Western Musical Instruments

Western musical instruments are very varied, some are stringed, and some are wood wind while some are rhythm and beat ones. Each has its own country or area of origin, but over the years with the intermingling of cultures taking place, none are as such indigenous to a single country any longer. Musical instruments are broadly classified today as either Indian or western. Given below some of the most popular western musical instruments:

Piano

Piano is played through a keyboard and is said to be the most popular musical instrument across the world. It can be a solo performance, or a part of an ensemble, played as an accompaniment or chamber music. Even musicians prefer the piano while composing tunes and during rehearsals.

Piano is an expensive instrument and heavy and thus not readily portable. But due to its ubiquity and versatility piano has emerged to be the most popular musical instrument around the world. When a key is pressed on the keyboard of the piano, it results in a felt-covered hammer that strikes the steel strings. The vibrations then get transmitted via a bridge to the sounding keyboard at the intended resonant frequency. The acoustic energy is also coupled through this process to produce the music. The piano belongs to the category of chordophones.

Guitar

Guitar is a stringed instrument that is plucked with a pick or using the fingers. The body of the guitar has a rigid neck to which the strings are tied. Usually, the numbers of strings are six, but at times more are added according to the requirement of the player. Various types of woods can go into the making of the guitar and it is strung with as animal gut. These days, steel and nylon strings are also used. Many modern guitars these days are constructed using luthiers.

There are two main variants of guitar: acoustic and the electric guitar. The acoustic guitar has a hollow body and further classified into the classical guitar that uses the nylon string, the arch top guitar and the steel string guitar. The tune is belted out when the strings vibrate through amplification within the body of the guitar that act as the resonating chamber. The classical guitar is played by plucking the strings and usually played as a solo instrument.

Saxophone

Also known as the sax, this western musical instrument belongs to the woodwind family. It is a transposing instrument that is conical-bored and made of brass. It is played using a single-reed mouth piece which is akin to the clarinet. The instrument was invented in 1841 by Adolphe Sax, a Belgian. There are a series of various pitches of this instrument that are used as per the requirement. Those that are pitched at Bb and Eb are used popularly by the military bands. Due to their availability and design in various pitches, it is extremely popular in the orchestras. It has become an essential part of jazz, blues, big band music, ska and early rock and roll.

Violin

This musical instrument has its origins in Italy and used to be referred to as viol. It initially had more strings than the modern violin that we find today. It was made by Antonio Stradivari. It is made of a hollow wooden box that has a narrow centre and the ends are rounded. The front and back side of the violin is a little convex and connected by ribs. There is a set of four strings that are attached at the bottom of the body from the string holder at the top. There is also a bridge over which the strings pass, located towards the end of the narrow neck. This part is known as the fingerboard. These four strings go through a peg box which can be twisted as you tune the violin as per your choice. It is played with a bow that is arched strip of wood which has horse hair strings stretched to its both ends. When you draw the bow across the strings, you get the tune.

Mandolin

This instrument belongs to the lute family and it can be strummed or plucked to produce music. The mandolin also has its origins in Italy and generally has four courses of strings and is plucked using a plectrum. Originally known as Mandore, this instrument is basically the soprano variant that further comprises of the Mandobass, Mandocello, Mandola and octave mandolin. There are predominantly three styles of mandolin namely: flat-top mandolin, carved-top mandolin and bowl-backed or Neapolitan mandolin. Each instrument is used as per its respective sound quality and thus associated with particular forms of music. In the European classical or traditional music, the Neapolitan mandolins are played. The flat tops are not that specific to a particular genre.