String instrument
Also known as: stringed instrument · string musical instrument · stringed instruments · chordophone
- 1String instruments are technically classified as chordophones.
- 2Sound is produced by the vibration of strings initiated by the performer.
- 3Common performance techniques include plucking, strumming, and striking.
- 4The category includes any instrument where a vibrating string is the primary sound source.
In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners.
Connections1
is the broader instrumental category for the lyre
The lyre belongs to the chordophone family, which encompasses all instruments that produce sound through vibrating strings stretched between two points.
String instruments, also referred to as chordophones, are a category of musical instruments that generate sound through the vibration of strings. This vibration is initiated by the performer using various techniques, such as plucking, strumming, or striking the strings.
Hellenistic banquet scene from the 1st century AD, Hadda, Gandhara. Lute player far right.Wikimedia Commons: File:Indo-GreekBanquet.JPGBow Harp or Harp Lute, West AfricaWikimedia Commons: File:COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Harp-luit_TMnr_A-11006.jpgVarious string instruments; mostly lute family instrumentsWikimedia Commons: File:StringInstruMAPDF.JPG These instruments are defined by their reliance on the physical oscillation of strings to produce musical tones. The classification encompasses a wide range of designs, all sharing the fundamental mechanism of string-based sound production.