# Baritone Strings? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 17, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321 "2000-01-17T01:51:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/1 "2000-01-17T01:51:00Z")
Simple question. If the violin is soprano, the viola is alto, the cello is tenor and the bass is – well, bass – what is the baritone stringed instrument? And what happened to it? Has it just lost favor, like the baritone horn? ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2000, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/2 "2000-01-17T02:06:00Z")
AFAIK, there never has been a “bari fiddle”. The range of the cello and bass are wide enough that a baritone violin would be redundant. (I hope that answer will do until an actual string player comes along.) ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2000, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/3 "2000-01-17T07:01:00Z")
Actually, I’ve heard strings described differently than that in the OP. Take it with a grain of salt, of course, since it’s filtered by my weird memory: Violins - soprano Viola - tenor Violoncello - bass Double Bass - contrabass Yeah, that’s pretty weird, but it should be noted that “bass” is sometimes regarded as short for “contrabass” … the German word is _kontrabass_. For what it’s worth, the bass member of most families can’t go as low as the lowest octave of the bass. And the cello isn’t much higher. There isn’t much room between the lowest note of the cello, a C, and the E right below it (the lowest note on a standard 4-string bass). So the short answer to your question is, the cello really has the baritone range covered quite adequately. The stringed instruments have such large ranges that they have the whole dang thing pretty much covered … the biggest gap is between viola and cello, but it’s not really a gap, it’s just a smaller overlap than the other two (the violin and viola are only a fifth apart). Also note that there is something called the “modern string family”, composed of lots of instruments looking like the violin family but supposedly better matched in tone. There are something like seven members, in all sizes, and they include a baritone which is more or less a small cello (there is also a tenor, IIRC, but I don’t know how you’d play that; maybe you hold it with your knee like a viol da gamba…). ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Wing\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f0a364/32.png) [@Dark\_Wing\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Wing_Duck)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/4 "2000-01-18T02:45:00Z")
Long time ago, there used to be a stringed instrument called the baryton (that’s how I saw it spelled). A patron of Haydn’s, one of the Princes Esterhazy I believe, played it and Haydn wrote scads of music for it. Unfortunately I’ve never heard a note of this music. Possibly because nobody knows where to find a baryton to play it on. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/5 "2000-01-18T03:08:00Z")
FWIW: [http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kis/schools/hums/music/ttc/RoweBaryton.html](http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kis/schools/hums/music/ttc/RoweBaryton.html) [http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/m2esectr/cmhdn.htm](http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/m2esectr/cmhdn.htm) [http://www.baryton.mailbox.co.uk/](http://www.baryton.mailbox.co.uk/) * * * Tom~ ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/6 "2000-01-19T06:23:00Z")
Hey, in tomndebb’s second link they talk about the tuning of the baryton’s “plucked sympathetic strings”. I thought sympathetic strings were never touched at all … am I missing something? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/7 "2000-01-19T06:39:00Z")
Choral works are written for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass. Niceties like Mezzos and Baritones don’t come into it. (I’m a baritone myself, but I stand with the basses when it’s time to sing.) Works for female chorus are usually broken down into Soprano I, Soprano II (or Mezzo), and Alto. Works for males are written for Tenor I, Tenor II (called Melody in barbershop quartets), Baritone, and Bass. I think that the string family conforms directly to the SATB voicings. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Basil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Sweet\_Basil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Basil)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/8 "2000-01-18T22:17:00Z")
Old string quartets consisted of violin I, violin II, viola, and cello “violincello”. Double-basses have only come into common use in the last 120 (or so) years. The common modern-day double-bass is in truth a bass viol. Viols and violins are different families. Near as I can tell, the difference is in the shape of the bodies, and perhaps the tunings. Sweet Basil ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Basil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Sweet\_Basil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Basil)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/9 "2000-01-18T22:20:00Z")
Hello again… To answer the original question, in traditional four-part arrangements, the four parts used are soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Baritone parts are split up between the tenor and bass parts, usually leaning toward bass. If you are a baritone in the choir (I am) you’d usually sing with the basses. Sweet BASSil hahahahah ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/10 "2000-01-18T22:24:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Boris B: > **Hey, in tomndebb’s second link they talk about the tuning of the baryton’s “plucked sympathetic strings”. I thought sympathetic strings were never touched at all … am I missing something?** I beleive when the strings are plucked it is called pizzicato. Tchiakovsky’s 4th symphony (3rd movement) is a good example. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/11 "2000-01-18T22:30:00Z")
Guys, I’d like to introduce Sweet Basil, my alternate screen name. Under this name I plan to repeat what I just said, only phrased a teensy bit differently. Catch me if you can, Administrators! – Uke, running like a deer ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Basil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4bbf92/32.png) [@Sweet\_Basil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Basil)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2000, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/12 "2000-01-18T22:33:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Ukulele Ike: > \*\*Guys, I’d like to introduce Sweet Basil, my alternate screen name. > > Under this name I plan to repeat what I just said, only phrased a teensy bit differently. > > Catch me if you can, Administrators! > > – Uke, running like a deer\*\* Oh yeah… Sorry about that. Sweet Basil ---
**Author:** ![RobRoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ba0ec/32.png) [@RobRoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobRoy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2000, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baritone-strings/6321/13 "2000-01-19T01:25:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Boris B: > **Hey, in tomndebb’s second link they talk about the tuning of the baryton’s “plucked sympathetic strings”. I thought sympathetic strings were never touched at all … am I missing something?** The viola d’amore has sympathetic strings. They are never touched and rest between the strings that may be plucked “pizzacato” and the sounding chamber. This viola d’amore may satisfy the baritone strings requirement asked for above, it is slightly lower in range than the modern viola, but not drastically so. Also in the renaissance, there were string instruments made to various specifications, including a smaller non-sympathetic instument in the range of the d’amore. It was played as a cello is between the legs. At that time, music was less specifically scored (make due), usually for a particular “voice” not nec. instrument. Modern instrumentation brings us the standard sizes and ranges of the string family.