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MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 



268. The Freedom of a String. Some stringed instruments 

 give forth tones which are clear and sweet, but withal thin 

 and lacking in richness and fullness. The tones sounded by 

 two different strings may agree in pitch and loudness and yet 

 produce quite different effects on the ear, because in one 

 case the tone may be much more pleasing than in the other. 

 The explanation of this is, that a string may vibrate in a 

 number of different ways. 



Touch the middle of a wire with the finger or a pencil (Fig. 

 182), thus separating it into two portions and draw a violin 



FIG. 183. The string vibrates in three portions. 



bow across the center of either half. Only one half of the 

 entire string is struck, but the motion of this half is imparted 

 to the other half and throws it into similar motion, and if a 

 tiny A-shaped piece of paper or rider is placed upon the un- 

 bowed half, it is hurled off. 



If the wire is touched at a distance of one third its length 

 and a bow is drawn across the middle of the smaller portion, 

 the string will vibrate in three parts ; we cannot always see 

 these various motions in different parts of the string, but we 

 know of their existence through the action of the riders. 



