String Family – A family of four

How does wood from several different kinds of trees, hair from a horses tail, sap from trees, and metals to make the strings combine to make the rich and varied sounds of the bowed string family? In the post below we explore some of the basic attributes of the bowed string family.

You’ll see the bowed strings called the string section placed in a semicircle at the front of the stage with the basses often placed behind the cellos.

In a full-sized orchestra, the string family can have between 36 to 60 string players, the number depends upon the particular piece of music being played. The string section accounts for more than half of the musicians on stage!

All four instruments share a number of similarities

– their similarly shaped bodies are made of two different kinds of wood put together to form a hollow resonating body. The back and sides of the body are made of maple trees, the top is made of spruce trees.

They all have a long neck with a fingerboard made of ebony wood where the musician uses their left hand to press the strings down to the fingerboard to change the pitch, while the right hand holds the bow or plucks the strings.

In the middle of each instrument you will see an interestingly shaped wooden bridge supporting the four strings. Just above the bridge the instruments are played with the bow (arco) or plucked (pizzicato) with fingers. They all get to use fun sounding Italian words too!

All of the bowed strings need the sticky sap mentioned earlier called rosin to make the bow hairs grip the string and get the string to vibrate and make sound.

The violin and viola are both played by resting the instrument between the chin and left shoulder, the cello and bass instruments both rest on the floor, supported by an end pin. The cello is always played seated in a chair while the bass can either be played standing or by sitting on a high stool.

violin

The violin is the smallest member of the string family and, because its strings are shorter and thin, the violin produces the highest pitches. But what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in sheer numbers as there are more violins in the orchestra than any other instrument.

The violins are divided into first and second violin sections, with first violins usually playing the melody and second violins alternating between melody and harmony parts.

Viola

The viola is slightly longer and wider than a violin. Due to the viola’s larger size and thicker strings, the sound is warmer and darker than the violin.
While there may be as many as thirty violins between the first and second violins, the number of violas typically ranges from between eight to twelve. Violas play both melody and harmony parts. The placement of the viola against the body is similar to the violin.

Cello

The cello is much larger than the violin and viola, typically reaching four feet in length. It has much longer and thicker strings giving the cello its lower voice.
There are fewer cellos in the orchestra – usually from between eight to twelve. Like violins and violas, cellos can play either melody or harmony parts. The cello is played sitting down with the lower part of the cello body between the knees and the upper part resting against the chest.

Double Bass

The double bass is significantly larger than the cello, usually over six feet in length. Given its size, it has the longest strings and the lowest notes. There are usually between six to eight double basses in the orchestra. The bass is so large that musicians must stand or sit on a high stool to play.