The string family is made up of instruments usually made of wood and played by plucking, striking or bowing a string.  The strings then vibrate to create the sound.

The string family can be divided into 3 smaller groups: lutes, harps and zithers.
 

Strings are made of steel, nylon or gut, and make noise by vibrating.  When a bow, made of horsehair, moves across the strings, it can create sound.  Each string is tuned to a specific note (for instance, the four strings of the violin are tuned to G, D, A, and E.) The fingers of the player touch the strings on the fingerboard to create different pitches.  By making the strings shorter, the pitch is higher.  By making the strings longer, the pitch becomes lower. 

Strings are held in place by pegs at the top of the instrument which help them stay in tune.  They are lifted above the fingerboard and sound hole by the bridge, and connect just below the sound holes.

Stringed instruments can be found in orchestras.  The 4 main instruments in a string orchestra are (from smallest to largest) violin, viola, cello and bass.  The largest section in the orchestra is the violin section.

Surprisingly, the piano is a string instrument too! When the player presses a key on the instrument, it triggers the movement of a hammer which strikes a string inside the piano.

Many pieces have been written for strings.  Some were written for entire orchestras, some written for smaller groups.  Smaller groups have different names depending on how many players there are.

 

 

 
One of the most famous composers is Tchaikovsky.  He wrote many pieces for strings including The Nutcracker Suite; a favorite around the holiday season.