From highest to lowest, the violoncello, or cello, is a member of the string family, which includes the violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass. The standard score abbreviation of Vc. for the cello staff comes from the full name, violoncello. A string quartet has one cello, a viola, and two violins, and large orchestras have a section of cellos, possibly ten or more.
The cello and double bass are held on the ground with the neck on the player’s left side, while the violin and viola are held under the chin and rest on the left shoulder. The cello is held between the player’s knees, with the neck against the left shoulder of the player. The cello’s four strings are tuned in fifths at C2, G2, D3, and A3, and it is a non-transposing instrument. The A-string is regarded as the first.
The violoncello is fingered with all five fingers, including the thumb. The left hand’s fingers press the strings to control pitch and vibrato, as well as to create effects like trills, finger tremolo, glissando, multiple stops, and portamento. Fingering can produce both natural and artificial harmonics.
The right hand draws or bounces the bow across the strings, depending on the desired effect—which can include détaché, martelé, spiccato, bow tremolo, staccato, and louré—or plucks the strings for pizzicato. The wood of the bow is used against the strings in col legno playing, which means “with the wood.” Col legno battuto means to tap the bow on the strings, whereas col legno tratto means to draw the bow’s wood across the strings.
The upstroke, which begins at the point of the bow, and the downstroke, which ends at the point, sound very different when the player uses the cello bow. The upstroke, which is more commonly used on unaccented beats of a bar, tends to crescendo, whereas the downstroke, which is more commonly used on accented beats, particularly the first beat of a bar, tends to decrescendo.
The cello can be played as a part of a group, as a solo instrument, or in jazz. Dmitri Shostakovich, Samuel Barber, Sergei Prokofiev, and Benjamin Britten have all written cello concertos. Mstislav Rostropovich, Pablo Casals, Yo-Yo Ma, Jacqueline du Pré, Mischa Maisky, and jazz cellists Tristan Honsinger and Abdul Wadud are among the most well-known cellists.