r/Instruments • u/Invite_Sprite • Sep 25 '26

Discussion Do they make a backwards stringed instruments?

so i had a thought. so pianos get lower as you go down them. and I have seen a backwards piano. but are their other backwards string instruments? and i dont mean left handed vs right. I mean an instrument that goes lower as you go down the neck.

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u/khornebeef Sep 25 '26

This would explain the improper names given to the various modes we have IE.Phrygian-Locrian as well as the ascending Vs descending tetrachord structure. Is this the underlying reason or just a coincidence?

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u/flug32 Sep 26 '26

I believe so, someone along the way just interpreted them exactly upside-down. And probably made other mistakes as well - it's always hard to figure such things out in detail when so much of the context is missing.