Questions tagged [strings]
Flexible material that provides vibrations in string instruments
496
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What determines how hard it is to press a guitar string?
When playing on different steel string acoustic guitars over the years, I noticed a huge difference in how hard it was to press down a string. This made me wonder why.
There are two obvious factors ...
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13
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Why shouldn't I put electric guitar strings on my acoustic guitar?
I've always found even the lightest acoustic (bronze) guitar strings to be a bit too heavy to play comfortably. Electric (nickel) guitar strings tend to be lighter. But nobody uses electric strings on ...
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7
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Lightest gauge strings for a 12-string acoustic?
I recently purchased a 12-string acoustic guitar. I've played guitar for 40-odd years, being very familiar with 6-string acoustics AND electrics and I also have played many a 12-string, both electric ...
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answer
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Bass Guitar - Thicker String Guage vs Intonation
I changed the strings on my electric bass but I have an intonation problem. I cannot move the saddle of the lowest string back far enough (away from the nut) to set the intonation correctly. I ...
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can anyone help me in writing a quartet [closed]
hi i've been doing some analyzing and after learning counterpoint and 4 part harmony and studying a little about forms today for the first time i wrote a period to turn in into a ternary or a simple ...
4
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1
answer
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Silk classical guitar string gauge is too big for bridge holes
My classical guitar has a plastic bridge with pre-drilled or precast holes gauged for standard nylon classical strings.
I got some silk strings which are a bit higher gauge and don’t all fit by just ...
CommunityBot
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3
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2
answers
4k
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What is the minimum break angle for strings on a guitar?
If I am correct, the reason for string trees on certain guitars are because the strings must be at a certain angle (the break angle) to the nut/saddle. Does anyone know what this exact angle is? And ...
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4
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Getting a good sound from a 5 string violin
A while back I bought a violin with five strings, i.e. there in an extra low C on it. However, as the body of the violin is the same size as that of a normal violin, so whenever I play on the C-string ...
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Should I replace unwound strings on my acoustic guitar as often as the wound ones?
The wound strings wear off quite fast, and start sounding dull even faster, so I replace them quite often. But whenever I do so, I replace the unwound strings as well, even though at that point, they ...
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2
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G string becomes out of tune in F shape barre chords
So I have been playing an acoustic guitar for quite some time and after buying my first electric guitar I've noticed a strange thing. Everything seems to be in tune and regulated, except one thing. ...
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Changed string on violin, the string is in tune but my finger placement has to change
I changed the A string on my violin exactly 24 hours ago.
The violin nor the string has gone out of tune, the bridge is fine as far as I can see.
But now when I play with my usual finger placement on ...
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3
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Are there any plain nylon bass strings for classical guitar?
I was checking out some classical guitars at a store today and was surprised to find out that only the treble strings are plain nylon, while the bass strings are nylon wound with bronze or silver.
...
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2
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1k
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My guitar's high E string keeps snapping at the tuning peg
My guitar's high E string has broken eight times just this month. I never overtune or do really high bends. It always breaks around the tuning peg. There was no rust; it was still new. I even tried to ...
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3
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Restringing a 12-string guitar with heavier strings - is it possible?
I'm considering using a 12-string guitar I don't play all that much as a testbed: Is it possible to restring an acoustic guitar as a baritone guitar, or even just string it so I can tune it down a few ...
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Guitar strings still hurt my fingers after 6 months
I have been practicing my guitar for over 6 months. I use extra light gauge and also have built calluses. But, strings still hurt my fingertips! What should I do?
CommunityBot
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Bass Ad Lib Instruction on conductor score of Britten Simple Symphony
I'm playing double bass for Britten's Simple Symphony as part of a string orchestra and the conductor score for movement 3 (Sentimental Saraband) has bass 'ad libitum' written at the first bar of the ...
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Scale length of guitars
Just about every guitar will have its own quoted scale length, for the open strings. But - which string is being quoted, as there will always be a difference between the strings, notably the top and ...
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String advice for viola
I want to put new strings on my viola, as the current ones are more than five years old. I think the current ones are D'Addario Helicore for C, G and D, and Jargar medium for A (I tried to lookup the ...
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2
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How will these 3 very similar strings sound different when tuned to low C on a baritone ukulele?
I prefer to use a nylon core, wound strig for the low C on my baritone ukulele. I had trouble finding just the right thing, and the closest I found at my local shop was a set of classical guitar ...
CommunityBot
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Violin - Can double stops be played when the strings are not next to each other?
Suppose I wanted to play a double stop on the violin. The double stop played the G string and the A string simultaneously. Is this possible? Can you play a double stop on two non-adjacent strings?
Dom♦
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Violin - How to keep fingers from touching other string when playing double stops
I am new to double stops. When I play a double stop where a finger is on a string while playing an open string (1st finger on the D string and open A string), my finger touches the open string, in ...
Dom♦
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I know these are sixteenth sextuplets, but I was wondering what these are called when they share the same staff? And how they're played?
I am trying to figure out what they are, I've searched on YouTube but I don't think I have the correct keywords to find out what I'm looking for... Are they played like double stops or played ...
CommunityBot
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What is the proper way to notate the end of a section played "sul ponticello"?
That is, what is the standard way to tell a string player to play normally again?
CommunityBot
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Stringing alternatives on classical guitar (headstock)
While looking at several images of classical guitar headstocks, I noticed that there seem to be several ways people wind their strings on the capstans.
I have always used the variant where I wind the ...
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Historically informed performance - Tuning
I recently attended a performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto by Nicola Benedetti and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Marin Alsop. At the end, Nicola played an encore: a version of ...
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String bending pain doesn't go away
I have been playing the guitar since 2006, so I'm not new to the activity, and I have caluses.
I started playing Flamenco on a nylon strings and in 2013 moved to play Surf on a stratocaster.
A couple ...
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What interval should frets be placed for the Tar (Persian Lute)?
I have recently come into possession of a Tar.
But I have no idea how to place the frets on this instrument, which are made of gut (feels a bit like twine) tied around the neck. How do I determine ...
CommunityBot
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3
votes
1
answer
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Piano oscillation on a single string
Why is that when the hammer hits only one string on the piano, there is an oscillation and not a solid note throughout. I hear it like a wave of sound, not an absolute pitch. It doesn’t happen on ...
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Do first violins take precedence over second violins for the main melody or the higher pitched part?
I know that in general within an orchestra, if the violins hold the melody it's usually the first violins which play the main melody and the second violins act as a support to them, but if the main ...
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How do you stop gunk from building up on guitar strings?
On a steel-string acoustic guitar, how do you prevent gunk from building up on the strings? Every time I play, the strings, particularly the B and E strings, will literally (okay maybe not literally) ...
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1
answer
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Playing guitar with two identical strings
This is probably gonna sound a bit weird, but I'm stuck at my folks' place for the weekend with a guitar that the first two string are both B (no idea how that happened).
I'd still like to play it ...
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10
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Do I need to replace very old strings of my guitar if I just start learning?
I found an old acoustic guitar and am thinking of starting to learn it (as a complete beginner). The guitar still has steel strings on it. These must be very old, I think, twelve years at least if not ...
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4
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2
answers
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What is the earliest we know wire-strung instruments to have existed?
What is the earliest we know wire-strung instruments to have existed? I was reading about gut strings, nylon strings, wire strings used on guitar, and wanted to know, but couldn't find the answer ...
CommunityBot
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4
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1
answer
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"Minor arpeggio secret" and the undertone series
I was recently introduced to a "trick" sometimes known as the "minor arpeggio secret". It can be summarized as following:
If we can maintain the same tension while plucking twice, ...
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2
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4
answers
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How difficult is this violin part?
I understand that the difficulty of a passage is quite subjective, but all the same I need to have some idea of what I'm asking. This passage looks OK to me. It sits in the middle of the register, ...
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2
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In the FL studio for doing a chicken pickin' how can I add a mute note to the piano roll?
In this video, he says he mutes a string; for creating a sound like that in a piano roll in the FL studio, what should I do?
I was using Ploc2, and I changed multiple settings, but I couldn't make a ...
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3
answers
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Safe to remove ball from end of ball end string?
I (sort of) recently got a new violin and as the tailpiece does not match my earlier rental I now have a mismatched ball end E string from my extra set. Looking at the string it definitely seems like ...
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8
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Uneven volume of guitar strings when plugged in
Ive been facing some issues when recording with my Ibanez GRG 170DX. I noticed this recently, as I got a Scarlett Solo interface. When I record my guitar, the input volume from the lower E string is ...
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3
answers
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Cello: playing D notes on A-string vs. D string [duplicate]
I'm a beginner to cello. On some cello cheat sheets. You can play the
D note on A-string by holding down two fingers (in first position)
But you can also play the D note on the D-string without ...
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6
answers
641
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Bowed single string instrument with lever?
Ok, so, imagine you had a one-stringed violin, except that rather than press your fingers on the string, you used a lever, kinda like a whammy bar. Does anybody know of such an instrument? Otherwise,...
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1
answer
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Anyone know how to get Sibelius to playback pizzicato at a softer dynamic level without writing the dynamic ridiculously soft?
Sibelius playback of pizzicato is much louder than arco for strings. I end up making two copies of a score. One with the dynamics as they should be written for pizzicato for printing and another copy ...
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1
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Storing unused guitar strings
I was going to change the strings on my guitar today with older string packs that I haven't completely used and a new pack. Since the low E, A, D, and G rarely break I have an excess supply of them ...
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1
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Electric guitar pickup not picking up a specific string
Just string an old guitar with Fender's pure nickel wound 009 gauge. I don't have any prior knowledge whether the pickup is faulty or not. The issue is the B string not picked up by the guitar pickup. ...
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3
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Magnets and pickups (guitar)
My partner and I are working on a small, analog device that would attach to the strings. We're thinking that for simplicity of design, attaching the pieces using magnets would be most elegant. However,...
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3
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In terms of sound, what are the advantages of a steel or nylon string?
I first picked up a guitar when I was about 7. Ever since I've been playing it, and I even performed a solo at a concert (Little Rover, by the stupendium!) I have 3 guitars, all acoustic. One hasn't ...
- 17.3k
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2
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Does changing acoustic guitar strings require a re-setup?
I'm currently using D'Addario EZ920 (0.12-0.54) and I'm planning to change to D'Addario EJ16 (0.12-0.53) which is slightly lighter. I'm wondering if this will affect the intonation and needs ...
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Drawbacks to using fine tuners on all violin strings?
I almost never see violins with a fine-tuner on any but the E string.
Is there any drawback to placing and using fine tuners on lower strings? (Other than the need to use strings with loop ends.)
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2
answers
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String gauge for baritone ukulele
I own a baritone ukulele that I tune (lowest pitch to highest) C-G-B-D [plectrum tuning]. The lowest string, the C, is missing. I would like to order the proper string to replace it. I believe it ...
10
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5
answers
2k
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Do pianos have a generally recognized "bass register"?
Playing the piano, I've noticed the notes under a certain note seem to be voiced more for heavy chords instead of melodies/countermelodies. If you try to play complicated lines under that note, They ...
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1
answer
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Mysterious plastic tube arriving with double bass strings
New double bass strings may include a short and thin (about 1 centimeter long) section of a plastic tube. It's the D string which goes through the tube. What is it, the tube? What is one supposed ...
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