Question

Select the odd one out (sitar, guitar, violin, mouth organ)
A. Mouth Organ
B. Violin
C. Guitar
D. Sitar

Answer 1

Hint: A musical instrument is defined as an instrument or device that produces sound. The main purpose of a musical instrument is to produce sound waves through pressure waves. The player of the musical instrument modifies the frequency of these sound waves in order to create the desired effect.

Complete step by step solution:
There are different types of musical instruments. They are classified under the manner in which the sound waves are produced.
There are 5 major categories of musical instruments namely:
- Percussion
- Brass
- Woodwind
- String
- Keyboard
Now, let us see the above instruments one-by-one.

i) Sitar
The sitar is a plucked stringed instrument that originates from the Indian subcontinent. This instrument is mainly used in traditional Hindustani and Carnatic Music It has a very large body and consists of about 18-21 strings. The string of the sitar is plucked by hands.

ii) Violin
The violin is a wooden stringed instrument belonging to the violin family which was developed in Italy in the 16th century. It is the smallest member of the family and has the highest pitch range among the family. The violin, typically, contains 4-5 strings. The violin is played with the help of a wooden instrument called bow by drawing the bow across the strings making the sound.

iii) Guitar
The guitar is a fretted stringed musical instrument made of wood. It has 6 strings in general. It is either hand-plucked or with a wooden piece called a reed. The guitar is the most common instrument played in the bands in the modern 20th and 21st century. There are many variants in the guitar viz. acoustic guitar, jazz guitar, electric guitar, etc.

iv) Mouth Organ
The mouth organ is a free-reed instrument that produces sound as the air flows out through the instrument. The end of the mouth organ should be blown by placing the lips over a chamber or holes in the instrument and the fingers block one of several of the holes, thereby varying the harmonics or notes.

From these 4 instruments, it is clear that the three instruments namely Sitar, Guitar, and Violin belong to the String category of instruments and the Mouth organ belongs to the Woodwind category of instruments.
Hence, the Mouth organ is an odd one out among the others.

Hence, the correct option is Option A.

Note:
The percussion instruments are played by beating the tight membrane by a stick or by a hand, whose vibration sets the column of air beneath to vibrate causing various sounds. Examples of percussion instruments are Drums, Tabla, Mrudangam, and Xylophone.