Electric musical instruments are frequently referred to amplified instruments as most electrical musical instruments have no internal amplification and require an amplifier to be heard above acoustic instruments. When people think of electric musical instruments the electric guitar is probably the first thing that comes into mind, however there is a very wide range of electric musical instruments available.
Most stringed instruments will have an electric variant as it is very easy to create stringed electric musical instruments or even convert an acoustic stringed instrument to an electric instrument through the addition of a pickup which converts the vibrations of a string into an electric signal. Despite most electric musical instruments producing their tone through the vibration of a string there have been other examples of electric musical instruments. The Varitone, for example was a type of electric saxophone produced in the mid to late sixties with used a small mounted microphone to pickup the sound which was then amplified.
Electric pianos are another type of very popular electric musical instrument which are frequently used in situations where a standard acoustic piano would simply not have enough volume. They are also popular because they use up significantly less space than a standard piano, so many people have space for them in their homes.
It is important to not confuse electric musical instruments with electronic musical instruments such as synthesisers, which produce a tone through entirely electronic means.
livingbrain © 2009