7 Amazing Fun Facts About the Cello You Never Knew: Discover Its Secrets!

1. Stradivarius: The Cello Superhero

If Stradivarius was a superhero, he'd be called "Celloman": swooping in to save the day and revolutionizing the way we look at cellos in the 18th century! This man with the Midas touch brought the instrument to life with new standardized dimensions and design, forever altering classical music history. For serious: Antonio Stradivari pioneered the modern cello design in the early 1700s, allowing it to take center stage and become a staple in the world of classical symphonies.
Source => evergreenviolin.com

2. Cello Bow: Shorter and Thicker

Behold the cello, that marvelous bass-baritone of the string family, serenading us with its renditions of the finest Jumbo Tron anthems: its bow is actually shorter yet thicker than the violin's! Trading length for girth, the cello bow compensates for its larger strings by packing extra horsehair into a bulked-up frog, leaving its dinky cousin's string-strumming stick looking positively feeble.
Source => violinspiration.com

Did you know there's a 639-year-long concert happening in a medieval church in Germany? With rare chord changes like a G-sharp scheduled for February 2022, this performance truly tests the limits of time and music! 🎵⏳

=> Fun Facts about Music

3. Cello Shots: Tuned to Perfection

Ever heard of cello shots? No, not an underrated bartender's special drink, but rather, the high notes of perfectly mixed strings: The cello is tuned just right in perfect fifths, starting with a cool C2 and rising to the elegant A3, all thanks to the innovation of Bolognese makers back in the 17th century who used wire-wound strings to shrink down its size and master a finer bass sound, making it perfect for dishing out virtuosic beats!
Source => en.wikipedia.org

4. Cello: The Violin's Secret Cousin

Who would've guessed that the cello is actually the secret, long-lost cousin of the violin, always living in its shadow and claiming the fame of the bass viol as its own? Oh, the scandal!: The cello, despite its close resemblance to the bass viol, is really part of the violin family – the viola da braccio family – making it more of a kin to the violin than the bass viol. This twisted family tree got even more tangled when some crafty 18th- and 19th-century musicians transformed their viols into cellos, continually blurring familial lines.
Source => vdgsa.org

5. Cello: From Groovy Bass to Iconic Instrument

Before the cello waltzed into music halls and rocked the bow-tie world, it was just another bass trying to find its groove: Originally developed in the 17th century from the bass violin, the cello boasts four strings tuned in perfect fifths - C2, G2, D3, and A3 - and has become an instrumental icon in European classical music, as well as dabbling in rock, pop, and hip-hop genres, proving that you don't need lyrics to drop a beat.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

6. Cello: The Royal French Music Star

In the days when baguettes were fresh and ballet had a je ne sais quoi, the cello was the royal "It" instrument at the French court, smoother than a croissant and more splendid than the Palace of Versailles itself: During the reign of Louis XIV, the court's chief composer, Jean-Baptiste Lully, made the cello a star by incorporating it in many of his compositions, such as ballets and operas, effectively establishing it as a prominent instrument in French music.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

7. Aging Gracefully: The Benjamin Button of Cellos

Like Benjamin Button on a string-forward journey through time, the cello embraces aging as gracefully as a fine wine, finding its voice richer and more robust with each passing year: Contrary to physical appearances, a 300-year-old cello can indeed produce a superior, mature sound, particularly when crafted by legendary luthiers such as Stradivari and Amati, who infused these delightful instruments with rich history and an exceptional tone that only improves as the ages roll by.
Source => stevemoretti.ca