You play the viola the same way as you do the violin, by resting it between your chin and shoulder. There are usually 10 to 14 violas in an orchestra and they almost always play the harmony. It is slightly larger, just over two feet long, and has thicker strings, which produce a richer, warmer sound than the violin. The viola is the older sister or brother of the violin. Your left hand holds the neck of the violin and presses down on the strings to change the pitch, while your right hand moves the bow or plucks the strings. You play the violin by resting it between your chin and left shoulder.

A typical-sized violin is around 24 inches (two feet) long, with a slightly longer bow. First violins often play the melody, while second violins alternate between melody and harmony. There are more violins in the orchestra than any other instrument (there can be up to 30!) and they are divided into two groups: first and second. The violin is the baby of the string family, and like babies, makes the highest sounds. Learn about each instrument in the string family: The strings stretch over the body and neck and attach to small decorative heads, where they are tuned with small tuning pegs. They are all similarly shaped, with curvy wooden bodies and wooden necks. (Bass is pronounced 'base,' as in 'baseball.') The smaller instruments, the violin and viola, make higher-pitched sounds, while the larger cello and double bass produce low rich sounds. The strings are the largest family of instruments in the orchestra and they come in four sizes: the violin, which is the smallest, viola, cello, and the biggest, the double bass, sometimes called the contrabass.

The handle of the bow is made of wood and the strings of the bow are actually horsehair from horses' tails! Sometimes the musicians will use their fingers to pluck the strings, and occasionally they will turn the bow upside down and play the strings with the wooden handle. The strings are played most often by drawing a bow across them. When you look at a string instrument, the first thing you'll probably notice is that it's made of wood, so why is it called a string instrument? The bodies of the string instruments, which are hollow inside to allow sound to vibrate within them, are made of different kinds of wood, but the part of the instrument that makes the sound is the strings, which are made of nylon, steel or sometimes gut.

Instrument starting with n