On Vibration Sensation and Finger Touch in Stringed Instrument Playing

Abstract

The vibration levels in four traditional stringed instruments during playing have been investigated, including the double bass, violin, guitar, and the piano. The vibration levels, which were measured at several positions and at different dynamic levels, were evaluated with respect to reported thresholds for detection of vibrotactile stimuli. The results show that the vibration levels are well above threshold for almost all positions on the instruments in normal playing. It is concluded that the perceived vibrations may be of some assistance with regard to intonation in ensemble playing, in particular for the bass instruments. The finger forces exerted when playing the bowed strings, as well as the touch forces in piano playing were studied briefly. It was concluded that the kinesthetic forces perceived in playing may assist the timing in performance.