Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/237

 CHAPTER XIV

THE VIOLIN. MUSICAL LITERATURE

109. Stringed Instruments in General.—Of all musical instruments, those with strings for the sounding material have always been chief. They may be roughly classified under generic names like harp, lyre, zither (psaltery), dulcimer, lute and viol, though cases occur which are difficult to assign.

The 'harp' and the 'lyre' are distinguished by having the strings either wholly or partially free from the soundbox (except at or near their lower attachment), the string-plane being at right angles to the face of the soundbox in the harp, but parallel to it in the lyre. Each string is properly capable of but one tone, the pitch of which is not controlled by 'stopping.' In both cases the strings are sounded by plucking or twanging, with or without a plectrum. Harps are usually held with the strings upright, but lyres (unless very large) are held more or less horizontally, with one edge of the soundbox down, so as to present the strings to the player's right hand.

The 'zither' and the 'dulcimer' have the strings stretched from end to end over the soundbox or soundboard. Upon the latter, frets or bridges may be placed so that some or all of the strings can be shortened by pressure and thus made to yield more than one tone. Historically, this device of 'stopping' has been confined to the zither or psaltery. Zithers are sounded by plucking, dulcimers by blows from a rod or hammer. Both are usually placed horizontally, the strings running either across or away from the player.

The 'lute' and the 'viol' are peculiar in having a slender neck or fingerboard projecting from the soundbox, along which all or most of the strings extend to tuning-pegs in the head. All such strings can be 'stopped' so as to yield more than one tone. Lutes are sounded by plucking, sometimes with a plectrum, but viols by the friction of a bow or something analogous. Both are held horizontally and turned sidewise like the lyre, except some larger varieties of the viol.

Harps of various kinds are shown in figs. 6, 18, 30-34, 48, 107; lyres in figs. 24, 36-38, 49; zithers in figs. 6, 13, 14, 21, 25, 66; a dulcimer in fig. 28; lutes in figs. 7, 8, 10, 15, 26, 29, 35, 54-57, 65, 67-69, 108; and viols in figs. 9, 16, 17, 23, 27, 50, 52, 64, 70-77, 87, 93.

Each of these types has had a distinct history, often of great artistic importance. Harps were conspicuous in ancient times