THE ORCHESTRA: A USER'S MANUAL

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VIOLIN

Section: Strings
Transposing? No

Construction
Range
Bowing
Plucking
Left Hand
Mute/Harmonics
Chords
Extended
Player's Tips and Tricks

Links

 

Miranda Dale (1st Violin, Philharmonia Orchestra)

The violin is the highest pitched and most agile member of the string family. In a typical orchestra, violins are grouped into Firsts and Seconds. The leader of the First Violins is also the Leader of the Orchestra. Numbers vary, but usually there are sixteen Firsts and fourteen Seconds, seated two to a 'desk'.

Use the links on the left to navigate through the violin pages.
The icon will launch a movie of Miranda Dale explaining a relevant point of violin technique.
The icon will give an audio clip, which will either play automatically or open a new window.
The icon will play an illustrative music example from the Philharmonia's recorded archive.

Be sure to visit the 'player's tips and tricks' section for some very useful advice about aspects of violin writing.