The violin is a wooden string instrument. It is the smallest and has the highest pitch in the violin family, which also includes violas, cellos and double basses.
The violin typically has four strings, tuned to G3, D4, A4 and E5. It is usually played by drawing a bow across its strings although the strings can also be plucked by the fingers (pizzicato).
This recording demonstrates the four open strings and the highest note obtainable on the top string:
Violins are ubiquitous in Western classical music, typically in ensembles but also as solo instruments. However, they also play a major part in folk and country music (where they are usually called ‘fiddles’) as well as in accompaniments to popular music.
My interest here is in the violin as a solo instrument in a non-classical context.
So far, I have two examples, the first a light-hearted piece of folk music …
Pentatonical
This piece is in C major, although it shifts to Am for the middle section.
These are the virtual instruments used on the track:
Violin: Stradivari Violin from Native Instruments
Accordion: Kontakt Library from Native Instruments
Acoustic Guitar: Ample Guitar M from Ample Sound
Drums: Studio Drummer from Native Instruments
Bass: VB Mellow from ujam
My next example is intended to conjure up images of pre-war Parisian jazz …
À La Belle Étoile
The lead instrument here is the tenor saxophone and this plays what, if this piece had been in song form, the vocal melody. The violin plays fills around the melody and a solo. As this piece has allusions to jazz, the guitar also gets a solo!
Virtual instruments:
Violin: Stradivari Violin from Native Instruments
Tenor Saxophone: Session Horns Pro from Native Instruments
Acoustic Guitar: Django Gypsy Jazz Acoustic Guitar from Impact Soundworks
Drums: Studio Drummer from Native Instruments
Bass: VB Mellow from ujam
My third and last example has more of a classical feel, with a solo violin accompanied by a full string section …
So Don’t Sigh
Virtual instruments:
Violin: Stradivari Violin from Native Instruments
Strings: Symphony Essentials String Ensemble from Native Instruments
This piece is a re-working of a song that I wrote some while back. The vocal part is replaced by the solo violin. Having an orchestral string accompaniment required a complete re-arrangement of the original pop/rock instrumentation (piano, bass guitar, lead guitar, drums).
The piece is unusual in that the main theme is based on a repeating C Eb Gb A chord sequence, which shifts the key of the melody with every chord change.
Amanecer
This piece is a duet for violin and cello with a definite Spanish feel, hence the title, which means ‘dawn’.
Virtual instruments:
Violin: Stradivari Violin from Native Instruments
Cello: Stradivari Cello from Native Instruments
Blue Ayari
And this piece, completed in April 2023, centres on a cello rather than violin, but is accompanied by a full string orchestra:
I set out to employ traditional orchestral instruments but contrast this with a blues feel in the melody. I think the end product is more romantic than bluesy but then you don’t always end up with what you originally intended.
Virtual instruments:
Cello: Stradivari Cello from Native Instruments
String orchestra: Symphony String Ensemble from Native Instruments
Notation
The following PDF file includes notation and chord symbols for all four pieces, as well as saxophone, acoustic guitar and bass parts for À La Belle Étoile, all string parts for So Don’t Sigh and cello part for Amanecer.
The scores were created using Steinberg’s Dorico Pro app.