Talk:Chordophone

Quote: "and the piano (which, although sometimes called a string instrument, is also called a keyboard instrument and a percussion instrument)." Seriously, does anyone call a piano a percussion instrument? —Preceding unsigned comment added by YellowOnline (talk • contribs) 19:45, 8 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Actually, when I was a kid I was taught that it was a percussion instrument. Khajidha (talk) 18:55, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
 * "Percussion" is a method of playing, not a category of instrument in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system. Any instrument can be played percussively -- you can use key slaps on a saxophone, or whack guitar strings with a drumstick.  The instruments usually grouped under the colloquial term "percussion" are more properly termed idiophones and membranophones.  The piano is neither of these; it is a chordophone.  Likewise, "keyboard" is not a formal instrumental group classification, but a reference to the means of activating the instrument.  A keyboard may be used to activate instruments in any of the major instrumental classes:  idiophone (celeste); aerophone (organ); membranophone (percussion stop of a theater organ); or chordophone (piano; harpsichord).  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 00:55, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

merge
Chordophone and String Instrument should be merged. Both terms mean the same thing.--ॐ (Aum) (talk) 12:22, 18 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Really, no!!! "Chordophone" is term of Hornbostel-Sachs scheme, and "String Instrument" is orchestral term.

Chordophone divides to "Simple chordophones or zithers (31)", "Composite chordophones (32)" and "Unclassified chordophones (33)". String instruments are Bowed string instrument or Plucked string instrument.

Do not merge this articles! --Drakosh (talk) 18:38, 18 February 2011 (UTC)


 * That this group of instruments can be divided into different subgroups is not an argument against this being the same group. Wikipedia is about phenomena and not about terms. The definitions of chordophone and musical instrument identify the same instruments, the same phenomenon. --Ettrig (talk) 15:11, 28 November 2012 (UTC)


 * First sentences of Str.Inst. article: "A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones." Please let me know which chordophone is not the string instrument. Thanks. --ॐ (Aum) (talk) 22:29, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Pianos are chordophones but not string instruments. String instruments are based on the Western music style of classifying instruments and is a different system than that used by enthnomusicologists. While all string instruments are chordophones, not all chordophones would be called string instruments. I'm deleting the merge tags, since it demonstrates a serious lack of knowledge on the topic. Ego White Tray (talk) 02:10, 31 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Musical instrument mentions piano 8 times. All of them in a way that indicates inclusion. It is definitely not OK to write that another editor lacks knowledge and use that as an argument. --Ettrig (talk) 06:44, 26 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Encyclopedia Britannica: "chordophone, any of a class of musical instruments in which a stretched, vibrating string produces the initial sound. The five basic types are bows, harps, lutes, lyres, and zithers. The name chordophone replaces the term stringed instrument when a precise, acoustically based designation is required." --Ettrig (talk) 11:15, 1 February 2013 (UTC)

The two terms are used in different contexts. I do not agree with the merge, but if the pages ought to be merged, it should be clearly stated that the words are used in different contexts. “String instrument”, “percussion instrument”, “wind instrument”, “keyboard instrument” are labels used in “Western” (i.e., European tradition) culture. In India or in China, for instance, classifications are different. Traditionaly, in European culture, the instruments are classified from the player’s point of view (the player hits, the player blows, the player plucks or bows a string, etc.). “Aerophone”, “Chordophone”, “Electrophone”, “Idiophone”, “Membranophone” are labels used in scientific classifications, which intend to be more precise and universal. In scientific classifications instruments are classified accordingly to the sound producing method. The two series of labels should not be mixed, and each label should be used carefully. There is no one to one correspondance. As an example, a piano is indeed a cordophone, but it is traditionaly classified as a “keyboard instrument”, not a “string instrument”. Ten Islands (talk) 08:54, 23 May 2013 (UTC)
 * I agree. You nailed it, bro'.
 * The articles should not be merged. To merge chordophones with stringed instruments would be as erroneous as merging frequency with pitch -- the terms are related, but not synonymous.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.249 (talk) 01:00, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

This is an ancient conversation, but adding new material. Two more instruments that cause confusion in string instrument vs. chordophones are tube zithers and raft zithers. Each instrument can be strung with modern strings. However, the originals used strips or cords of bamboo peeled up and raised on bridges. I'm not sure if these cords are strings or not. They can be either plucked or hammered with a stick/mallet, and they can sound either zither-like or gong/drum-like. Tone changes on them depending on materials, and (like hammered dulcimer vs. piano vs. harpsichord) how the cords are sounded. Jacqke (talk) 18:26, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Merge, take 2
Seeing how nobody has enough interest in this article to improve it, are there still objections to merging it with String Instruments? Jacqke (talk) 01:05, 9 September 2018 (UTC)

Merge, take 3
I'm merging this soon, unless someone shows up to make objections. My arguement:


 * I find myself confused when writing articles, as to which article to link to, Stringed instruments or chordophones. A significant problem is that low level readers may be turned off to reading an article with obscure words thrown in at the beginning. The jargon word "chordophone" is useful to some, but it remains jargon, specific to a limited group of specialists.


 * Others have been confused as well, as I have seen both articles linked to for base definitions. I have used stringed instrument and had others change my link to chordophone.


 * This would not be an issue, except chordophone is underdeveloped with little content and is difficult to read. Is is an attempt at a dictionary definition attached to a list (shoved into paragraph form).


 * Stinged instrument is much easier to read, more interestingly written with better content. Furthermore, stringed instrument is understandable to almost any English speaker in everyday coversation. Chordophone...not so much.


 * I understand that these two articles may have been intended to address two different purposes, but the chordophone article has not been developed. I see no development in its future, either. Outside of it's definition, I see no purpose for the chordophone article that couldn't be addressed early in the musical instruments article.


 * I propose merging chordophone into stringed instrument, with a strong emphasis on putting the word "chordophone" and its use in classification in the introduction, with links to the Hornbostel Sachs list. Most of its content can be merged into String instrument. I am willing to do the work and merge the two. Jacqke (talk) 15:24, 26 January 2021 (UTC)

Please answer this at Talk:String instrument Jacqke (talk) 16:39, 26 January 2021 (UTC)