The violin family of musical instruments was developed in Italy in the 16th century. The standard modern violin family consists of the violin, viola, cello, and double bass.
Instrument names in the violin family are all derived from the root viola, which is a derivative of the Medieval Latin word vitula (meaning "stringed instrument"). A violin is a "little viola", a violone is a "big viola" or a bass violin, and a violoncello (often abbreviated cello) is a "small violone" (or, literally, a "small big viola"). (The violone is not part of the modern violin family; its place is taken by the modern double bass, an instrument with a mix of violin and viol characteristics.)
The instruments of the violin family may be descended in part from the lira da braccio and the medieval Byzantine lira.
| Violin | Viola | Cello (violoncello) | Double bass (contrabass) |
|---|
Read more about Violin Family: Characteristics, Uses, Octobass
Famous quotes containing the words violin and/or family:
“The mastery of one’s phonemes may be compared to the violinist’s mastery of fingering. The violin string lends itself to a continuous gradation of tones, but the musician learns the discrete intervals at which to stop the string in order to play the conventional notes. We sound our phonemes like poor violinists, approximating each time to a fancied norm, and we receive our neighbor’s renderings indulgently, mentally rectifying the more glaring inaccuracies.”
—W.V. Quine (b. 1908)
“A family with an old person has a living treasure of gold.”
—Chinese proverb.