# Orchestras playing standing up **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198 "2005-10-21T03:00:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198/1 "2005-10-21T03:00:26Z")
I believe it was common practice way back when for orchestras to play standing up, but is it feasible for an orchestra, say if they were doing a short recording session in a studio (and fogettign for a moment their union membership), to play a piece standing up? Okay for cellists, for example? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198/2 "2005-10-21T03:42:49Z")
The [Australian Chamber Orchestra](http://www.aco.com.au) (who are bloody fantastic, by the way) always play standing up. But the cellists sit down. I don’t think it’s really possible for them to play otherwise. As their website says: > [@](#): > > In a nod to past traditions, only the cellists are seated – the resulting sense of energy and individuality is one of the most commented-upon elements of an ACO concert experience. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198/3 "2005-10-21T04:08:16Z")
As an ACO subscriber I can only say I don’t understand why all orchestras don’t play standing up. As **Prin** says, the sense of energy and excitement this lends to their performances is electrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198/4 "2005-10-21T06:23:52Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > As an ACO subscriber I can only say I don’t understand why all orchestras don’t play standing up. As **Prin** says, the sense of energy and excitement this lends to their performances is electrifying. Well, that and the fact they play very interesting stuff, very well. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198/5 "2005-10-21T06:29:39Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > As an ACO subscriber I can only say I don’t understand why all orchestras don’t play standing up. Two practical reasons: - Short players will have their view of the conductor, and of principals in the string sections, obscured. (Less of an issue with a chamber orchestra, which I guess is how the Aussies get away with it) - It’s bloody tiring! All-day rehearsals, plus evening concerts, are tiring enough as it is. While it may be possible in the schedules of some orchestras, particularly a close-knit group such as the ACO, a more typical symphony orchestra just would not be able to do it. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198/6 "2005-10-21T06:38:14Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > It’s bloody tiring! All-day rehearsals, plus evening concerts, are tiring enough as it is. While it may be possible in the schedules of some orchestras, particularly a close-knit group such as the ACO, a more typical symphony orchestra just would not be able to do it. But if your average musician would cut back on the boozing and smoking, and lose a bit of his/her militant tendency… Not to mention that if they were all standing, they’d be a mad rush for the local soon as the conductor had made them take their final bow, and there could be some nasty injuries! ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198/7 "2005-10-21T12:36:07Z")
As someone who occasionally plays standing up – and even on the hoof, I’ve done a ton of marching gigs/parades in my time – when you’re toting an instrument that weighs on average between 25-35 pounds, any help you can get is, well, helpful. Okay, violinists and violists are not so encumbered, but it’s hard work to do anything standing up for a long time, try it yourself and see. Try, oh, standing up and just reading a book for an hour or two and see if that doesn’t give you some insight. Don’t slouch! And yes, it does add to the intensity and excitement when you stand up – which is why in jazz bands you often see musicians standing up for their solos. TubaDiva ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198/8 "2005-10-21T13:42:02Z")
I think that if an orchestra stands up, then it would be considered a _band._ Bands play standing up. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198/9 "2005-10-21T14:43:13Z")
Was it in Take The Money And Run that Woody Allen plays a cellist in a marching band? He runs, puts the chair down, plays a few notes, picks it all up, and runs ahead a few feet and does the same. Hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Balle\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@Balle\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balle_M)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orchestras-playing-standing-up/327198/10 "2005-10-21T16:48:54Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Was it in Take The Money And Run that Woody Allen plays a cellist in a marching band? He runs, puts the chair down, plays a few notes, picks it all up, and runs ahead a few feet and does the same. Hysterical. Yes, and that’s the first thing that came to mind when I read the OP. 😃