Tuning and Reach of Cello Tone

Cello has four strings that have five intervals:

• Strings A (I, the highest pitch),
• String D (II),
• G string (III), and
• String C (IV, the lowest tone).

A string tuned to pitch A3 (just below middle C), G-string five times lower in D3, G string five times lower in G2, and the string C at C2 (two octaves below middle C). The strings an octave lower than the viola, and an octave and a fifth lower than the violin.

Some cello sometimes have to use a different setup using scordatura, two of the most popular examples is the work of the fifth of six suites for solo cello (C2-G2-D3-G3) and Sonata opus 8 works Zoltan Kodaly (B1-F2-D3-A3) . At 6 Suite for cello solo written instrument with five strings are tuned C2-G2-D3-A3-E4. Perhaps this is an instrument violoncello piccolo, a smaller cello 5 string that is no longer used since the mid-18th century.

Reach of cello tone, limited to the lower end of setting the lowest string, the higher end variants. The upper limit is convenient for cello C6 (two octaves above middle C), although it is possible to scaling up an octave again.

The highest tone stop on the fingerboard is around F6, but the composer wrote some higher, Sonata opus 8 examples of Zoltan Kodaly's work using B6. Music for cello written in bass keys with key variations tenor or treble when necessary in order to avoid too many ledger lines.

The composer before the 19th century embraced a deal that clearly prohibits the use of key tenor, treble keys also in the writing that was written one octave lower; except when key treble followed a script in the tenor key, when played in a written note. Its use contained in a trio arrangement by Hans Eisler from Serenade septet - op.24 Schoenberg.