String instruments
Construction
String instruments can be divided in three groups.
1. Lutes - instruments in which the strings are supported by a neck and a bout ("gourd"), for instance a guitar, a violin, a saz.
2. Harps - instruments in which the strings are contained within a frame.
3. Zithers - instruments with the strings mounted on a body, such as a guqin, a cimbalom, an autoharp, or a piano.
It is also possible to divide the instruments in groups focused on how the instrument is played.
Types of playing techniques
The double bass is either plucked (pizzicato) or bowed (arco) depending on the genre and piece.
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 the case of electronically amplified instruments). They are 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.
Plucking
Plucking is used as the sole method of playing on instruments such as the banjo, guitar, harp, lute, mandolin, oud, sitar, and either by a finger or thumb, or by some type of plectrum. This category includes the keyboard instrument the harpsichord, which formerly used feather quills (now plastic plectra) to pluck the strings.
Instruments normally played by bowing may also be plucked, a technique referred to by the Italian term pizzicato.
Bowing
Bowing (Italian: Arco) is a method used in some string instruments, including the violin, viola, cello, and less commonly, the double bass (of the violin family) and the old viol family. The bow consists of a stick with many hairs stretched between its ends. Bowing the instrument's string causes a stick-slip phenomenon to occur, which makes the string vibrate.
Striking
The third common method of sound production in stringed instruments is to strike the string with a hammer. By far the most well-known instrument to use this method is the piano, where the hammers are controlled by a mechanical action; another example is the hammered dulcimer, where the player holds the hammers.
A variant of the hammering method is found in the clavichord: a brass tangent touches the string and presses it to a hard surface, inducing vibration. This method of sound production yields a soft sound. The maneuver can also be executed with a finger on plucked and bowed instruments; guitarists refer to this technique as a hammer-on. After the invention of electric pickups guitars could be played solely by hammer-ons.
Violin-family string instrument players are also occasionally instructed to strike the string with the side of the bow, a technique called col legno. This yields a percussive sound along with the pitch of the note.
Other methods
The aeolian harp employs a very unusual method of sound production: the strings are excited by the movement of the air.
Some string instruments have keyboards attached which are manipulated by the player, meaning they do not have to pay attention to the strings directly. The most familiar example is the piano, where the keys control the felt hammers by means of a complex mechanical action. Other string instruments with a keyboard include the clavichord (where the strings are struck by tangents), and the harpsichord (where the strings are plucked by tiny plectra).
With these keyboard instruments too, the strings are occasionally plucked or bowed by hand.
Steel-stringed instruments (such as the guitar, bass, violin, etc) can be played using a magnetic field. An E-Bow is small hand-held battery-powered device which can be used to excite the strings of an electric guitar. It provides a sustained, singing tone on the string which is magnetically vibrated.
String length or scale length
This is the length of the string from nut to bridge on bowed or plucked instruments and ultimately determines the distance between different notes on the instrument. For example, a double bass with its low range needs a scale length of around 42 inches, whilst a violin scale is only about 13 inches. On the shorter scale of the violin, the left hand may easily reach a range of slightly more than two octaves without shifting position, while on the bass' longer scale, a single octave or a ninth is reachable in lower positions.
Vocabulary
a lute – ëþòíÿ
a saz – ñòðóíèé ³íñòðóìåíò ÷àñ³â Îòòîìàíñüêî¿ ³ìïåð³¿
a harp – àðôà
a frame - êàðêàñ
à zither – öèòðà
cimbalom – âåíãåðñê³ öèìáàëè
to pluck – ùèïàòè
to bow –ãðàòè íà ìóçè÷íîìó ³íñòðóìåíò³
à bow - ñìè÷îê
oud – óä, àðàáñüêà ëþòíÿ
à thumb – âåëèêèé ïàëåöü ðóêè
à plectrum – ìåä³àòîð
feather quill – ìåä³àòîð, âèãîòîâëåíèé ³ç ïåðà
stick-slip – êîâçàííÿ
dulcimer – öèìáàëè
to yield – âèðîáëÿòè
percussive – óäàðíèé
à keyboard – êëàâ³àòóðà
sustained - òðèâàëèé
à bridge – íèæí³é ïîðîæåê
Task 2. Choose the correct answer
1. String instruments can be divided in
a. two groups b. three groups c. four groups d. five groups
2. How many most common techniques of plaing string instruments exist?
a. two b. three c. four d. five
3. Plucking is used as the sole method of playing on instruments such as
a. the banjo b. the guitar c. the harp d. the piano
4. What instrument is not bowing used in?
a. the violin b. the viola c. the cello d. the guitar
5. Striking is used in playing
a. the viola b. the harp c. the piano d. the banjo
6. String length determines
a. the pitch of the notes b. the timbre c. the distance between thr notes d. the rhytm
Task 3. Put the questions to the underlined words:
a. This category includes the keyboard instrument the harpsichord, which formerly used feather quillsto pluck the strings.
b. Bowing is a method used in some string instruments, including the violin, viola, cello.
Task 4. Answer the following questions:
1. What groups can string instruments be divided in?
2. What do all string instruments produce?
3. What techniques are the most common in playing string instruments?
4. What is plucking?
5. What is bowing?
6. What is striking?
7. What method is used to play the aeolian?
Task 5. Retell the text.