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Strings: The String Section

Strings can produce the same note on each of the four strings, which are tuned in fifths to four base notes that vary between instruments. A variety of tone effects are possible, including plucking the strings (pizzicato) or playing chords of up to four notes, though only the top two notes would be sustained. Harmonics allow extended ranges and are notated with diamond noteheads. The violin has a large range from a G below middle C up over four octaves, and is the principal instrument in orchestras and chamber music. Its use in folk bands is also common but few other bands use strings. The viola uses the alto clef and has a range from an octave below

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83 views1 page

Strings: The String Section

Strings can produce the same note on each of the four strings, which are tuned in fifths to four base notes that vary between instruments. A variety of tone effects are possible, including plucking the strings (pizzicato) or playing chords of up to four notes, though only the top two notes would be sustained. Harmonics allow extended ranges and are notated with diamond noteheads. The violin has a large range from a G below middle C up over four octaves, and is the principal instrument in orchestras and chamber music. Its use in folk bands is also common but few other bands use strings. The viola uses the alto clef and has a range from an octave below

Uploaded by

Tom Hart
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Strings

The String Section


Stringed instruments have a number of distinguishing features. Foremost, the same note can
often be produced on each of the four strings. The so-called ‘open’ strings are tuned in fifths to
four base notes. These vary between instruments.

A variety of tone effects can be made on stringed instruments, notable the pizzicato technique,
which requires the player to pluck the strings, rather than bow them. A return to normal
bowing is signalled by arco in the score. Chords of two notes are attainable, by contacting the
bow with two strings simultaneously. Chords of up to four notes are theoretically achievable,
but in reality, the bottom notes would be played as grace notes, and only the top two notes
sustained for the duration of the chord.

Extended ranges of stringed instruments are accessible by the use of harmonics. These are
notated with diamond noteheads representing the note as it sounds, with the fingered note
occasionally being indicated below.

The Violin
The violin (also informally known as the fiddle) is among the most recognisable of all
instruments. It takes a leading role in a number of musical styles. Violins are pitched in C,
written in the treble clef exactly as sounding, and are noted for their large range. The
achievable range starts from the G below middle C, and spans four and a half octaves, to the C
four octaves above middle C. The same notes can often be produced using different strings.
The open strings are tuned to the notes G, D, A and E (ascending).

The violin is the principal instrument in all orchestras. Violins are the only instrument which
is divided into two separate parts (each having its own stave in the score) as a matter of
course, almost without exception. The principal first violin player is known as the leader of
the orchestra, or concertmaster (in North America and continental Europe). The violin has the
largest solo repertoire of any instrument in classical music, and its concerto repertoire is
rivalled only by the piano’s. The violin’s use in chamber music is extensive, with ensembles
often focussed around the instrument. Solo violins are commonplace in folk bands, but very
few other bands utilise strings, save for the string bass. Violins, or rather, a string section, is
common in popular music. This is often produced using a synthesiser, rather than an organic
string section. Jazz usage of the fiddle is rare, but not unheard of. String sections are often
used in jazz orchestras (but not big bands). Solo violins in jazz are rare (for a notable example,
see Ray Nance in C Jam Blues22, 1942).

The Viola
The viola is notable among orchestral, and indeed all, instruments for using the alto clef. It is
pitched between the violin and cello, but held like the violin, rather than rested like the cello.
The achievable range spans from an octave below middle C, up four octaves to the C three

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