koto
A Japanese musician plucking the strings of a koto with the right hand to generate a pitch and pressing the strings with the left hand to alter the tone.
stringed instrument
Also known as: string instrument
- Key People:
- Alfred Schnittke
- Related Topics:
- lyre
- harp
- Aeolian harp
- monochord
- bow
stringed instrument, any musical instrument that produces sound by the vibration of stretched strings, which may be made of vegetable fiber, metal, animal gut, silk, or artificial materials such as plastic or nylon. In nearly all stringed instruments the sound of the vibrating string is amplified by the use of a resonating chamber or soundboard. The string may be struck, plucked, rubbed (bowed), or, occasionally, blown (by the wind); in each case the effect is to displace the string from its normal position of rest and to cause it to vibrate in complex patterns. Because most stringed instruments are made ...(100 of 15522 words)