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 In Eastern Ukraine, the repertoire includes unique historic epics known as "dumy" and folk dances. Lirnyky were categorised as beggars by the Russian authorities and fell under harsh repressive measures if they were caught performing in the streets of major cities until 1902, when the authorities were asked by ethnographers attending the 12th All-Russian Archaeological conference to stop persecuting them. The hurdy-gurdy is the instrument played by "Der Leiermann", the street musician portrayed in the last, melancholy song of Schubert's "Winterreise". It is also featured and played prominently in the film "Captains Courageous" (1937) as the instrument of the character