Make sure you know the note names in Italian, French and German as well as in English. Written between the staves, the tuning notes will be given. Harp parts sometimes contain an instruction for the harpist to set the pedals to certain notes. The player is instructed to play an E by stopping the D string. This is the lowest, and therefore unstopped, note on the instrument.ДҐ. The вЂњoвЂќ symbol indicates that an open string (the A string) must be used.Д¤. This is the lowest, and therefore unstopped, note on the indicated D string.ДЈ. The player can use an open string (the D string), but doesnвЂ™t have to (they could play this as a stopped note on the lower pitched G string).Дў. Look at these example viola notes, and consider whether the player has to use an open string or not:ДЎ. For example a notated D includes the instruction вЂњsul DвЂќ. The indication вЂњsulвЂќ (see above) matches up with a stringвЂ™s fundamental pitch.There is an instruction to use an open string (often marked with an вЂњ0вЂќ above the note) OR.The extract contains the lowest playable note on that instrument (i.e.If a player has to use an open string it will be because: Pay attention to the wording вЂ“ it is not the same as вЂњ could useвЂќ. You may be asked whether, in an extract, a string player вЂњ has to useвЂќ an open string. The violin and double bass tunings are a mirror image of each other: Luckily, they are not difficult to remember! The viola and cello are tuned to the same notes, but the cello is an octave lower. You should learn the pitches of the strings of all of the four standard orchestral string instruments. Each string instrument has four strings, each with its own вЂњopen noteвЂќ. The lowest possible note that any string can produce is the note that sounds when it is not вЂњstoppedвЂќ at all вЂ“ this is the вЂњopen stringвЂќ. Open string String players get many different notes out of just one string by placing their fingers on the string to make it shorter. For example вЂњSul GвЂќ means вЂњuse the G stringвЂќ. Sul means вЂњonвЂќ and is used with the letter name of a particular string, to indicate that that string must be used. DonвЂ™t confuse with вЂњmeasured repeated notesвЂќ! The repeated notes are often marked with a slash, and the term tremolando (or one of its abbreviations) is always used in the exam papers. Tremolando (or tremolo, or trem.) is a shimmering effect created by quickly alternating between up and down bows. The following extract is from a violin part, showing triple stops. When the player sounds two notes simultaneously, he/she draws the bow across two strings at the same time.

This allows higher partials of the note to be audible and changes the timbre of the sound produced.Дouble and triple stop String instruments can play chords. В° This small circle symbol indicates that the player should lightly touch the string as he/she plays, in order to produce the effect of вЂњharmonicsвЂќ. DonвЂ™t confuse it with an accent!ДЄlso written above the stave, this is a вЂњdown bowвЂќ symbol вЂ“ the player should draw the bow downwards to play the note. Written above the stave, this is an вЂњup bowвЂќ symbol, which means the player should push the bow upwards to play this note. Pizzicato (or pizz.) is an instruction to pluck the string with a finger, rather than the normal method of using the bow.ДЄrco is used after a pizzicato instruction, to show that the normal bowing method should be resumed. This is not an exhaustive list however, and you should strive to increase your knowledge by studying musical scores as you listen, and looking up any unfamiliar words or symbols you find. In this section weвЂ™ll look at some of the instrument specific musical terminology and facts that have appeared in past papers for Grade 7. Instrument Specifics for Grade 7 Score Reading Questions

All for strings theory viola