CHAP. III.] 



STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. 



101 



than the usual form winch we have described, the middle row of 

 strings rendering the mechanism of the pedals, rods, and levers 

 of the console useless; also the large number of strings makes the 

 fingering more intricate. The Burmese harp represents the Eastern 

 and Egyptian type which had no " pillar " to connect the framework ; 

 this was due not to ignorance but to design, a greater . sympathetic 

 resistance being thereby gained than would be imagined through 

 the " bow " action of the support. 



V. THE PIANO. 



From stringed instruments, the vibrations of which are brought 

 out by using the bow or touching with the fingers, we pass to those 

 having strings which are struck by hammers, and put into motion 



FIG. 112. The piano; sounding-board and strings. 



from a key-board. The piano, now so generally used, is one of these ; 

 and is par excellence a woman's instrument, being less fatiguing and 

 more fertile iir musical resource than the harp, but not superior to it 

 in beauty of tone. 



There are three important parts to consider in the piano; the 

 sounding body or case, the strings, and the mechanism of the keys 

 and hammers. 



M 



