Sound hole

A sound hole is an opening in the upper sound board of a stringed musical instrument. The sound holes can have different shapes:

round in flat-top guitars and traditional bowl-back mandolins;
F-holes in instruments from the violin family, archtop mandolins and in archtop guitars;
C-holes in violas da gamba;
rosettes in lutes;
D-holes in Bowed lyras

Some instruments can have different styles (mandolins may have F-holes, round or oval holes). A round or oval hole or a rosette is usually a single one, under the strings. C-holes, D-holes and F-holes are usually made in pairs placed symmetrically on both sides of the strings. Most hollowbody and semi-hollow electric guitars also have F-holes.

Though the purpose of sound holes is to help acoustic instruments project their sound more efficiently, the sound does not emanate solely (nor even mostly) from the location of the sound hole. The majority of sound emanates from the surface area of both sounding boards, with sound holes playing a part by allowing the sounding boards to vibrate more freely, and by allowing some of the vibrations which have been set in motion inside the instrument to travel outside the instrument.

In 2015 researchers at MIT published an analysis charting the evolution and improvements in effectiveness of violin F-hole design over time.^[1]^[2]

Alternative sound hole designs

Some Ovation stringed instruments feature a particularly unique soundhole architecture with multiple smaller soundholes that, being combined with a composite arch-top guitar body are said to produce a clear and bright sound.

Tacoma Guitars has developed a unique "paisley" soundhole placed on the left side of the upper bout of their "Wing Series" guitars. This is a relatively low-stress area that requires less bracing to support the hole.^[3]

A few hollowbody or semi-hollow electric guitars, such as the Fender Telecaster Thinline and the Gibson ES-120T, have one f-hole instead of two, usually on the bass side.

Holes not positioned on the top of an acoustic guitar are called soundports.They are usually supplementary to a main soundhole, and located on an instrument's side facing upward in playing position, allowing players to monitor their own sound.^[4]

Gallery

The F-holes on a cello, and related string instruments, are located on either side of the bridge.
F-holes on a Gibson L-5 archtop guitar.
Single F-Hole on a Fender Telecaster Thinline guitar.
Leaf sound hole in an Ovation Adamas guitar.
Many acoustic guitars incorporate rosette patterns around the sound hole.
Maccaferri guitars have D or Oval shaped sound holes.
Unique Sound Hole with Kanji symbol by Cc Guitar
C-holes on a viol.

References

External links

Stringworks U - brief explanation of the effects of sound holes, with a closeup diagram of an F-shaped soundhole

Violin family
Instruments	Violin Viola Cello Double bass Violin range Kit violin Five string violin Violino piccolo Viola range Vertical viola Viola pomposa Tenor range Tenor violin/Tenor viola Violotta Viola profunda Cello range Baritone violin Cello da spalla Cellone Bass range Bass violin Violone Octobass
Parts	Bass bar Bow Bridge Chinrest Endpin F-hole Fingerboard Frog Nut Scroll Shoulder rest Sound post Tailpiece Tuning peg
Techniques	Bowing Col legno Down bow Up bow Martelé Portato Spiccato Tremolo Arpeggio Artificial harmonic Double stop Fingering Finger substitution Bariolage Pizzicato Scordatura (changing string tuning) Vibrato
Ensembles and genres	String quartet String trio String quintet String sextet String octet String section String orchestra Violin concerto Viola concerto Cello concerto Double bass concerto Violin sonata Viola sonata Cello sonata Carnatic music
Other	Violin physics Violin history Jazz bass Jazz violin Rosin Stradivarius Viol Violin lutherie Violin musical styles Violin octet

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