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Hello everyone! I hope you are all well and deep into creative frenzy! Following my
article on how to orchestrate the melody within the string section, in this article I
would like to explain various ways in which we can give the harmony to the string
section. While Mr.Korsakov and Principles of Orchestration Online have done a
brilliant job of explaining these principles, I would like to present the material in a
more concise and organized way. So, as is our customary ritual, grab a fresh cup of
your preferred beverage and lets get started!
Due to the nature of the string section and the fact that all four instrument
families blend perfectly with each other, string harmony is one of the easiest to
write. However, it is also one of the most important! As we mentioned in the last
article, strings are the backbone of the orchestra. If you create a solid basis for
the entire orchestra to sit on, then chances are your orchestration will sound
much much better. The most important goal when writing string harmonies is to
achieve an equal balance of the harmonic parts.
harder to make a string quartet sound good than a full string orchestra! So next
time you are having a hard time concentrating in all those harmony rules we all
had to digest at some point, remember that!
The next step is to take your 3-, 4- or X-part harmony and assign each line to a
string family. Let me clarify here that when I refer to 3-part harmony I dont
necessarily mean triadic harmony (i.e. chords comprising of Root-3rd-5th) but
any chord comprising of 3 parts. Also, 4-part harmony refers to any chord
structure that comprises of four notes (R-3-5-7 or R-3-5-9 etc). Any 3-part
structure can be turned into a 4-part structure with doubling.
The standard and most straightforward approach to orchestrating any chord in
the string section is to assign chord tones according to the range and role of the
instrument. For example, the obvious choice for the top note(s) of the chord are
the violins and for the bottom are the basses. Another thing to always have in
mind is that while close voicings sound well in higher registers, it is best for the
lower notes to be spaced in larger intervals because close intervals between
basses and cellos will sound very muddy.
Our very own Robin Hoffmann has written an excellent article on how to voice a
chord according to the harmonic series. I suggest that you give it a read as it will
help you understand a lot about voicing chords for the string section. No matter
what kind of harmony you are using, spacing the notes correctly is a make-orbreak factor in successful string writing. Voicings are everything!
When we are faced with a harmony in 3-parts, we can either omit some string
instruments (e.g. have only Violins-Violas-Celli) or we can always double some
chord tones to create extra parts.
In 4-part harmony, when our chords are essentially triads, the common practice
is to give the bassline to the cellos and double basses either in unison or in
octaves. If the bassline is too busy, a common technique is to give the basses a
simplified version of it. For example, if the cellos play a rather busy legato
basslines, we can have the basses playing a simplified pizzicato bassline, giving
our harmony parts a bit more bounce.
shows some of the easy and possible double stops in each instrument. The MIDI
notes refer to the bottom note of the interval.
Triple and quadruple stops can only be executed rapidly and slightly
arpeggiated, due to the curved nature of the instruments bridge.
When writing multiple stops, the two factors you should account for first
and foremost are : resonance of chords and ease of execution.
Multiple stops are usually assigned to violins and violas and less often to
cellos.
When asking a player to perform a multiple stop give them ample time to
prepare their positions. For example, a fast run cannot end on a multiple
stop because the players will not have time to prepare the multiple stop.
3. Special-Purpose Chords
Combined with sustained harmony; the basses are often divided in two
sections, half playing the bassline pizzicato and the other half arco.
Pizzicato strings playing chords with multiple stops (for extra strength and
accent);
As I have found out recently, pizzicato strings blend beautifully with tuned
percussion instruments such as marimbas when playing upbeat melodies.
Tutti pizzicato consists of the entire string section playing pizzicato, usually
doubled by woodwinds and brass. Tutti pizzicato chords are occasionally
reinforced by harp and piano.
3.3 Sustained and Tremolo Chords
Sustained harmony needs a lot more attention on our part because it is much
more prominent. A perfect balance of tone is the first and most important goal.
Assuming that all string families are equal in power (i.e. comprise of a balanced
number of players), the most frequent arrangement of chord tones is according
to register, with the bassline doubled in unison or octaves :
When we want to add notes and reinforce the middle register it is preferable to
double notes on the violins or violas. As a rule of thumb, the further apart those
doublings are from the bass, the better. Of course, in order to create those
doublings we will need to either write multiple stops or divide some string
families. The best candidates for divisi writing in this case are the violas. Violas,
being hidden in the middle of the string section in terms of register, are more
easily digested by the ear when being divided.
Another thing you should be careful of is dividing the higher strings (violins and
violas) when the lower ones play non-divisi. Such an arrangement results in a
heavy sound and you should balance it in other sections of the orchestra.
Finally, in sustained or forte double stops performed tremolo, we are allowed to
bend the part-writing rules in order to ensure ease of execution.
While they sound grande and please our ears, full and exact doublings should
be used only when we are after a particular effect and not for long periods of
time.
A very common technique is to have a sustained harmony in the string section
and double with woodwinds playing more rhythmic variations of the string lines
for extra motion.
The best practice when combining strings and other sections to play the
harmony is to make each section complete in itself before considering any
doublings. Also, trying to give each section a different voice-leading (i.e.
connection of chords) will ensure that we avoid parallels as much as possible. If
parallels cannot be avoided, they should better reside in the inner parts of each
section.