String instrument String instrument String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when the performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the strings with their fingers or a plectrum—and others by hitting the strings with a light wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow. In some keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord, the musician presses a key that plucks the string. With bowed instruments, the player rubs the strings with a horsehair bow, causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy, the musician operates
Hurdy-gurdy Manuel, acted by Spencer Tracy. The instrument came into a new public consciousness when Donovan released his hit pop song, "Hurdy Gurdy Man", in 1968. Although the song didn't use a hurdy-gurdy, the repeated reference to the instrument in the song's lyrics sparked curiosity and interest among young people, eventually resulting in an annual hurdy-gurdy music festival in the Olympic Peninsula area of the state of Washington each September. Today, the tradition has resurfaced. Revivals have been underway for many years as well in Austria, Belgium and The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden. As