skills/instrument-ranges-and-idioms/references/strings.md

# Bowed strings (sounding pitch)

| Instrument | Open strings | Comfortable | Avoid | Idiom |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| violin | G3, D4, A4, E5 | G3 to E6 | above A6 for anything but a peak; double stops in fast sixteenths | melodies, fast scales and arpeggios, double stops in thirds and sixths |
| viola | C3, G3, D4, A4 | C3 to C5 | above E5 for extended lines | inner voices, warm melodies, countermelodies |
| cello | C2, G2, D3, A3 | C2 to G4 | above C5 for extended lines | bass lines, tenor melodies on the A string, arpeggiated accompaniment |
| contrabass | E1, A1, D2, G2 | E1 to G3 | fast sixteenths; large shifts at speed | roots and fifths, walking bass in quarters, pizzicato or bowed pedal notes |
| strings (ensemble) | | C2 to C7 | dense chords in one octave | pads in half and whole notes, unison melodies, tremolo-style repeated notes |

## Idiom

- String crossings: a fast passage should move between adjacent strings.
  A leap from the G string to the E string on the violin needs a longer note
  before it.
- Double stops on adjacent strings only. Thirds, sixths and octaves in first
  position are common; tenths and fast double stops are advanced.
- Open strings ring: use them as drones and pedal notes in folk idioms.
- Bowing implies phrasing: long notes and slurred groups of two to four
  notes; a line of separate eighths reads as detached.
- Cello above the A string open note (A3) sings; use it for melodies, not
  only bass lines.
- Contrabass moves slowly. Quarter-note walking is the fastest idiom except
  for short fills; shifts above the octave are rare.

## String quartet

- Violin 1 carries the melody, violin 2 a third or sixth below or a
  countermelody, viola the inner voice or rhythmic figure, cello the bass.
- Do not have all four instruments change notes on the same beat for a
  whole example; stagger the motion.
- Keep at least a fifth between cello and viola in the low register.