String instrument strings, or play them by rolling the bell of a brass instrument such as a trombone on the array of strings. However, these are relatively rarely used special techniques. Other keyed string instruments, small enough for a strolling musician to play, include the plucked autoharp, the bowed nyckelharpa, and the hurdy-gurdy, which is played by cranking a rosined wheel. Steel-stringed instruments (such as the guitar, bass, violin, etc.) can be played using a magnetic field. An E-Bow is a small hand-held battery-powered device that magnetically excites the strings of an electric string instrument to provide a sustained, singing tone reminiscent
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