What kind of instrument is a violin

The violin is the baby of the string family, and like babies, makes the highest sounds. There are more violins in the orchestra than any other instrument there can be up to 30! First violins often play the melody, while second violins alternate between melody and harmony. A typical-sized violin is around 24 inches two feet long, with a slightly longer bow.

You play the violin by resting it between your chin and left shoulder. Your left hand holds the neck of the violin and presses down on the strings to change the pitch, while your right hand moves the bow or plucks the strings. The viola is the older sister or brother of the violin. It is slightly larger, just over two feet long, and has thicker strings, which produce a richer, warmer sound than the violin.

There are usually 10 to 14 violas in an orchestra and they almost always play the harmony. You play the viola the same way as you do the violin, by resting it between your chin and shoulder.

Your left hand holds the neck of the viola and presses down on the strings to change the pitch, while your right hand moves the bow or plucks the strings. The cello looks like the violin and viola but is much larger around 4 feet long , and has thicker strings than either the violin or viola.

Of all the string instruments, the cello sounds most like a human voice, and it can make a wide variety of tones, from warm low pitches to bright higher notes. There are usually 8 to 12 cellos in an orchestra and they play both harmony and melody. Since the cello is too large to put under your chin, you play it sitting down with the body of the cello between your knees, and the neck on your left shoulder.

The body of the cello rests on the ground and is supported by a metal peg. Setting it this way gives easy access to plenty of double-stops using open strings for a big, bold sound, heightening the anticipation among the assembled guests.

He was a Mexican violinista born into a poor Otomi Indian family of musicians. After moving to Mexico City, Rosas achieved great success in his short life he died at 26 as a composer of salon music for the aristocracy. His works included this piece in the style of the Viennese waltzes that were all the rage at the time.

Then, in , Nashville great Kenny Baker included his fiddle version with a bluegrass band on the classic album Portrait of a Bluegrass Fiddler. This beautiful book and three-CD set, written and produced by Jack Loeffler, focuses on traditional Hispanic musicians including several violinistas of New Mexico and southern Colorado. But like an estuary where salt and fresh water mix, nourishing an abundance of life, there will also always be a rich musical territory where violin and fiddle music blend, and people puzzle over what they should call that instrument.

This article was originally published in the March issue of Strings magazine. His instruments will become treasures, valued for their acoustics. During the 17th century, the violin became an important instrument in the orchestra as composers like Claudio Monteverdi incorporated it into their compositions.

The invention of the chin rest around made the instrument easier to hold and increased its range of play. The neck and fingerboard were both lengthened and tilted in the 19th century, allowing the violinist to play the highest notes, and the bass bar was made heavier to produce a bigger, more brilliant sound.

Whether sounding sweet or sad, playful or somber, the violin's ability to evoke almost any mood has helped take it all the way to the top. Often referred to as the "concertmaster," the first chair violinist has become the leader of the orchestra, second only to the conductor. She tunes the orchestra, plays the violin solos, and coordinates how the other strings should play their parts in perfect harmony.

All rights reserved. History Magazine. Italian musical masters took the violin from fiddle to first chair Strummed, plucked, or bowed, violins had been making music for centuries before Andrea Amati and Antonio Stradivari brought them to new heights in the 16th and 17th centuries.

A vielle, an ancestor of the modern violin, appears in a fresco. Museum of Navarra, Pamplona. First Among Instruments. Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. Sonata Prima for Violin by Giuuseppe Tartini. Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice. Share Tweet Email. Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city Caracals have learned to hunt around the urban edges of Cape Town, though the predator faces many threats, such as getting hit by cars.