Skeletal muscle is a form of striated muscle

Striated muscle

Striated muscle tissue is a form of fibers that are combined into parallel fibers. More specifically, it can refer to:* Cardiac muscle .* Skeletal muscle* Branchiomeric muscles...

 tissue existing under control of the somatic nervous system

Somatic nervous system

The somatic nervous system is the part of the peripheral nervous system associated with the voluntary control of body movements via skeletal muscles...

- i.e. it is voluntarily controlled. It is one of three major muscle types, the others being cardiac

Cardiac muscle

Cardiac muscle is a type of involuntary striated muscle found in the walls and histologic foundation of the heart, specifically the myocardium. Cardiac muscle is one of three major types of muscle, the others being skeletal and smooth muscle...

 and smooth muscle

Smooth muscle

Smooth muscle is an involuntary non-striated muscle. It is divided into two sub-groups; the single-unit and multiunit smooth muscle. Within single-unit smooth muscle tissues, the autonomic nervous system innervates a single cell within a sheet or bundle and the action potential is propagated by...

. As their name suggests, most skeletal muscles are attached to bones by bundles of collagen

Collagen

Collagen is a group of naturally occurring proteins found in animals, especially in the flesh and connective tissues of mammals. It is the main component of connective tissue, and is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up about 25% to 35% of the whole-body protein content...

 fibers known as tendons.

Skeletal muscle is made up of individual components known as muscle fibers. These fibers are formed from the fusion of developmental myoblasts (a type of embryonic progenitor cell that gives rise to a muscle cell).