String Instruments

String instruments form one of the essential sections of any symphony orchestra, featuring the violin, the viola, the cello, and the double bass. They are all of the same shape, with the size constituting the most distinctive difference between them, violin being the smallest and the double bass the largest.

String instruments are played with a wooden (or carbon fiber) bow containing horsehair. The bow is moved back and forth across said strings, fastened at a particular height, whilst simultaneously pressing one’s fingers on the strings at different spots – thus producing sounds of different pitches. At the other end of the string – the so-called frog – is a mechanism that the player can use to set the tightness of the strings. String instruments can also be played by plucking (picking) them, a technique called “pizzicato”.