Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, String Bass

Introduction to Strings

"What can be more strange, than that the rubbing of a little hair and cat-gut together should make such a mighty alteration in a man?" 

--Jeremy Collier (1650 - 1726)

The orchestral term "Strings" is used only for the violin family (Violin, Viola, Cello & String Bass). While the most popular instrument in popular western culture remains the guitar, it (like the saxophone) can be a guest at the symphony, but is not considered a member.

Although stringed instruments come in various shapes and sizes, many have waisted bodies that allow both freedom for the bow and a more complex vibration. Stringed instruments were, however, waisted many centuries before the advent of the bow, and instruments so shaped appear in Babylonian sculptures. The shape may have been used not only for musical effect but perhaps because it had some symbolic or ritual association with the female form.

Early stringed instruments were usually carved from a solid block of wood that tapered in such a way that there was no clear demarcation between the body and neck.