MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 123 



for each note. As soon as the strings are struck, a damper 

 falls on them to check their vibration so as not to interfere 

 with the succeeding notes of other strings. Pressing the 

 loud pedal raises all these dampers, and thus increases the 

 loudness of the sound. The soft pedal may operate in 

 several ways : it may press a special damper against the 

 strings, it may move the hammers nearer the strings so that 

 they deliver a lighter blow, or it may allow the hammers to 

 strike only a few of the wires which are used for the same 

 note. 



The quality of a tone given out by a string is affected by 

 the place where the hammer strikes it. While the string 

 is vibrating as a whole, it is at the same time vibrating in 

 parts, in halves, thirds, fourths, etc. Each of these 

 vibrations gives out a certain tone called an overtone, and 

 these all combine to give the note characteristic of a certain 

 string. A large number of these overtones is desirable, as 

 they help to make a more pleasing sound. The overtones 

 given off are affected to some extent by the place where the 

 string is struck, as certain desirable overtones may be de- 

 stroyed if the string is struck at a particular place. In 

 order to allow these desirable overtones to appear and to 

 eliminate the objectionable ones, it has been found best to 

 have the hammer strike the string at a distance of from one 

 seventh to one ninth from the end of the wire. 



Other stringed instruments. In the violin the vibration 

 is produced by a bow instead of a hammer. The pitch of 

 the strings in the first place is controlled by means of size, 

 materials, and tension ; and the violin is tuned by changing 

 the tension through turning the keys. After the violin is 

 once tuned, the pitch of the various notes is controlled by 

 varying the length of the strings, by pressing the strings 

 against the board with the fingers. 



The method of controlling the pitch of the notes in the 

 guitar and banjo is similar to that in the violin. The strings 



