If you are a beginner violinist who requires some guidance on what type of violin strings to buy and use, then you need to have some hands-on knowledge about the three main types of the violin strings. Knowing and choosing the right violin string for your violin is usually very essential because it ensures that you’ll be able to play or use the violin to its full potential, which will drastically and positively improve your musical talent.
So before heading to purchase a violin string for your instrument. You need to know and well-understand your options. So let’s get familiar with the three main types of violin strings to help you make a sound decision.
Gut-Core Strings
These are the original violin strings that emerged. They are commonly known and referred to as the traditional violin strings because they were typically made from sheep intestines. These strings usually have very low tension producing a warmer and a more complex sound when played. Baroque musicians are the ones who commonly use these strings because they are professional violinists.
Besides all these, these strings have their demerits. They are less
durable and more expensive. They are also sensitive to humidity and temperature changes which prone them to get out of tune periodically or at worst, break. These downs might be the reason why they are a good fit for use by professional violinists.
Synthetic Core Strings
These string types are a bit more popular among many musicians. Compared to the gut-core, they are much stable in the pitch they produce. They are also a bit cheaper than the gut-core and are more stable to humidity and temperature changes. Playing with this type of strings is much convenient that’s why they are preferable to most musicians. You can use them to play different genres of music without much hustle.
Steel Core Strings
These types of strings were introduced as an alternative to gut-core strings. Metal, mostly steel or silver, is used to cover the core of the string. This makes them not prone to effects brought about by temperature and humidity fluctuations. They are easy to work with because they provide convenient tuning and have a very high tension to produce high pitch and excellent sound. They are common among beginner students. They are much more stable and are somewhat easier to learn than the other types. The sound they produce is not as warm as with the previous ones that’s why they are preferred for bluegrass, jazz and folk music.