101 Amazing Facts about The Orchestra by Jack Goldstein

Author:Jack Goldstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: orchestra, strings, brass, woodwind, percussion, keyboard, trumpet, violin, viola, cello, double bass, trombone, tuba, piano, organ, clarinet, oboe, bassoon
ISBN: 9781785384103
Publisher: Andrews UK
Published: 2016-02-24T00:00:00+00:00

A Clarinet

Strings - Part 2

Cello - The cello is the second largest string instrument. Its name is a contraction of the word violoncello (which you will still occasionally hear the instrument called) meaning ‘little violone’. Funnily enough, violone means ‘big viol’, with viol referring to the family of string instruments which preceded those we know today. Until recently, it was more proper to use an apostrophe at the beginning of the word - i.e. ‘cello - however it is now perfectly acceptable not to use this.

The lowest string of the cello is tuned to C, two octaves below Middle C. The strings are then tuned in fifths, resulting in G, then D and the highest being A. As with the other string instruments, it can be played with a bow or plucked. Interestingly, the cello is often said to be the instrument which sounds closest to the human voice.

The main difference between the cello and previous instruments of a similar pitch was the introduction of wire-wound strings - fine wire wrapped around a central core made of catgut. This gave a better sound than gut-only strings, and meant that the cello could be built to a smaller size than its predecessor, also making it easier to play.

Cellos were first made in around 1660, and within thirty or forty years were commonplace in orchestras everywhere except France (where use of the bass violin continued for another two decades). The main differences between instruments today and those of baroque times are that today’s cellos have a slightly different neck design, and they did not have an endpin to rest the instrument on the floor - it was held between the calves of the player!

Plenty of composers have written concertos for the cello, and therefore it is common to see the cello performing a solo. It could easily be said that the popularity of the cello has continually increased since its introduction over three hundred years ago; not only can it be heard in classical music, but is often featured in pop music, being used by artists from the Beatles to Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Rihanna and many more.

Double Bass - This is the largest and therefore lowest-pitched stringed instrument in the modern symphony orchestra. A double bass usually measures 180 centimetres from top to bottom including the endpin, although smaller versions are available, for instance to help children learn to play.

The double bass differs from all others in its family in that the strings are tuned to fourths rather than fifths. The lowest string is tuned to E, thus making the others A, D and G respectively (with the G string being the same pitch as a cello’s second string, of course also G).

Music notated for the double bass is commonly written in the bass clef, but is shown an octave higher than it is actually played; this is for readability purposes, as this way more of the notes are in-between the lines of the clef.

The double bass shares plenty more in common with instruments of the old viol family than other modern stringed instruments do.

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