Electric cello
The electric cello is a type of cello that uses electronic amplification instead of natural sound from its body to produce music. An acoustic cello can have a bridge or body-mounted contact pickup that sends an electric signal, or a built-in pickup can be added. Some pickups use different methods, such as magnetic coils that require steel strings, or systems that use the string itself as a sensor, avoiding changes to the cello’s sound-producing parts.
Electric violin
An electric violin is a violin that has an electronic way to send out its sound. The term is best used for a violin that is specifically designed to be electric, with internal pickups and a solid body. It can also describe a violin that has an electric pickup added, though the terms “amplified violin” or “electro-acoustic violin” are more precise for this type.
Five-string violin
A five-string violin is a type of violin that has an extra string. This string is tuned to a lower pitch than the usual G, D, A, and E strings found on a standard violin. A five-string violin typically adds a lower C string.
Pochette (musical instrument)
The pochette is a small stringed instrument that is played with a bow. It is similar in shape to a violin but is designed to fit in a pocket, which is why it is called “pochette” (French for “small pocket”). It is also known as a pocket fiddle.
Fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string instrument, often a violin or a bass. The word “fiddle” is a common name for the violin, used by musicians in many types of music, including classical music. While the violin and fiddle are often the same, the type of music played can lead to differences in how they are built.
Double bass
The double bass, also called the upright bass, acoustic bass, bull fiddle, Bass Fiddle, string bass, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (except for rare instruments like the octobass). It has four or five strings and is built between the designs of the gamba (viol) and the violin family. The bass is a regular part of the orchestra’s string section, along with violins, violas, and cellos.
Viola
The viola is a string instrument in the violin family. It is usually played with a bow and has a sound that is lower than the violin. The viola is slightly larger than the violin.
Violin
The violin, sometimes called a fiddle, is a wooden string instrument and the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family. Smaller violin-like instruments, such as the violino piccolo and pochette, exist but are rarely used. Most violins have a hollow wooden body and four strings (sometimes five), typically tuned in perfect fifths to the notes G3, D4, A4, and E5.
Tenor violin
A tenor violin (or tenor viola) is a medium-pitched bowed instrument. Its sound range is between that of the cello and the viola. This instrument was developed earlier in the history of the violin family.
Viol
The viola da gamba (Italian: [ˈvjɔːla da (ɡ)ˈɡamba, viˈɔːla -]), also called the viol or gamba, is a string instrument played with a bow and has frets. It is held “on the leg” (da gamba) and is different from the violin or viola da braccio, which came later. It belongs to the viol family, a group of older bowed, fretted string instruments with hollow wooden bodies and pegboxes.