The World Family of Stringed Instruments by Tom Vennum Students of music as well as Festival visitors have the opportunity to hear a Chordophones whose strings are number of the world's musical instru perpendicular to the soundboard are ments performed here, many of which classified as Harps. The Mexican arpa, will be new to them. Of particular in as featured in the jarocho ensemble terest is the wide variety of stringed from Vera Cruz, is the Festival's only instruments. As a group they are called representative from the harp family. chordophones (from the Greek words Because strings may be made to for string and sound) to distinguish sound in one of three principal ways, them from other principal divisions of the manner in which they are set into musical instruments: membranophones vibration is yet another means of deter (drums with skin heads), idiophones mining a chordophone's classification. (most other percussion), aerophones The strings may be bowed (the Huichol (winds and reeds), and electrophones fiddle, the Lebanese rebab), hammered (electronic instruments). (the German Hackbrett and the piano), By definition, a chordophone has at or plucked. (Strings can be plucked least one and usually several strings individually or strummed as a group, stretched parallel to each other between using either the fingers, as with harps, two points on the body of the instrument. or some sort of pick. The Japanese Often, one or two bridges are used to samisen player uses a large triangular raise the strings from the instrument, pick, the German Zither and Japanese allowing them to vibrate freely. These koto players wear picks formed into bridges may be fixed near the ends of rings on one hand, etc.) Thus among the strings, as on the guitar, or are occa the Board Zithers one distinguishes sionally moveable for tuning purposes, between those which are plucked, as on the Japanese koto. called psalteries (the Lebanese qanun, The tonal range of a chordophone, the German Zither) and those which are how high or low it can play, depends hammered, called Dulcimers (the Ger on the number of strings and their Lebanese instrument-maker plucks an When the strings stretch fully across man Hackbrett). Interestingly enough, various lengths, thicknesses, and de 'ud in a workshop filled with stringed a surface, called a soundboard, the popular names for string instruments grees of tension. So that each string instruments: 'ud (lute family), guitar, chordophone belongs to the family of sometimes ignore such distinctions in may be adjusted to the proper tension, ganun (zither family), kemange (violin zithers. If the soundboard surface is manner of performance. Because the it is attached to some sort of tuning peg, family). For listing of instruments found flat, such as on the German Zither and American Appalachian "dulcimer" is or pin, which is turned until the string in Old Ways area see page 44. Hackbrett, the instrument is a Board usually plucked, not hammered, it is sounds the correct pitch. Performers of Photo courtesy National Geographic Society. Zither; if long and slightly curved, not really a dulcimer, but rather a chordophones may be seen adjusting tension may require a metal key, like a such as on the Japanese koto, the psaltery, just as an English horn is these pegs and testing the strings' clock or rollerskate key, to turn the chordophone is a Long Zither. not really a horn but a double-reed pitches before playing. If the instrument tuning pins, or even a special wrench Stringed instruments with necks instrument belonging to the oboe has only a few strings, as does a violin in the case of the piano. projecting from their bodies belong to family. or guitar, the tuning pegs are usually The body of a chordophone serves to the Lute family. Among the lutes in this The world family of chordophones, of wood and can be turned easily by amplify the sound of the strings when year's Festival are the Panamanian unified by a common means of sound hand, but instruments which have a they are made to vibrate. T~e shape of mejorana, the Japanese samisen, the production -the vibrating string- is large number of strings under greater this resonating body, which is often Lebanese rebab and 'ud, the large num nevertheless capable of many different Mr. Vennum is an ethnomusicologist who determined by the number and length ber of guitar types performed by the sounds, from the robust strumming of wrote his dissertation on American Indian of the strings, further decides the clas Mexican mariachi band, and violins the rhythm guitars in the Mexican music at Harvard University. He is a con sification of a chordophone, as does and fiddles of several sizes, including mariachi sound to the quieter sounds sultant on musical presentations in the Old the location of the strings in relation the double bass of the German bands, of the plucked zither. The Festival is Ways in the New World area of the Festival. to the instrument. and the Huichol Indian fiddle. a good time to compare these.
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