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The playing ranges of the instruments in the violin family overlap each other, but the tone quality and physical size of each distinguishes them from one another. The ranges are as follows: violin: G 3 to E 7 (practical, notes up to A7 are possible); viola: C 3 to A 6 (conservative); violoncello: C 2 to A 5 (conservative); and double-bass: E 1 to C 5 (slightly expanded from conservative estimate).
The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, [a] is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino piccolo and the pochette , but these are virtually unused.
The origin of the violin family is unclear. [1] [2] Some say that the bow was introduced to Europe from the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world, [3] [4] [5] while others say the bow was not introduced from the Middle East but the other way around, and that the bow may have originated from more frequent contact between Northern and Western Europe.
Kathleen Schlesinger, The instruments of the modern orchestra & early records of the precursors of the violin family, with over 500 illustrations and plates, London: W. Reeves, 1910. --, A bibliography of musical instruments and archaeology, intended as a guide to the study of the history of musical instruments, London: W. Reeves, 1912.
The most popular bowed strings used nowadays belong to the violin family; together with their respective standard tunings, they are: Violin – G 3 D 4 A 4 E 5 (ascending perfect fifths, starting from G below middle C) Viola – C 3 G 3 D 4 A 4 (a perfect fifth below a violin's standard tuning) Cello – C 2 G 2 D 3 A 3 (an octave lower than ...
The violin-like instruments that existed when Amati began his career only had three strings. [10] Amati is credited with creating the first four stringed violin-like instrument. [ 11 ] Laurence Witten also lists Amati and Gasparo' da Salo, as well as Pellegrino de' Micheli , also from Brescia; as well and Ventura di Francesco de' Machetti ...
The violin family, including cello-sized instruments, emerged c. 1500 as a family of instruments distinct from the viola da gamba family. The earliest depictions of the violin family, from Italy c. 1530, show three sizes of instruments, roughly corresponding to what we now call violins, violas, and cellos. Contrary to a popular misconception ...
Viola da braccio in detail from a fresco by Gaudenzio Ferrari in Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Saronno (c. 1534–6). Viola da braccio (from Italian "arm viola", plural viole da braccio) is a term variously applied during the baroque period to instruments of the violin family, in distinction to the viola da gamba ("leg viola") and the viol family to which the latter belongs.