How many strings do a violin, a cello, a harp, and a guitar have?

A violin has four strings. So do a viola, a cello, and most double basses. A guitar has six. A concert harp has 47. A piano has about 230. This page gives the count and the note names for each one, and explains why the numbers differ.

The count

Instrument	Strings	Notes, in order across the strings
Violin	4	G, D, A, E
Viola	4	C, G, D, A
Cello	4	C, G, D, A
Double bass	4, and some have 5	E, A, D, G
Guitar	6	E, A, D, G, B, E
Bass guitar	4	E, A, D, G
Ukulele	4	G, C, E, A
Banjo	5
Mandolin	8, in four pairs	G, D, A, E
Concert harp	47	Every white-key note for more than six octaves
Small harp with levers	About 22 to 38
Piano	About 230	88 notes

Why four strings on a violin?

Four strings are enough. The player makes all the other notes by pressing a string against the fingerboard. That shortens the part of the string that shakes, and a shorter string gives a higher note.

The four strings are five notes apart. With four strings and four fingers, a violinist can reach more than four octaves.

The viola and the cello have the same four note names, C, G, D, and A. The cello’s are one octave lower. Read string instruments for kids.

Why does a harp need so many?

A harpist does not press the strings to change the note. Each string gives one note. So the harp needs a string for every note.

A concert harp has 47 strings and seven pedals. The strings give the white-key notes. The pedals raise or lower them to give the black-key notes.

To help the player find the way, every C string is red and every F string is black or dark blue. Read the harp for kids.

Why does a piano have more strings than keys?

A piano has 88 keys and about 230 strings. Most keys have three strings each, tuned to the same note. The hammer hits all three at once, and that makes the sound strong enough to fill a hall. The low notes have two strings or one.

Read how many keys are on a piano.

What are strings made of?

For hundreds of years, strings were made of gut, which comes from the intestines of sheep. People called it “catgut,” but it did not come from cats.

Today, most strings have a core of steel or of a man-made fiber, with fine metal wire wound around it. Some players of old music still use gut.

Thick strings give low notes, and thin strings give high notes. On a violin, the thickest string is the G, and the thinnest is the E.

Which string is which?

Hold a violin with the scroll pointing up and the strings facing you. The strings from left to right are G, D, A, and E. The lowest is on the left.

Violin students learn a sentence to remember the order. One of them is “Good Dogs Always Eat.”

On a guitar, from the thickest string to the thinnest, the notes are E, A, D, G, B, and E.

Instruments from around the world

Instrument	From	Strings
Erhu	China	2
Balalaika	Russia	3
Koto	Japan	13
Sitar	India	About 18 to 21

Things to do together

Count on screen. Pause a video of a string quartet. Count the pegs at the top of each instrument. Each peg holds one string.

Thick and thin. Stretch a thick rubber band and a thin one over an open box. Pluck both. The thick one sounds lower.

Short and long. Pluck one rubber band. Then press it down in the middle and pluck half of it. The note jumps up.

Find the red strings. In a video of a harp, look for the red C strings.

Make a memory sentence. Make up a new sentence for G, D, A, and E.

Print and play

Tick the strings on the instrument families listening chart. Read the violin for kids, the cello for kids, and the double bass for kids.

For all four families, see instruments of the orchestra for kids.