Editing String instrument (section)

==Symphonic strings==

The string instruments usually used in the [[orchestra]],<ref>{{cite web |first=Jorge |last=Aguilar |title=String Instruments |url=http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/spring03/aguilar/TchaiConSo.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130141956/http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/spring03/aguilar/TchaiConSo.htm |archive-date=January 30, 2019 |publisher=[[University of Florida]] |date=2003 |access-date=February 1, 2020}}</ref> and often called the "symphonic strings" or [[string section]] are:<ref>{{cite book|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music|url=https://archive.org/details/conciseoxforddic00scho|year=1964|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-311302-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/conciseoxforddic00scho/page/412 412]}}</ref>

* [[Violin]]s (divided into two sections—first violins and second violins; these sections play exactly the same instruments; the difference is that the first violins play higher-register lines and the second violins play lower-register parts, [[accompaniment]] parts or [[counter-melody|counter-melodies]])
* [[Viola]]s
* [[Cello]]s
* [[Double bass]]es

When orchestral instrumentation specifies "strings", it often means this combination of string parts. Orchestral works rarely omit any of these string parts, but often include additional string instruments, especially the [[concert harp]] and piano. In the [[Baroque orchestra]] from the 1600s–1750 (or with modern groups playing [[early music]]) harpsichord is almost always used to play the [[basso continuo]] part (the written-out [[bass line]] and improvised chords), and often a [[theorbo]] or [[lute]] or a [[pipe organ]]. In some classical music, such as the [[string quartet]], the double bass is not typically used; the cello plays the bass role in this literature.