Parts of a String Instrument
String instruments are those that have strings stretched between two points on the instrument. Sound is produced as players vibrate strings, either by plucking, bowing or striking. String instruments are used in both popular and formal music and in a wide range of musical genres, including classical, country and folk. Though pianos, for example, are technically string instruments, the reference to most people means those instruments that are plucked or bowed.
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Body
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The main part of a string instrument is the body, usually made from wood. The body affects the resonance, and therefore the sound, of string instruments.
Neck, Head and Scroll
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The neck extends out from the body, terminating in the head or scroll. The scroll is the carved, curved part you see at the top of the neck on instruments like the violin. The fingerboard travels down the neck and over the instrument's body. Instruments like guitars have frets--wedges of wood, metal or ivory placed across the fingerboard.
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Strings
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Strings run from the head, down the fingerboard and then are attached to the body. In instruments such as the harp, strings are stretched vertically within a triangular-shaped frame. Strings are made of materials such as steel, synthetics and gut.
Supports, Pegs and Pedals
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Some instruments like the cello require an endpin at the bottom of the body, used to support the instrument as the musician plays. Pegs are situated in the head or scroll of stringed instruments such as the viola and banjo, and by turning them, you adjust string tension, allowing you to tune the instrument. Pedals are parts of harps (and also harpsichords and pianos). On harps, pedals are used to change the strings' pitch.
Plucking and Bowing Implements
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Along with fingers, bows and picks are used to vibrate an instrument's strings. The violin family of stringed instruments all use bows, as do members of the viol family. Picks, also called plectrums, are often used by guitar and mandolin players.
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