Woodwind Revision
Listen and compare the sound (timbre) of these short excerpts of a) Clarinet, b) Oboe, c) Flute, d) Clarinet, e) Oboe,
f) Clarinet/Oboe together, g) Bassoon and h) Flute
f) Clarinet/Oboe together, g) Bassoon and h) Flute
The Violin
The Violin is bowed stringed instrument, the highest pitched member of the string family.The bow is a narrow, slightly incurved stick of Pernambuco about 75 cm (about 30 in) long, with a band of horsehair stretched from end to end of the bowstick. The violin has
four strings tuned a fifth apart, to the notes g, d’, a’, e’’: On early violins the strings were of
pure gut. Today they may be of gut, gut wound with aluminium or silver, steel, or perlon.
Watch this video of a young violinist demonstrating, Legato, Staccato, Pizzicato and Arco
World famous violinist Nigel Kennedy plays an excerpt from "Unknown Soldier" followed by another famous musician Anne Sophie Mutter playing a short excerpt from "Meditation", from Thais by Massinet.
Viola
The picture below shows the violin (left) and the Viola. The Viola is larger and so, has a lower range than the Violin. In an ensemble (group), the Violin will play the higher notes and the Viola will usually play lower harmonies. However the Viola is a beautiful melody instrument in its own right.
The Viola has a mellow dark sounding timbre compared to the the Violin. Listen to Albinoni's Adagio for Viola below.