The String Family

The string family is built from four sizes of essentially the same instrument - a wooden body, four strings, and a bow drawn across them - tuned to different ranges. Because they share the same basic mechanism, they blend together unusually well, which is why strings form the largest section of a standard orchestra and carry most of its melodic material.

The four instruments

• Violin - the smallest and highest, held under the chin. Violins are split into firsts and seconds and usually carry the melody.
• Viola - slightly larger and a fifth lower, also held under the chin, with a darker, huskier tone. Violas fill in the inner harmony.
• Cello - much larger, played sitting with the instrument between the knees. Warm and vocal, it moves between bass lines and melodies.
• Double bass - the largest and lowest, played standing or perched on a stool. It's the foundation of the orchestra's sound.

In a large symphony orchestra, the strings can number sixty or more players - well over half the ensemble - typically arranged as first violins, second violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Our orchestra seating chart shows where each section sits.

How they're played

All four are played by drawing a horsehair bow across the strings (arco), though players can also pluck the strings directly (pizzicato) for a shorter, percussive sound. Pitch is controlled by pressing the strings down against the instrument's neck with the left hand, shortening the vibrating length of string, while the right hand controls the bow's speed, pressure, and placement - together producing an enormous range of tone color from a single sustained note.

Composers can ask for many special effects, often marked with Italian terms (our tempo and terms translator decodes them):

• Tremolo - rapid back-and-forth bowing on one note, creating a shimmering or tense rustle.
• Con sordino - with a mute clipped onto the bridge, for a veiled, softer tone.
• Harmonics - touching a string lightly instead of pressing it down, for a pure, glassy, whistle-like sound.
• Divisi - one section splitting into two or more separate parts.

How the strings became the core of the orchestra

The violin family took shape in 16th-century Italy and gradually replaced the older, fretted viols. By the Baroque era, a string band was the core of every orchestra, with other instruments added for color; even today, the strings are the one section a symphony orchestra could not do without. Composers have also written a rich repertoire for strings alone - the string orchestra - including Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, Barber's Adagio for Strings, and Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.

What about the harp?

The harp is also a string instrument, but works differently - its strings are plucked directly rather than bowed, and it changes key through an elaborate system of foot pedals rather than fingering, which sets it apart from the bowed-string core of the family.

Where to start listening: any string quartet recording makes three of the four sizes easy to compare side by side (a quartet has no double bass); listen for how the same phrase sounds different in the violin's bright upper range versus the cello's warmer low register. For the full string section together, try Barber's Adagio for Strings.