10 Best String Instruments
In the following article, we will be discussing the top 10 popular and best string instruments. A string instrument is a musical instrument that makes sound by vibrating the strings on it. There are many types of stringed instruments.
Best String Instruments
1. Violin
The violin is a wooden string instrument and is the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the violin family in regular use. It has a smooth, rich sound and a little uniqueness that makes it the best. Generally, the violin has four strings and is typically played by drawing a bow across its strings.
Violins are important musical instruments in a wide variety of musical genres including country, jazz, metal and folk music. Learning to play the violin has great benefits including concentration, improving coordination and discipline. The violin is the best because of the tone and expressions of the violin.
Playing the violin requires perfect posture, more than almost any other musical instrument. It takes balance and strength to hold your body and your violin in the proper position for a long period of time. Playing the violin also requires incredible strength in the shoulder and upper arm muscles. Playing the violin improves your hand-eye coordination, physical strength and dexterity and makes the violinists great multi-taskers.
2. Guitar
The guitar belongs to the string instrument family which is played by plucking the strings. The main parts of a guitar are the body, the headstock, the strings and the fretboard. Guitars are generally made from wood or plastic. Their strings are made of nylon or steel
The guitar strings are plucked with the fingers and fingernails of the dominant hand or a small pick made of thin plastic. This type of pick is called a guitar pick more technically a “plectrum”. The left hand (or right hand for left-hand dominant people) holds the neck of the guitar while the fingers pluck the strings. Different notes are made by positioning your fingers on the fretboard.
Guitar-like string instruments which are plucked have been used for many years. At different time periods and in many countries, guitars and other plucked string instruments have been very popular, because it is easier to learn to how to play them than many other instruments and are light to carry from place to place. Guitars are used for different genres of music, from Classical to Rock. Most pieces of popular music are written with a guitar since the 1950s.
The guitar is suitable for student’s age 6 years upwards and hence is one of the most popular musical instruments. Folkstyle is easier to start with when using a guitar. If you’re a beginner remember to opt for non-electric guitars. Guitars come in a variety of styles and sizes to suit any students’ need.
3. Cello
A member of the violin family, the cello is a bowed stringed orchestral instrument that is versatile with a rich voice. The cello is generally made from wood and the back and top are traditionally hand-carved. One of the most amazing thing about the cello is that it can become every string instrument in the orchestra. Their sound is easily transformed, cells can be almost unrecognizable in certain parts.
The process of learning the cello is not difficult, but it’s important to keep in mind that the cello is not an instrument of instant satisfaction. It does require daily focused practice time and a good teacher to guide you along the way. Someone with experience reading notes and rhythms can easily learn to play the Cello.
An excellent example of comprehensive learning is music education, especially one that involves learning a string instrument like the cello. Playing the cello encourages both leadership skills and teamwork and teaches general music knowledge. It is a great instrument for confidence building whilst improving focus and concentration.
It is simply a large violin with a thicker body. It is played just like a violin, by rubbing the bow across the string. The cello is played sitting down while holding it between your legs while on the other hand, you play the violin standing up. It comes in different sizes from ¼ to full size.
4. Viola
The first violas are believed to have been dated back to the 15th century and evolved from the viola de braccio (Italian for “arm viol”). During the 18th century, the part of the cell was used to be played by the viola. Viola is not a solo instrument yet it is a very important member of a strong family.
Although the viola may look like a violin it certainly not and has its’ own unique tone. It is tuned a fifth lower than the violin and works as the tenor instrument in a string ensemble. Violas didn’t enjoy immediate fame when it first emerged. But thanks to great composers such as Mozart, Strauss and Bartok, the viola has become an essential part of every string ensemble.
5. Ukulele
The ukulele generally employs four gut or nylon strings or four courses of strings and is a member of the lute family of instruments. The word ukulele in Hawaiian means “leaping flea”. The ukulele is a descendant of the machete or Machado and is like a small guitar with a much lighter tone.
ThePortuguese brought the Machida into Hawaii during the 1870s. It has four 24 inches long strings.
The ukulele is one of the most popular musical instrument in Hawaii. It became more extensively used during the 20th century.
6. Mandolin
The mandolin is believed to have emerged during the 18th century and is a bowed string instrument. It is believed to have evolved from the lute. The mandolin has 4 pairs of strings and a pear-shaped body.
The mandolin is yet another musical instrument that belongs to the string ensemble. Gibson is one of the most popular brands of mandolins, named after the luthier Orville Gibson.
7. Harp
The harp is one of the oldest stringed musical instruments that have a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard. It is played by plucking on the strings with the fingers. In terms of size, larger harps rest on the floor as they are quite heavy whereas, many smaller harps can be played on the lap.
Unlike bowed and wind string instruments, it is relatively easy to play simple and satisfying pieces after only a few lessons of the harp and it sounds great from day one. However, the harp is a tough instrument to play to a high standard. Beginners should choose a floor harp (one that sits on the floor) rather than a lap harp because having to hold or balance the harp in some way can interfere with learning proper playing technique.
Harps come in bigger sizes for students 12 years and older and small harps come for kid’s age 8 years upwards. Finding a teacher may be difficult as there are not a lot of people who play the harp. Nonetheless, it is one of the most beautiful sounding instruments and it’s worth learning if you wish.
8. Sitar
The sitar is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in classical music. The instrument is named after a Persian instrument called the setar (meaning three strings) and it prospered under the Mughals. The sitar flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries and appeared at its present form in 18th-century India.
It derives its distinctive sound and resonance from sympathetic strings, a long hollow neck, bridge design and a gourd-shaped resonance chamber. In appearance, the sitar is similar to the tanpura (musical instrument).
A short-lived trend arose for the use of the sitar in the 1960s, for popular Western music, with the instrument appearing on tracks by bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Doors and others.
9. Banjo
A banjo also belongs to the string instrument family. It is played using different techniques such as the “claw hammer” or the Scruggs-style. There are different types of Banjo’s and some manufacturers even experimented on other forms by combining the banjo with another instrument. The banjo originated in the 19th century in Africa was brought into America by slaves. It had four gut strings in its’ earliest form.
10. Piano
The piano is the World’s most-popular musical instruments. The inside a piano have strings, and there is a long row of uniformly rounded felt-covered hammers. The piano is considered a type of chordophone, in the traditional Hornbostel-Sachs system of categorizing musical instruments.
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