The Double Bass

A BIT ABOUT THE DOUBLE BASS:PARTS OF A DOUBLE BASS:
HOW SOUND IS PRODUCED BY A DOUBLE BASS:
- The double bass is made out of wood, it is hollow so it can vibrate to create the sound
- When the bow slides across the string, the string vibrates and goes into the double bass, making it vibrating creating a sound

TUNINGS OF A DOUBLE BASS:
- Unlike most of the stringed instruments, a double bass needs to be tuned in fourths

COMPOSITIONS:
- Patrick Neher Jon Jang

COMPOSERS:
- Patrick Neher
- Franz Joseph Haydn
- Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf Franz Anton Hoffmeister

PREFORMERS:
- Rodney Slatford
- Albert Laszlo
- Rodion Azarkhin - Diana Gannett

TERMS AND SIGNS:

Crescendo (cresc) - Gradually becoming louder
A tempo- Return to former tempo
- Pause or a break
- Forte- Loud

EXTRA INFORMATION:

-The double bass is the largest instrument in the string family

- The double bass is the lowest sounding instrument in the string family

- The double bass's other name is the contrabass

- At the start of creating double bass's people had to go onto their knees just to play!

The Cello

LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CELLO

HISTORY:
- Cello, otherwise known as Cell created in the early 1500’s.
- The first known maker was Andrea Amati
- Cello’s have always been used to help out the bass in orchestras
- Cello’s were rarely used in sonata’s or solo music
- The shape of the cello hasn’t changed dramatically from the 1500’s, only the sharpness and accuracy has changed

PARTS OF A CELLO:

TUNINGS AND THE RANGE OF A CELLO:
- Like most other stringed instruments, you need to tune the instrument by the strings in intervals of fifths.
- The strings in a cello are an octave lower than the viola and an octave plus one fifth lower than the violin
- Music for the cello is written in the bass clef with changes to tenor clef or treble clef, when necessary, to avoid too many ledger lines.


CELLO COMPOSERS:
- George Goltermann
- Gaspar Cassadó

- Luigi Boccherini

- David Popper

COMPOSERS:
-Domenico Gabrielli
-Luigi Taglietti
-Antonio Vivaldi

- Sergie Rachmaninov

PREFORMERS:
-Johann Sebastian Bach
-Franz Joseph HaydnAntonin Dvorak Sir Edward Elgar

TERMS AND SIGNS OF A CELLO:
Pressto- Very fast
PP- Prestissimo- Very soft
Down bow- Drawing the bow with the hand moving away from the strings

FACTS AND INFORMATION:
- The voice of the cello is in tenor
- Bows are made out of horsehair and wood
- The lowest note in the cello is C
- Another name for the cello is Violoncello

The Viola

A LITTLE ABOUT THE VIOLA!

HISTORY:
The viola is an instrument in the violin family. It is slightly larger than the violin with a deeper tone.
It is similar to the alto voice
People have come to believe that the viola was created before the violin (although nothing has been proven)

In the early ages the viola was only used for the harmony of the piece, they were used because the composer didn’t know what else to add! (obviously times have changed)

PARTS OF A VIOLA:

HOW SOUND IS PRODUCED:
· Sound is produced when the player makes a vibration by rubbing, plucking or strucking the bow.
· The vibration goes through the wooden viola, making the air inside the viola to vibrate
· To change the note the viola creates you have to change the length of the string that is vibrating. This happens when the violinist presses one or more strings against the bridge in different places.

TUNINGS OF A VIOLA:
· To tune the viola you have to turn the pegs near the scrolls in fifths.
· Tightening the string will raise the sound of the note, then if you loosen the string it will lower the note, making it sound flat.
· To help tune your viola you normally use a tuner or by the symphony orchestra.

RANGE OF A VIOLA:
· The range of the viola starts 1 octave below middle C, and goes up three octaves and a third to E.

FAMOUS STRING COMPOSITIONS:

-Reger, 3 Suites for solo viola
-Kodaly, Fantasia cromatica

FAMOUS STRING COMPOSERS

-Bach

-Beethoven

-Rolla Alessandro

- Max Bruch

FAMOUS VIOLA PERFORMERS:

-Lionel Tertis

-William Primrose

TERMS AND SIGNS:
· Adagio- To be played slowly
· Mf- Mezzo Forte- Medium loud
· P- piano- Soft

INTERESTING FACTS AND INFORMATION:
· Jimi Hendrix started his career playing the violin
· The highest string on the viola is A
· Italy was where it was first created
· Violas usually sit between the cello’s and violinist in a orchestra

The Violin

A LITTLE HISTORY ON THE VIOLIN:

The first ever violin was created in central Asia
The 'violin' was firstly used without the bow, it was only plucked
The first ever 4 stringed violin was made in 1555 by Andrea Amati

PARTS OF A VIOLIN:

SOUND:
From a violin the sound is produced when the bow is drawn across the strings, making the strings vibrate, making a smooth and well connected sound
Another way on making sounds by violins is to pluck the strings, making a short and detached sound

TUNINGS:
There are 2 ways in which you can tune your violin:
1. By turning the pegs on the top of your violin (just above the neck)
Or 2. By adjusting the fine tuner screws which is found at the bottom of the violin

PITCH RANGE:
The range for a violin starts at G3 (The G belowe Middle C) and goes to the highest note on the piano.

FAMOUS STRING COMPOSITIONS:
Minute from String Quintet in E, Op. 13, No. 5
Cello Concerto in B flat major (G 482)
Opus 1, 12 sonatas for 2 violins and basso continuo

FAMOUS STRING COMPOSERS:
Antonio Vivaldi

Luigi Boccherini

FAMOUS STRING PREFORMERS:
Ralph Shapey:

Nicola Benedetti:

TERMS AND SIGNS:
Crescendo (cresc) - Gradually becoming louder
A tempo- Return to former tempo
Rallentando-
- Pause or a break
- Forte- Loud

EXTRA FACTS ABOUT THE VIOLIN:
Violins always play in either orchestra’s or string quartets
The violin has been around for MORE than 500 years!