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Wikipedia on String instruments

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones. The most common string instruments in Western music are those in the violin, piano and guitar families. More »
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Guitar
The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots, used in a wide variety of musical styles, and it is also a solo classical instrument. It is recognized as one of the primary instruments in blues, country, flamenco, rock music and many forms of pop. The guitar usually has six strings, but four, seven, eight, ten, and twelve string guitars also exist. Guitars are made and repaired by luthiers. Guitars may be played acoustically or they may rely on an amplifier that usually allows for... More »
Violin
The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello. A violin is sometimes informally called a fiddle, no matter what kind of music is played on it. The word "violin" comes to us through the Romance languages from the Middle Latin word ''vitula'', meaning "stringed instrument"; this word may also be the source of the Germanic... More »
Harpsichord
A harpsichord is any of a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument currently called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar or muselaar virginals and the spinet. All these instruments generate sound by plucking a string rather than striking one, as in a piano or clavichord. More »
Banjo
:''For other uses, see Banjo (disambiguation)'' The banjo is a stringed instrument of African American origin adapted from several African instruments. Enslaved Africans in the American South and Appalachia fashioned the earliest banjos after instruments they had been familiar with in Africa, with some of the earliest instruments sometimes being called "gourd banjos". One predecessor to the banjo is called the "Akonting." It is a spike folk lute played by the Jola tribe of Senegambia. More »
Plectrum
A plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For acoustic guitars, electric guitars, electric basses, banjos, and other similar instruments, the plectrum is a separate tool held in the player's hand. In harpsichords, the plectra are attached to the harpsichord's jack mechanism. More »
Fret
:''For the acronym FRET in molecular biology, see Fluorescence resonance energy transfer.'' A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard. On historical instruments and some non-European instruments, pieces of string tied around the neck serve as frets. Frets divide the neck into fixed segments at intervals related to a... More »
Fingerboard
The fingerboard, , is a part of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of wood that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument and above which the strings run. In the playing of such an instrument, a musician presses the strings down towards it in order to change their vibrating lengths, causing changes in pitch. This is called "stopping" the strings. The word "fingerboard" in other languages sometimes occurs in musical directions. More »
Bridge (instrument)
:''For other meanings, see Bridge (disambiguation).'' A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument in order to transfer the sound to the surrounding air. More »
Bow (music)
:''This article is about the bow used to play a string instrument. For the musical instrument called "bow", see musical bow'' In music, a bow is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. More »
Sitar
The sitar is a plucked stringed instrument. It uses sympathetic strings along with a gourd resonating chamber to produce a very lush sound. Predominantly used in Hindustani classical, sitar has been ubiquitous in Hindustani classical music since the Middle Ages. This instrument is used throughout the Indian subcontinent. More »
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