Types of Violin Strings: Part 1

Video Transcript

" Hi I'm David Kaynor for expertvillage.com. I'm going to briefly discuss the different kinds of violin strings. I think it's safe to categorize strings roughly by their core materials. And in most strings, most brands of strings, the E string is either a solid wire or a solid wire with a very subtle wrapping. But that is generally a steel, maybe chrome steel—in some cases there is a gold plating on it. All efforts to produce the best possible volume and tone. The remaining three strings, A D and G are almost always wrapped with some sort of metal. The A and D are often wrapped with aluminum, and the G is often wrapped with silver. Occasionally the D string is also wrapped in silver, and I think that they are a little pricey then. But the defining material usually is the core. And of the cores most commonly used today, there is gut, which comes from sheep gut, and synthetic cores, which are usually some kind of refined variation on nylon, and then steel cores, of which there are basically two: one is solid steel wire with wrapping around it, and the other is a braided steel with several minor wires all braided together. And each of those cores is thought to have specific characteristics in terms in tones, volume, response, feel under the fingers and longevity; and there are a lot of different opinions about which core has which characteristics; and there is by no means universal agreement."