to make a tone resonate at the opposing side. On electric instruments this technique generates multi-tone sounds, Reminiscent of a clock or bell. Electric string instruments, Such as the electric guitar, Can also be played without touching the strings by using audio feedback. When an electric guitar is plugged into a loud, Powerful guitar amplifier with a loudspeaker, And a high level of distortion is intentionally used, The guitar produces sustained, High-pitched sounds. By changing the proximity of the guitar to the speaker, The guitarist can produce sounds that cannot be produced with standard plucking and picking techniques. This technique was popularized by Jimi Hendrix and others in the 1960s. It was widely used in psychedelic rock and heavy metal music. In bowed instruments, The bow is normally placed perpendicularly to the string, At a point halfway between the end of the fingerboard and the bridge. However, Different bow placements can be selected to change timbre. Application of the bow close to the bridge, Known as sul ponticello, Produces an intense, Sometimes harsh sound, Which acoustically emphasizes the upper harmonics. Bowing above the fingerboard, Sul casto, Produces a purer tone with less overtone strings, Emphasizing the fundamental, Also known as flautando since it sounds less reedy and more flute-like. Bowed instruments pose a challenge to instrument builders, As compared with instruments that are only plucked, Like the guitar. Because on bowed instruments, The musician must be able to play one string at a time, If they wish. As such, A bowed instrument must have a curved bridge that makes the outer strings lower in height than the inner strings. With such a curved bridge, The player can select one string at a time. On guitars and lutes, The bridge can be flat because the strings are played by plucking them with the fingers, Fingernails or a pick. By moving the fingers or pick to different positions, The player can play different strings. On bowed instruments, The need to play strings individually with the bow also limits the number of strings to about 6 or 7. With more strings, It would be impossible to select individual strings to bow. Boat strings can also play two boat notes on two different strings at the same time, A technique called a double stop. Indeed, On the orchestral string section instruments, Four strings are the norm, With the exception of five strings used on some double basses. In contrast with stringed keyboard instruments, 88 courses are used on a piano. And even though these strings are arranged on a flat bridge, The mechanism can play any of the notes individually. Similar timbral distinctions are also possible with plucked stringed instruments by selecting an appropriate plucking point, Although the difference is perhaps more subtle. In keyboard instruments, The contact point along the string, Whether this be the hammer, Tangent or plectrum, Is a choice made by the instrument designer. Builders use a combination of experience and acoustic theory to establish the right set of contact points. In harpsichords, Often there are two sets of strings of equal length. These choirs usually differ in their plucking points. One choir has a normal plucking point, Producing a canonical harpsichord sound. The other has a plucking point close to the bridge, Producing a reedier, Nasal sound, Rich in upper harmonics. Some instruments are employed with sympathetic strings, Which are additional strings not meant to be plucked. These strings resonate with supplied nodes, Creating additional tones. Sympathetic strings vibrate naturally when various intervals, Such as the unisons or the octaves of the notes of the sympathetic strings are plucked, Bowed, Or struck. This system is used on the Sarangi, The Grand Piano, The Hardinger Fiddle, And the Rhubarb. A vibrating string struck on a very thick log, As a hypothetical example, Would make only a very quiet sound. So string instruments are usually constructed in such a way that the vibrating string is coupled to a hollow resonating chamber, A soundboard, Or both. On the violin, For example, The four strings pass over a thin wooden bridge, Resting on a hollow box, The body of the violin. The normal force applied to the body from the strings is supported in part by a small cylinder of wood, Called the sound post. The violin body also has two F holes carved on the top. The string's vibrations are distributed via the bridge and sound post to all surfaces of the instrument, And are thus made louder by matching of the acoustic impedance. The correct technical explanation is that they allow a better match to the acoustic impedance of the air. It is sometimes said that the sounding board or sound box amplifies the sound of the strings. In reality, No power amplification occurs, Because all of the energy to produce sound comes from the vibrating string. The mechanism is that the sounding board of the instrument provides a larger surface area to create sound waves than that of the string, And therefore acts as a matching element between the acoustic impedance of the string and that of the surrounding air. A larger vibrating surface can sometimes produce better matching, Especially at lower frequencies. All lute-type instruments traditionally have a bridge which holds a string at the proper action height from the fret fingerboard at one end of the strings. On acoustic instruments, The bridge performs an equally important function of transmitting string energy into the sound box of the instrument, Thereby increasing the sound volume. The specific design and materials used in the construction of the bridge of an instrument have a dramatic impact upon both the sound and responsiveness of the instrument. Achieving a tonal characteristic that is effective and pleasing to the player's and listener's ear is something of an art and craft, As well as a science, And the makers of string instruments often seek very high-quality woods to this end, Particularly spruce, Chosen for its lightness, Strength, And flexibility, And maple, A very hardwood. Spruce is used for the sounding boards of instruments from the violin to the piano. Instruments such as the banjo use a drum, Covered in natural or synthetic skin, As their soundboard. Acoustic instruments can also be made of artificial materials, Such as carbon fiber and fiberglass, Particularly the larger, Lower pitched instruments, Such as cellos and basses. In the early 20th century, The strove violin used a diaphragm-type resonator and a metal horn to project the string sound. Much like early mechanical gramophones, Its use declined beginning about 1920, As electric amplification through power amplifiers and loudspeakers was developed and came into use. String instrument players can electronically amplify their instruments by connecting them to a PA system or a guitar amplifier. Most string instruments can be fitted with piezoelectric or magnetic pickups to convert the string's vibrations into an electric signal that is amplified and then converted back into sound by loudspeakers. Some players attach a pickup to their traditional string instruments to electrify it. Another option is to use a solid-bodied instrument, Which reduces unwanted feedback, Howls or squeals. Amplified string instruments can be much louder than their acoustic counterparts, 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. To modify the tone of amplified bass instruments, A range of electronic bass effects are available, Such as distortion and chorus. The string instruments usually used in the orchestra, And often called the symphonic strings, Or string section, Are violins, Divided into two sections, First violins and second violins. These sections play exactly the same instruments. The difference is that the first violins play higher register lines, And the second violins play lower register parts. Accompaniment parts, Or counter melodies. Violas cellos double basses When orchestral instrumentation specifies strings, It often means this combination of string parts. Orchestral works rarely omit any of these string parts, But often include additional string instruments, Especially the concert harp and piano. In the Baroque orchestra from the 1600s to 1750, Or with modern groups playing early music, Harpsichord is almost always used to play the basso continuo part, The written-out bass line and improvised chords, And often a siorbo or lute or a pipe organ. In some classical music, Such as the string quartet, The double bass is not typically used. The cello plays the base role in this literature.