The most popular string instrument (other than piano) in the western
world seems to be the guitar. A guitar normally has six strings
but some have six pairs of strings,. There are various parameters
for guitars:
body sshape
body size
color
neck width
type of pickup, if any
possible built-in amp and/or tuner
type os strings
number of strings: 6 or 12
There are types of guitars normally used for different types of music,
such as classical, rock, jazz, folk, bluegrass, and country.
There are wide necks, narrow necks, peizo pickups, magnetic pickups,
built-in amps, some with equalization, some with tuners, nylon string,
steel string, solid body, hollow body, flat-top, arch-top, F-hole,
round-hole, on and on and on.
If I really played one, I'd do better at demonstrating one. I
just know how to slowly find notes and chords on the instrument.
The normal guitar tuning is E, A, D, G, B, and E, from low to high
pitch. Frequently players lower the low-pitched E to a D and call
it 'D tuning.'
Bass Guitars
The normal bass guitar has four strings, tuned E, A, D and G from low
to high pitch. I think it's an octave higher than a string bass, but
I'm not sure. There are five string bass guitars with a B string
as the lowest string. There are probably six string bass guitars but
I'm just guessing. Normally these bass guitars are electric and
solid body, but I've seen a few that are hollow body, and I've known
people who had fretless basses.
Five-string Banjos
Five string banjos are very popular in bluegrass and old time
music. These are different than the four-string tenor banjos,
tuned like a viola, that were used in dixieland jazz and old broadway
productions. The five-string banjo has four long strings and one
shorter string. They are normally tuned
G, D, G, B, D
where the first 'G' is a short string along the top of the neck, and is
the highest pitched string. The other four are listed in order
from low to high pitch, and the last string in the list runs
along the low side of the neck.
You can buy banjos with or without a tone ring. Normally, the
tule of thumb for a banjo seems to be: heavier the better. I had
a cheap one, but the neck warped. I hope to find a better one
someday.
Normally in Scruggs style playing, where you use eight-note roll
patterns you play with thumb and finger picks. Some people don't
use finger picks in fraling style or drop-thumb style playing.
This is about all I know about these instruments. It isn't
much. Most likely, pretty much anyone who reads this already
knows all this information plus a lot more.
Standard guitar tuning, low to high pitch is E, A, D, G, B, and
E. I believe the B is just above 440 A.
Normally the guitar necks are long enough that you need to use one
finger per fret, rather than one finger per scale tone.
Guitar players tell me wide necks are good for classical, and narrow
necks are good for jazz.
But this web site doesn't do much with guitars because I don't know
much about them, even though I try to play one. You are better
off asking an expert, and that is not me.