ITALIAN STRINGED INSTRUMENTS PLUS

Lira da braccio: A bowed, seven stringed instrument, it resembles the modern violin, albeit larger with a wide fingerboard. What were the stringed instruments that defined the music of the Renaissance? These are the primary ones: The Renaissance period elevated those instruments and their sound – along with the development of newer fine stringed instruments. Secular music of the homes and taverns and public squares were livelier, with dulcimers, citterns, harps, lutes, and the occasional hurdy-gurdy providing what had to have been more joyous enjoyment of melody and rhythm. The plainchants of male voices in the cavernous cathedrals of Europe were largely what had defined sacred music.

The Renaissance was a period so associated with the new, the creative, the break from the status quo, particularly in the arts, it’s no wonder there was an explosion of new stringed instruments used in the creation of music.Ĭonsider first how musical instruments were largely banned in the church during the medieval era (500-1450 CE). But each era, the Renaissance period included, has its own instruments.

ITALIAN STRINGED INSTRUMENTS PLUS

Whether you play a stringed instrument or not, the history is still interesting to learn! Plus the more you learn the more interest you might develop for other instruments and their histories.Musical eras and the instruments that created them are on an historical, evolving continuum. It's always important to have some sort of understanding where string instruments came from. There is also a huge range of various stringed instruments from around the world that have great similarities and share a similar history, but we’ll talk about that at a later time. Some of these include the guitar, lute, mandolin, harpsichord, banjo, sitar, to name a few. There are many other stringed instruments that are not part of the orchestra. These advances also led to more accurate and longer-lasting tuning. Nylon strings became available at more affordable prices and some say the sound is more in keeping with gut strings than steel, which can sound harsher. But early in the 20th century, string technology caught up and strings began to be made of steel, at first solid, and then roped, which allowed for more movement and resonance. Throughout the history of stringed instruments, the strings have been made out of the animal gut. Of course, there are piano concertos and pieces of music that require a piano, but the piano will be an addition to the standard set-up of an orchestra. Also, the piano is not part of a standard orchestra. This is because the strings are hit with hammers like a percussion instrument - such as the timpani or xylophone. The piano, although it has strings - 230 of them actually - is classified as a percussion instrument. It is not considered part of the string family, however, but a unique instrument in its own right. It usually has 47 strings which are plucked with the fingers, and seven pedals, each with three positions. We must not forget about the harp which is part of a modern symphony orchestra.

It sounded one octave lower than the double bass. In the 19th Century, someone designed and built an Octobass which was so huge it made it incredibly difficult to transport, let alone play. It is different from the other three instruments of the string family in that it is tuned to perfect fourths, unlike the others which are tuned to perfect fifths.

The popularity of Baroque music brings stringed instruments into more familiar territory as they start to be used in orchestras as we know them today: a family of four - the highest notes from the violin, followed by the viola, then the cello and finally, the lowest sounding orchestral stringed instrument: the bass, also known as the contrabass or double bass, which was only gradually accepted into the orchestra after years of arguments about how it should be tuned.

Italian stringed instruments