Top 40 Greatest and Most Popular Musical Instruments

A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be a musical instrument - it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates to the beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have been used for ritual, such as a trumpet to signal success on the hunt, or a drum in a religious ceremony. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for entertainment. Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications.

Musical Instrument News, Reviews & Resources

• 25 best pianists of all time - "The piano is one of the most popular musical instruments, but who plays it best? These are the 25 greatest to ever tickle the ivories..."
• ‘A truce with the trees’: what the centuries-old instruments of the Kronos Quartet can tell us - "The all-renewable materials used in these pieces reflect a time of magnificent culture - a global gathering from before the climate crisis."
• Amati Auctions - "The Marketplace for Stringed Instruments."
• best digital piano for students - engadget.
• Clavichord - European stringed keyboard instrument that was used largely in the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque & Classical eras.
• Cole Porter's piano gets a new home in New York - "Delightful, De-Lovely and Deconstructed: Cole Porter’s Piano Is Being Rebuilt."
• Earth Harp: The man behind the unique instruments 'epic' sound - "William Close is the inventor behind the Earth Harp - the world's longest string instrument which uses architecture and landscapes to create a unique sound."
• Fender's newest Acoustasonic guitar is cheaper, but not cheap enough - "The Acoustasonic Player Telecaster trades some versatility in the name of savings."
• FranÇois Tourte - (1747-1835). French bow maker who made a number of significant contributions to the development of the bow of stringed instruments, and is considered to be the most important figure in the development of the modern bow.
• Freddie Mercury’s piano revealed as star lot at London auction - "Bought in 1975 and imported to England from Japan, Mercury’s Yamaha G2 is estimated to fetch between £2-£3 million ($2.5-$3.8 million) when it goes under the hammer in September. It was the instrument he used to compose the seminal track 'Bohemian Rhapsody' that same year. The instrument reportedly traveled from apartment to apartment with the 'Queen' star, until his final resting place at Garden Lodge in West London where Mercury died in 1991. It was at this flat where the piano took pride of place, in a sunbathed spot in the musician’s drawing room."
• Harpsichard - musical instrument played by means of a keyboard which activates a row of levers that in turn trigger a mechanism that plucks one or more strings with a small plectrum.
• How Notre Dame’s famed Grand Organ regained its distinctive voice - "France’s largest musical instrument is ready to sound again. It has taken months of painstaking cleaning and decontaminating of 8,000 pipes, 115 organ stops and numerous other musical components, but on Saturday the majestic tones of the Grand Organ of Notre Dame will ring out once more."
• How to Tune a Guitar for Beginners - "Tuning is no rocket science, and here I’m gonna cover all the important things you need to know to tune your axe like a rockstar, from the classic EADGBE standard guitar tuning, classic and alternative ways of tunings, different factors that affect the tuning, and, of course, tips on how to keep the tune longer."
• Iconic Guitar Brand Gibson Files For Bankruptcy - Rolling Stone.
• In Handel’s ‘Messiah,’ the Trumpet as Divine Agent - The New York Times.
• International Triennial Competition of Stringed Instruments - considered the Olympics of violin making.
• Is this the world's most revered piano? - "Each Steinway & Sons's piano, composed of some 12,000 individual parts, takes a full year to assemble at the brand's factory in Hamburg."
• John Lennon guitar sets record at auction - "A guitar used by John Lennon has become the most expensive Beatles instrument ever sold at auction. The Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar was found in an attic after being presumed lost for more than 50 years, auctioneers said. It sold for $2.9m via a telephone bid at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York."
• Kurt Cobain’s Ultra-Rare 1959 Martin D-18E Guitar Sells For $6 Million At Auction - Forbes.
• 'Leonardo da Vinci of violins' goes up for auction in France - "Crafted in 1736 by revered Italian luthier Giuseppe Guarneri, it is owned by virtuoso Regis Pasquier and its sound has graced concert halls around the world."
• List of musical instruments - Wikipedia.
• LIST OF PIANO MAKERS - Wikipedia.
• Meet the world's most high-tech piano - The Telegraph.
• MUSICAL INSTRUMENT - Wikipedia.
• Paraguay: Police probe Stradivarius violin theft motive in double murder - "Three Germans have been arrested in Paraguay in connection with the murder of an archaeologist and his teenage daughter."
• PLAY THE WORLD’S FIRST VEGAN VIOLIN - "No more catgut strings, horsehair bows and dead-animal glue."
• PLAYER PIANO - self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via pre-programmed music recorded on perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls, with more modern implementations using MIDI encoded music stored on floppy disks or CDs.
• Rare inlaid Stradivari violin could fetch $11 million at auction - "The 'Hellier' Stradivarius 'is the finest inlaid violin ever made by... Stradivari and one of the finest Stradivarius instruments in existence,' said auction house Christie's which is offering the instrument as the top lot in its July 7 'The Exceptional Sale'."
• rise of the synthesizer - "How an Electronics Whiz Kid Gave the 1980s Its Signature Sound."
• Recording studio as musical instrument - Wikipedia.
• Search launched for Paul McCartney’s first HÖfner bass guitar - "German manufacturer’s The Lost Bass Project hunts for Beatle star’s ‘favourite’ instrument."
• STEINWAY METRONOME - compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.
• 'The Organ Lives!': Notre Dame’s Monstrous Organ Survives Fire - Listen to it Here! - ChurchPOP.
• The Secret Of The Stradivari Violin Revealed - "New research confirms the work of a Texas A&M professor that showed the chemicals used to soak the wood of violins and other instruments produced their amazing sound."
• The theremin: The strangest instrument ever invented? - "From its chance 1920s invention in Russia, the theremin beguiled Hollywood and sparked a musical revolution, writes Norman Miller."
• This 308-Year-Old Violin - Heard On The ‘Wizard Of Oz’ Soundtrack - Could Break A World Record At Auction - "The violin was handcrafted in Italy in 1714 by Antonio Stradivari, the famed craftsman who made violins for the ultra-rich, including King James II of England, King Charles III of Spain and Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany. Tarisio, a New York-based auction house that specializes in stringed instruments and bows, expects the violin to go for between $15 million and $20 million."
• Virginals - keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
• Virtuoso mourns beloved £150,000 piano smashed by movers - "Angela Hewitt’s unique F278 Fazioli was destroyed in an attempt to lift it on to a trolley."
• What to buy if you want to start producing music at home - "Setting up a home studio doesn't have to be hard or expensive."
• When Your $3 Million Cello Gets Bumped From Your Flight - "The cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason had to cancel a concert in Toronto last week after an airline refused to let him board with his instrument, even though he had bought a ticket for it."
• world's largest musical instrument - "Hear the epic sound of a 33,112-pipe organ in Atlantic City."

Top 40 Most Popular Musical Instruments

• 7 Best Thin Neck Acoustic Guitars of 2023 - "In the realm of acoustic guitars, where craftsmanship meets melody, one often overlooked but crucial aspect is the guitar’s neck."
• AMATI VIOLINS - the last name of a family of Italian violin makers who lived at Cremona from about 1538 to 1740. Their importance is considered equal to those of the Bergonzi, Guarneri, and Stradivari families.
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• Antonio Stradivari - (1644 – 18 December 1737) was an Italian luthier and a crafter of string instruments such as violins, cellos, guitars, violas, and harps. Stradivari is generally considered the most significant and greatest artisan in this field.
• ARP 2600 synthesizer - Wikipedia.
• Artiphon Instrument 1 - "Strum a guitar, bow a violin, tap a piano, loop a beat – on a single instrument. An intuitive way to create music and play any sound."
• BALDWIN PIANO - established 1857. Subsidiary of the Gibson Guitar Corporation.
• BLÜTHNER PIANOS - founded 1853. "The Golden Tone."
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• BÖSENDORFER PIANOS - established 1828. "Der Klang, der berührt."
• Boston Piano - designed by Steinway & Sons.
• BUFFET CRAMPON - woodwind instruments.
• C. BECHSTEIN PIANOS - since 1853.
• Carlo Ferdinando Landolfi - (c. 1714 – 1787) was a legendary, individual master luthier who was active in the Italian 18th century during the golden age of stringed instrument making.
• CASIO PORTABLE KEYBOARDS
• C.F. MARTIN & CO. - founded in 1833. Acoustic guitars.
• Chappell & Co. - (1810-1987). English company that published music and manufactured pianos.
• CONN-SELMER - manufacturer and distributor of concert band, marching band, and orchestral instruments.
• CONRAD GRAF PIANOS - Wikipedia.
• Érard - Piano & Harp Maker.
• FAZIOLI - "Fazioli Pianos has been producing grand and concert grand pianos since 1981, when the company was founded by the engineer and pianist Paolo Fazioli."
• FENDER STRATOCASTER GUITAR - designed in 1954, and has been manufactured continuously to the present.
• FENDER'S NEW ACOUSTIC GUITAR HAS A MILLION DIFFERENT VOICES - Wired.
• Framus Vintage - "Known all over the world." German string instrument manufacturing company, that existed from 1946 until going bankrupt in 1975. The Framus brand was revived in 1995 as part of Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG, in Markneukirchen, Germany. The company's custom shops are located in Markneukirchen, Shanghai, New York City, and Nashville.
• GIBSON GUITAR CORPORATION - since 1902. Manufacturer of acoustic and electric guitars.
• Giuseppe Guarneri - (21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri house of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and he has been called the finest violin maker of the Amati line.
• Giuseppe Rocca - (1807-1865). Italian violin maker of the 19th century. Rocca's preferred models were the 1742 Alard Guarneri and the 1716 Messiah Strad.
• GUARNERI VIOLINS - Wikipedia.
• HAMMOND ORGAN - invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934.
• HOHNER - harmonicas, accordions, melodicas, drums, guitars.
• Johann Andreas Streicher - (1761-1833). German pianist, composer and piano maker. The Streicher piano-making business provided at least one fortepiano to Beethoven in his early years, of which the composer was fond, writing that it was "too good for me ... because it robs me of the freedom to produce my own tone".
• JOHN TAYLOR & CO. - dating back to Johannes de Stafford in the 14th century. The world's largest working bell foundry.
• KAWAI - founded in 1927. "The Future of the Piano."
• KNABE PIANOS - established 1837.
• LUDWIG - drum and percussion instrument manufacturer.
• MASON & HAMLIN - founded 1854. "World's Finest Pianos."
• Petrof - "Pianos Since 1864."
• Pianola - self-playing piano, containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper, or in rare instances, metallic rolls, with more modern implementations using MIDI.
• Pietro Guarneri - (14 April 1695 – 7 April 1762) was an Italian luthier. Sometimes referred to as Pietro da Venezia, he was the son of Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri, filius Andreae, and the last of the Guarneri house of violin-makers.
• PLEYEL PIANOS - founded in 1807.
• REUGE - "The Art of Mechanical Music." Music boxes and performing birds.
• RICKENBACKER - became the world's first to produce electric guitars in 1932.
• ROLAND - Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software.
• SAUTER - upright pianos, grand pianos, piano benches.
• Schimmel - German piano maker since 1885.
• SELMER - saxophones, clarinets, bassoons and oboes.
• Stein piano dynasty - outstanding German maker of keyboard instruments, a central figure in the history of the piano. He was primarily responsible for the design of the so-called "Viennese" fortepiano, for which the piano music of Haydn, Mozart, and the early Beethoven was written.
• STEINWAY & SONS PIANOS - founded in 1853.
• STEINWAY & SONS Imagine Series Limited Edition piano - modeled after the white Steinway grand piano that John presented to Yoko Ono on her birthday in 1971. Each piano incorporates John's signature, music, and a medallion indicating its uniqueness.
• STRADIVARIUS VIOLINS - Wikipedia.
• TAYLOR GUITARS - Taylor acoustic, Taylor T5 electric guitar.
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• Walter's pianos - by Anton Walter (1752-1826. Described as "the most famous Viennese piano maker of his time". Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart bought a Walter piano in about 1782, and employed it in one of the most important phases of his career, the composition and highly successful premieres of his mature piano concertos.
• Weber Piano Company - "A Timeless Classic Since 1852." Weber Pianos are constructed from the musician’s standpoint as well as that of a mechanic; hence these instruments are distinguished from all others by that pure and sympathetic quality of tone that contains the greatest musical possibilities.
• Welte-Mignon - M. Welte & Sons, Freiburg and New York was a manufacturer of orchestrions, organs and reproducing pianos, established in Vöhrenbach by Michael Welte (1807–1880) in 1832.
• Whitechapel Bell Foundry - since 1570. bell foundry in Whitechapel in London, and is the oldest manufacturing company in Great Britain. The foundry's main business is the bellfounding and manufacture of church bells and their fittings and accessories, although it also provides single tolling bells, carillon bells and handbells. The foundry is notable for being the original manufacturer of the Liberty Bell, a famous symbol of United States independence.
• Wurlitzer Jukeboxes - founded in 1856.
• YAMAHA PIANOS - since 1900.