Musical Instrument Blog #1- Gina Dukes

The instrument that I am interested in making would be either a violin or a small classical guitar.

A violin is played by rubbing a bow across a set of different strings and then placing your fingers across different sections of the violins strings to create a higher or lower pitched sound. A guitar is played in a similar way, except there is no bow, only the strumming against the guitar's strings with either a fingernail or picker.

You can change a note in a guitar and violin by either plucking/strumming a different string or by placing your fingers on different portions of the string to create a different sound.

A violin is shaped like a pear, it has a curvy top but an even curvier bottom and in the middle lies the plane of strings. Guitars are sometimes shaped like violins with a pear-like shape as well, however instead of having a just a long strip of strings, some guitars have small holes in the center which is unlike a violin.

The shape of these instruments makes me think that the way they are held could possibly affect the way that sound is created and transferred. I know that in order to play a violin you have to hold it upright and parallel to an outstretched arm on a shoulder, yet with a guitar you can be more relaxed. A cello and violin are shaped very similarly, however they both produce different sounds and are held different ways, so that makes me wonder if the shape or the way the instrument is held can make a big difference.

The connections that I see is that when you strum a guitar and a note is played, it isnt continuous because the sound waves/vibrations eventually stop and this is very similar to the lab we did in class with the slinkys because when I would push one side, there would be a wave that would go to the other side and then stop.

 I used to play the violin for about two or three years when I was in elementary school so I am somewhat familiar with the way it works and how to achieve different sounds, however, I have never played a guitar before.

Some helpful youtube videos:

Violin Basics -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_04rjPbZarE

How to hold a violin --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dFjpdCdbXs&feature=relmfu

Simple Guitar Basics -->

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RaXQKL-xbQ