Strings
Description of a string instrument
All of the strings are traditionally made of wood, have four strings (some doublebasses have five) strung across the instrument and the strings are played with a bow which is basically a longish stick of wood which is strung with hair from a horse’s tail which the musician pulls across the string to make it vibrate and the wood of the instrument magnifies this sound and out it comes as a beautiful sound of a violin, a viola, a cello or a doublebass.
The way in which the musician alters the pitch which comes from the instrument is by putting a finger of his/her left (usually) hand on the string at a specific spot which shortens the length of string that will speak. Consequently the length of the string which is vibrating determines the pitch.
The four strings are prepared (tuned) each to a specific pitch. So, when the string instrument is properly tuned the technique of how to vary the length of the string and produce a specific pitch is the same on each instrument.
The string instruments are arranged according to the range of pitches which they can produce. The lowest is the doublebass, the next lowest the cello, the next lowest the viola and the highest is the violin.
For those of you who either play or sing and understand about written music the string instruments are tuned in the following ways. The easiest way to describe it here is to refer to the piano. The violin’s lowest string is tuned to the G below middle C. This string is the one to the far left if you are holding the violin as if to play it. The next string up is tuned to D above middle C, the next to A above middle C and the last one to E the next one up from the A, a tenth above middle C. As you can see the violin is tuned in 5ths.
The viola is also tuned in 5ths, however the lowest string is the C below middle C and then the next three are the same as the first three of the violin, G, D and A.
The Cello is also tuned in 5ths exactly one octave below the viola, so C, G, D and A beginning two octaves below middle C.
The Doublebass is the odd one out. It is tuned in 4ths and can have either four or five strings. If four strings they are E, A, D and G beginning the E below the bottom C of the cello, or two octaves and a sixth below middle C. If the doublebass has a fifth string it is tuned to the C below the bottom E, which is an octave below the lowest string on the cello.
So you can see that the string section of a symphony orchestra has a very large range before changing the length of any string, from the lowest C on the piano to the second E above middle C. It is not possible to play any lower than the lowest string on the instrument. However, when you shorten one of the strings its pitch become higher (obvious, isn’t it?).
So the string section of a symphony orchestra has the range from the bottom C of the piano to sounds off the top of the piano. This gives the string section a particularly unique place because they can with such a range and with so many players produce the most extraordinary music both very simple and extremely complex.
The strings are really the backbone of the symphony orchestra and as such they sit in the front, usually.
