String (music)

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In music, strings are long flexible structures on string instruments that produce sound through vibration. Strings are held under tension so that they can vibrate freely, but with control. This is to make the string vibrate at the desired pitch, with looser strings producing lower pitches, and tighter strings producing higher pitches. However, a vibrating string produces very little sound in of itself. Therefore, most string instruments have a sounding board to amplify the sound.^[1]

There are two main kinds of strings; plain and wound. "Plain" strings are simply one piece of long cylindrical material, commonly consisted of nylon or gut. "Wound" strings have a central core, plus other material which is tightly wound around the string (usually made of various metals).^[2]

Prior to World War II, strings of many instruments (including violins and guitars) were composed of a material known as catgut, a type of cord made from refined natural fibers of animal intestines. This was the status quo until the 1950s, when mainstream popularity fell for gut strings, and steel and nylon strings became more favored in string making. Although catgut is still prized by many musicians today, due to its unique sound.^[3] The invention of wound strings (particularly steel) was a crucial step in string instrument technology, because a metal-wound string can produce a lower pitch than a plain gut string of similar thickness. This enabled stringed instruments to be made with thinner bass strings.

On string instruments that the player plucks or bows directly (e.g., double bass), this enabled instrument makers to use thinner strings for the lowest-pitched strings, which made the lower-pitch strings easier to play. On stringed instruments in which the player presses a keyboard, causing a mechanism to strike the strings, such as a piano, this enabled piano builders to use shorter, thicker strings to produce the lowest-pitched bass notes, enabling the building of smaller upright pianos designed for small rooms and practice rooms.