Music Composition DUMmIES

The violin’s range is G3 to B7 (Figure 14-18).

Cello .....................................................................................................

The cello, also called the violincello, is the biggest and lowest-sounding

member of the violin family. It’s much too big and heavy to rest on the shoul-

der, so it’s held between the performer’s knees instead. (You never see a

homeless person with a cello — which could mean either that cellists are

some of the best-paid musicians out there, or that it’s just not worth lugging

the thing out into the rain for a few bucks a day.)

The cello can cover the entire range of the human voice, and consequently, a

lot of “speaking” solo parts are written for it, in which the cello seems to be

delivering the lyrical part of a song instead of an actual singer. As the bass

voice in the string quartet, the cello is a grounding force in what might other-

wise be a tinny and high-pitched ensemble.

The cello’s range is C2 to E6 (Figure 14-19).

Where they all are on the piano .......................................................

Given that there’s a good chance that you’ll be composing your orchestral

music on the piano, in Figure 14-20 we provide a handy chart to show you

where these instrumental voices are laid out on the keyboard.

?

œ C string

violincello

concert range

Low

œœœœ

G string

œœœœ

œ

D string

œœœœ

Middle

œœ

œœœ A string

&œ

High

œœœ

œœœœ

œœœœ

Figure 14-19:

Range for

the cello.

&

√

œ G string

violin

concert range

œœœœ

D string

œœœœ

œ

A string

œœœœ

œœ

E string

œœœœ

œ

œœœœ

œœœ

œ^ X^ X

Figure 14-18:

Range for

the violin.

180 Part IV: Orchestration and Arrangement