Large cello. The difference between a cello and a double bass

basis symphony orchestra is a group located in the center, directly in front of the audience and the conductor. These are string instruments. The vibration of strings is the source of sound. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification, bowed stringed instruments are called chordophones. When two violins, viola and cello play together, it turns out string Quartet. This is a chamber

predecessors

Double basses, cellos, violas and even violins were not the first to appear, they were preceded by violas, which became popular in the fifteenth century. Their sound was soft and gentle, so very soon they became favorites of all sorts of orchestras. Bowed string instruments as such appeared long before the viola, but they are still much younger than plucked instruments.

The bow was invented in India, even the ancient Greeks did not know about it yet. Arabs, Persians, Africans passed it from country to country like a baton, and gradually (by the eighth century) the bow came to Europe. Stringed bowed instruments were formed there, which, changing, gave life first to the viola, and then to the violin.

Viola

The viols were of different sizes and with different voices, some stood between the knees, others on their knees, others - larger ones - stood on the bench and had to be played while standing. There were also small violas, which, like the violin, were held on the shoulder. Viola da gamba is still in orchestras, she has a very peculiar and beautiful "voice". She victoriously existed until the eighteenth century, then for some time the cello performed her parts. Only in 1905 did the viola da gamba return to the orchestra. String-bowed musical instruments greatly enriched their sound thanks to her return.

In general, viols were more acceptable for aristocrats for a long time: they have an exquisite, as if muffled sound, music sounds organically by candlelight, when the musicians are in velvet robes and powdered wigs. Violins first conquered folk music, therefore, they were not allowed into palaces and salons for a long time, viols and lutes reigned there.

Musical viols were made from the most valuable materials and were also very beautiful, even the heads were often with artistic carving in the form of flowers, heads of animals or people.

Masters

In the fifteenth century, with the advent of violins, lute and viol makers began to retrain as folk fair instruments supplanted the old aristocratic ones, as they had much more opportunities to produce a sound that was expressive and technically skillful. The famous school of Andrea Amati was founded in Cremona, which became hereditary. His grandson succeeded in making violins, in which the sound was extremely enhanced, while the warmth, softness and variety of timbre were preserved.

Violins began to be able to do everything: to express human feelings and even imitate the intonations of the human voice. A century later, another master - Antonio Stradivari, a student opened his own workshop and also succeeded. Same outstanding master there was also Giuseppe Guarneri, who came up with a new design of the violin, more perfect. All these schools were family-run, and children and grandchildren continued the business. They made not only violins, but also all other bowed stringed instruments.

Names of orchestral instruments

The violin has the highest register of bowed strings, and the double bass has the lowest. Closer to the violin sound - a little lower - the viola sounds, even lower - the cello. In their form, all stringed bowed instruments resemble a human figure, only of different sizes.

The body of the violins has two soundboards - lower and upper, the first is made of maple, and the second is made of spruce. It is the decks that are responsible for the quality and power of the sound. On the top there are curly cuts - effs, and they look like the letter "f". A fingerboard is attached to the body (on which the violinist's fingers "run"), usually it is made of ebony, and strings are stretched over it - there are four of them. They are fastened with pegs, twisting on them and stretching. Here the pitch depends on the tension, twisting the pegs.

How they are played

The viola is larger than the violin, although it is also held on the shoulder. The cello is even larger and is played while sitting on a chair, placing the instrument on the floor between the legs. The double bass is much larger than the cello, the bass player always plays standing up, in rare cases he sits down on a high stool.

A bow is a cane made of wood, on which thick horse hair is stretched, which are then smeared with rosin - pine resin. Then the bow slightly sticks to the string and, as it were, pulls it along. The string vibrates and therefore sounds. All bow-string instruments of a symphony orchestra work exactly on this principle. When the score requires it, the bowed strings can be plucked (pizzicato) and even struck with the wooden part of the bow.

Alto

The viola looks very much like a violin, it's just wider and longer, but its timbre is special, the sound is lower and thicker. Not every violinist will be able to play the viola with a body length of forty-six centimeters plus a neck. The fingers should be strong and long, the hand should be wide and also strong. And, of course, you need special sensitivity. All these qualities together are quite rare.

Although the viola is not as popular with composers as the rest of the group of bowed string instruments, it is still very important in a symphony orchestra. And when he plays solo, for example, the value of this instrument is especially well felt.

Cello

There is no instrument better adapted to express feelings such as grief, sadness, sadness, even despair. The voice of the cello has a special timbre that pierces the soul, unlike any other instrument. compared in his scarlet sails"violin with a pure girl named Assol, and the cello with passionate Carmen. And indeed, the cello can transmit very deeply strong feelings and bright personality.

Cellos were made simultaneously with violins by the very first masters, but Antonio Stradivari brought it to perfection. This instrument was not noticed in the orchestra for a long time, leaving him the accompaniment parts, but when this voice was truly heard, the composers wrote a lot of solo and chamber music for the cello, and performers increasingly improved the technique of playing this instrument.

double bass

This is the lowest bowed string instrument by register. The shape of the double bass does not look too much like a violin: a more sloping body, its shoulders are close to the neck. His sound is booming, thick, low, and without the bass register the orchestra will not sound good, so the double bass is simply irreplaceable there. Moreover, it takes root in almost any orchestra - even jazz. You can't do without it.

If we compare the orchestral score with human body, then bass line- this is a skeleton, on which, respectively, "meat" is accompaniment, and the melodic line is "skin", it is visible to everyone. If we imagine that the skeleton is removed from the body, what happens? Yes, the bag is shapeless. Bass is just as necessary, everything rests on it. What string-bowed instruments can keep the rhythm of the whole orchestra? Contrabass only.

Violin

Stringed bowed instruments rightfully consider her the queen when the violin sings, the rest can only sing along. The sound is extracted in a tricky way that no other instrument of this group can do. A bow with hard, rough, coarse horsehair, rubbed with rosin, is almost a file, because strong rosin is poured into powder. When the bow touches the string, it immediately sticks and pulls the string along for as long as its elasticity is enough, then it breaks off to immediately stick again. This is the movement of the string - uniform when the bow pulls it, and sinusoidal on return - and gives that unique timbre.

There is also such subtlety: in other instruments, in guitars, for example, the strings are stretched on hard metal nut, and in the violin they rest on a wooden, rather flimsy stand, which oscillates when played in both directions, and transmits these vibrations to all strings, even those that the bow does not touch. So in big picture subtle overtones are added, which further enrich the sound of the instrument.

Tool Features

The intonation freedom of the violin sound is simply endless. She can not only sing, but also whistle, and mimic the creak of a door and the chirping of a bird. And once on television they showed an April Fool's humor, where the violinist made the audience laugh by imitating sounds that were completely unrelated to music. For example, the unintelligible voice of the dispatcher at the station, announcing the arrival of the train. The word "pavtaryaaaayu" was pronounced by the violin. The mastery of this instrument most of all depends on the quality of the performer's hearing, and the training should be long. It is not in vain that children begin to be taught as early as three or four years old, so that the results are worthy.

One capacious quatrain contained so many Names, whose hands created unique masterpieces among the instruments. The works of these masters are a dream for every musician. However, today we will not talk about the masters. Today we will talk about bowed string instruments, or rather, about how violins, cellos, violas, double basses and bows to them differ.

Modern children know by what principle they differ mobile phones, and here's how things stand with the classification of violins - even the all-knowing Google can be at an impasse. Well, the Site of the violin maker will try to make up for this unfortunate omission.

So, there are several types of bowed instruments:

Did you know that the great masters divided musical instruments according to their intended use? For example, violin for everyone and everyone or "mass" the idea was to be good-sounding, but in the production of such violins not much attention was paid to the choice of wood and meticulous workmanship. There is no need to talk about the quality of the final mount of parts and sound. Almost always, after acquiring such an instrument, a visit to a violin maker follows. In the production of mass-produced bows, alternative types of wood were used. Birch, hornbeam, cheap varieties of mahogany, as well as plastic for lasts. Sometimes artificial hair was inserted into mass-produced bows.

The next in terms of sound quality and, accordingly, in terms of production quality was violin for orchestral playing . The voice of such a violin should be soft so as not to stand out from the ensemble and standard enough in strength and color so as not to get lost in the overall sound. For these two types of violins, the master took maple for the manufacture of the bottom, sides, neck and stand. Spruce, a special blank, traditionally resonates well with maple, so soundboards were made from it. Ebony or cheaper hardwoods painted black were used for the tailpiece and tuning pegs. The wood on the body of the instrument was selected according to texture and color, and varnished in one color or with antique retouching with high-grade varnish. The requirements for orchestral bows were also somewhat different. Such bows had to be played with various strokes, respectively, in their production, a tree more appropriate in terms of playing characteristics was used. For example, the Brazilian tree.

Next comes violin and cello for solo and ensemble performances. Here the sound was given a special place and they worked on it for a long time and scrupulously. It is appropriate to use such instruments in chamber orchestras, quartets and various kinds of ensembles, where the sound of each individual instrument is noticeable to a greater extent than in a symphony orchestra. Bows for the solo category are made of fernambuco. This is a special type of wood that grows in South America. Historically, fernambuco has been the best choice for making solo bows.

And the last one in this category is violin "artistic" where the name already speaks for itself. This is a concert violin unique sound, unique appearance and special, exquisite finds of the Master. If for the first two categories of instruments the beauty of wood does not play a role, then for the "solo" and "artistic" the master looked for more than just suitable tree, but also with a bright texture. And the neck, tailpiece and tuning pegs were made of high-quality ebony, rosewood, boxwood. Concert bows also have special requirements. They are mostly made from fernambuco, although there are interesting and noteworthy experiments with modern materials. Like carbon.

To summarize, violins and cellos can also be classified according to the purpose of use:

* mass;

* orchestral;

* solo;

* artistic.

Smoothly and imperceptibly, we approached the second point of classification - size.

Everyone who has ever learned to play the violin knows about the size, and on our website you will find a separate article on how to choose a violin “by size”. However, we repeat, we recall that violins and cellos are in size:

* 1/32

* 1/16

* 1/8

* 1/4

* 1/2

* 3/4

* 4/4

Size is an indicator focused on the individual data of students and performers. Therefore, this scale is so large, but ... few people know that there are two more sizes - 1/10 and 7/8. Each size comes with a matching length bow.

The division of violas by size is slightly different. The viola is a relatively young instrument and was finally formed only in the 19th century. The viola is mainly played by teenagers and adults, although there are 3/4-size training violas with a body length like a violin, but with an alto tuning. Whole violas are from 38 to 45 and even more centimeters. The length of the lower deck without the heel is measured. The most common are tools 40-41 cm. Sometimes the size is indicated in inches.

Double basses also come in different sizes, including children's. Oddly enough, but the most common double bass size played by adult musicians is 3/4. 4/4 double basses are played mainly in orchestras. It will also not be superfluous to know that double basses have a different system. Solo and orchestral. And the number of strings: 4 and 5.

There is an opinion that every musical instrument and especially the violin in different hands sounds new. Even good tool in the hands of a mediocre musician, it can die out. Conversely, a talented violinist and cellist can extract a beautiful sound from the most simple and rootless instrument. This has its own, magical logic of the magic of sounds and the uniqueness of the talent of the Performer. And yet, this is a secret that every Master puts into his instrument with every breath, with every touch.

The cello is a bowed string instrument, an obligatory member of a symphony orchestra and a string ensemble, which has a rich performance technique. Due to its rich and melodious sound, it is often used as a solo instrument. The cello is widely used when it is necessary to express sadness, despair or deep lyrics in music, and in this it has no equal.

Unlike violins and viola, to which it looks very similar, the cello is not held in the hands, but placed vertically. Interestingly, at one time it was played standing up, placed on a special chair, only then they came up with a spire that rests on the floor, thereby supporting the instrument.

It's amazing that before creativity L.V. Beethoven composers did not give special significance melodiousness of this instrument. However, having received recognition in his works, the cello took important place in the works of romantics and other composers.

Sound

Having a thick, rich, melodious, soulful sound, the cello often resembles the timbre of a human voice. Sometimes it seems to solo performances that she is talking and in a singsong voice to you. About a person, we would say that he has a chest voice, that is, coming from the depths chest and perhaps the soul itself. It is this mesmerizing deep sound that surprises the cello.

• Count Villegorsky owned two fine Stradivarius cellos. One of them was later owned by K.Yu. Davydov, then Jacqueline du Pré, now it is played by the famous cellist and composer Yo-Yo Ma.
• Once upon a time in Paris was arranged original contest. The great cellist Casals took part in it. The sound of ancient instruments made by the masters Guarneri and Stradivari was studied, as well as the sound of modern cellos made at the factory. A total of 12 instruments took part in the experiment. The light was turned off for the purity of the experiment. What was the surprise of the jury and Casals himself when, after listening to the sound, the judges gave 2 times more points to modern models for the beauty of sound than to the old ones. Then Casals said: “I prefer to play old instruments. Let them lose in the beauty of sound, but they have a soul, and the current ones have beauty without a soul.
• The cellist Pablo Casals loved and spoiled his instruments. In the bow of one of the cellos, he inserted a sapphire, which was presented to him by the Queen of Spain.
• The Finnish band Apocalyptika has gained great popularity. In her repertoire hard Rock. What is surprising is that the musicians play 4 cellos and drums. This use of this bowed instrument, always considered sincere, soft, soulful, lyrical, brought the group worldwide fame. In the name of the group, the performers combined 2 words Apocalypse and Metallica.
• The famous abstract artist Julia Borden paints her amazing pictures not on canvas or paper, but on violins and cellos. To do this, she removes the strings, cleans the surface, primes it and then paints the drawing. Why she chose such an unusual placement for the paintings, Julia cannot even explain to herself. She said that these instruments seem to pull her towards them, inspiring her to complete the next masterpiece.
• The musician Roldugin bought a Stuart cello, made by the master Stradivarius in 1732, for $12 million. Its first owner was King Frederick the Great of Prussia.
• The cost of Antonio Stradivari instruments is the highest. In total, the master made 80 cellos. To date, according to experts, 60 tools have been preserved.
• The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra has 12 cellists. They became famous for introducing many arrangements of popular contemporary songs into their repertoire.
• The classic look of the instrument is made of wood. However, some modern masters decided to break the stereotypes. For example, Louis and Clark have been making carbon fiber cellos, and Alcoa has been making aluminum cellos since the 1930s. The German master Pfretzschner was also carried away by the same.
• The ensemble of cellists from St. Petersburg under the direction of Olga Rudneva has a rather rare composition. The ensemble includes 8 cellos and a piano.
• In December 2014, South African Karel Henn set the record for the longest cello playing. He played continuously for 26 hours and got into the Guinness Book of Records.
• Mstislav Rostropovich, a cello virtuoso of the 20th century, made a significant contribution to the development and promotion of the cello repertoire. He performed for the first time more than a hundred new works for cello.
• One of the most famous cellos is the "King" which was made by Andre Amati between 1538 and 1560. This is one of the oldest cellos and is in the South Dakota National Music Museum.
• 4 strings on the instrument were not always used, in the 17th and 18th centuries there were five-stringed cellos in Germany and the Netherlands.
• Initially, the strings were made from sheep offal, later they were replaced by metal ones.

Repertoire

The cello has a very rich repertoire of concertos, sonatas and other works. Perhaps the most famous of them are the six suites I.S. Bach for cello solo, variations on a rococo theme P.I. Tchaikovsky and "Swan" by Saint-Saens. J. S. Bach - Suite No. 1 in G major (listen)

P.I. Tchaikovsky. - Variations on a Rococo theme for cello and orchestra (listen)

A. Dvorak - Concerto for cello and orchestra (listen)

C. Saint-Saens - "Swan" (listen)

I. Brahms - Double concerto for violin and cello (listen)

Musical Instrument: Viola

At first glance, an uninitiated listener can easily confuse this bowed string instrument with a violin. Indeed, apart from the size, they are externally similar. But one has only to listen to its timbre - the difference is immediately noticeable, chest and at the same time surprisingly soft and slightly muffled sound, directed inward, resembles a contralto - soft and expressive.

When thinking about string instruments, the viola is usually forgotten, giving preference to its smaller or larger counterparts, but the rich timbre and interesting story make you take a closer look at it.

Viola, so to speak, is a philosopher's instrument, without attracting attention, he modestly settled himself in the orchestra between the violin and the cello.

Sound

Languid, eloquent, noble, velvety, sensitive, powerful, and sometimes veiled - this is how you can describe the varied timbre of the viola. Its sound may not be as expressive and bright as that of violins but much warmer and softer.

The colorful timbre coloration is the result of the varied sound of each string of the instrument. The lowest pitched “C” string has a powerful, resonant, rich timbre that can convey a sense of foreboding and evoke gloomy and gloomy moods. And the upper “la”, in sharp contrast with other strings, has its own individual character: soulful and ascetic.

Game techniques

Do you know how much effort it takes to play the viola? Its large body plus the length of the neck require considerable strength and dexterity from the musician, because playing this instrument is difficult even physically. Due to the large size of the viola, the playing technique is somewhat limited compared to the violin. The fretboard positions are further away, which requires a lot of stretching of the fingers of the left hand of the performer.

The main method of sound extraction on the viola is the "arco" - moving the bow along the strings. Pizzicato, col lego, martle, detail, legato, staccato, spiccato, tremolo, portamento, ricochet, harmonics, the use of mute and other techniques used by violinists are also subject to violists, but require a certain skill from the musician. You should pay attention to one more fact: violists, for the convenience of writing and reading notes, have their own key - alto, nevertheless, they must be able to read notes in treble clef. This causes some difficulties and inconvenience when playing from a sheet.

Viola training in childhood not possible because the instrument is large. They begin to study on it in the last classes music school or in the first year of music school.

The violin, like the cello, belongs to stringed bowed musical instruments. But a layman, perhaps, will distinguish them only by appearance: the cello is known to be much larger than the violin in size. Sometimes, when asked what is the difference between a violin and a cello, they give a curious answer from a fireman from an old joke: "The cello burns longer." But seriously, what is the difference between these musical instruments?

Definition

Violin(violino in Italian) is a stringed musical instrument played with a bow, similar in structure to the viola and cello, but having the highest register.

Violin

Cello (violoncello in Italian) - a stringed musical instrument from which sounds are extracted with a bow, similar in structure to the viola and violin, but having a bass and tenor register.

Comparison

Although these tools have common origin: their ancestor is an old viola, which they could masterfully improve Italian masters, each of them has its own characteristics. The first and obvious difference is, of course, the size. A standard cello is almost three times the size of a full-sized violin and has an impressive weight, so it is played while sitting, after setting it on the floor on a special stand - a spire. From this follows the difference in the length of the strings and the distance between adjacent sounds - in the cello they are much larger. When playing the cello, the musician has less risk of hitting an unnecessary string. In addition, the cello has more large size fretboard and wider scale (which gives the sound a noticeable tension and "rigidity" compared to the violin).

The cello and the violin have different timbres of sound. The sound of a violin can be compared to a high female voice, while the sound of a cello resembles a low male timbre (now bass, now baritone, now tenor). Many music lovers are sure that the sound of the cello - juicy, melodious - is as close as possible to human voice compared to other tools.

Both the violin and the cello have four strings, but due to the size of the instruments, the technique of playing them differs, although the same principles are used. Because the cello is on the floor, the cellist has more maneuvers than the violinist. He can move freely left hand, which is also less twisted than when playing the violin, since the cello stands almost vertically, neck up, and the bow is directed towards the fourth string. The violin is the opposite: the neck is directed downwards during the game, and the strings are located in relation to the hand in the reverse order.

The cello bow is shorter than the violin bow and more massive. The strings of the cello are thicker than those of the violin, which means that a stronger constant pressure on the bow is required when playing.

Findings site

1. The cello is almost three times larger than the violin.
2. Violin - hand tool, cello - foot. Usually the musician plays the violin while standing, the cello - only sitting, as the instrument is quite massive. The cello is pre-installed on the floor on a special stop.
3. The cello has longer and thicker strings and larger size neck.
4. The timbre of the violin sounds like a high female voice, the timbre of the cello is low male.
5. When playing, the violin is held with the neck down, the cello with the neck up.
6. The cello bow is shorter than the violin bow and is more massive.