Musical instruments under V
Violin, cello, viol, vibraphone: similar names do not always identify the same family. This page distinguishes bowed strings, metal bars and wind instruments. The index follows French names, shown alongside their English equivalents when translation changes the initial letter.
Instruments under V and how they work
| Instrument | Family | How to recognise it |
|---|---|---|
| Violon — violin | Bowed strings | Usually a four-string instrument held at the shoulder. The bow sustains the sound; pizzicato sets the strings vibrating by plucking. |
| Violoncelle — cello | Bowed strings | A low-pitched member of the violin family, usually with four strings, played between the legs and supported by an endpin. |
| Viole de gambe — viol | Bowed strings | A historical family distinct from the violin family, usually with frets and six or seven strings. Several sizes exist. |
| Vielle à roue — hurdy-gurdy | Bowed strings, keyboard | A wheel turned by a crank rubs the strings. Keys change the melody pitches, while other strings may provide drones. |
| Vibraphone | Percussion, metallophone | Tuned metal bars above resonators. A pedal controls damping; a rotating mechanism can modulate resonance. |
| Vina, or veena | Plucked strings | A name covering several Indian instruments, including the Saraswati veena and rudra veena. Shape, strings and supports vary with the type. |
| Spanish vihuela | Plucked strings | An instrument of the Iberian Renaissance with a body and fretted neck. It has its own historical repertoire and construction. |
| Mexican vihuela | Plucked strings | An instrument used in mariachi, particularly for rhythmic accompaniment. It is not the same as the Renaissance vihuela. |
| Vuvuzela | Wind, horn | A long horn whose sound comes from the lips vibrating in a mouthpiece, not from a reed. |
Viola and viola da gamba are not the same instrument
In an English-language catalogue, viola normally refers to the alto member of the violin family. Viola da gamba refers instead to the viol. Translating both into French as ‘viole’ would lose an important distinction.
The Metropolitan Museum’s introduction to the viol explains this fretted family and its repertoire. A viol is not simply an old cello: their histories, tuning and techniques do not coincide.
Vibraphone or xylophone: look at the bars
The vibraphone uses metal bars; the xylophone uses wooden ones. A vibraphone also has a pedal-operated damper and, depending on the model, a rotating mechanism in the resonators. This mainly changes the amplitude of the sound: the commonly used term ‘vibrato’ should not suggest that the bars mechanically change pitch.
The specifications of a Yamaha vibraphone illustrate its metal-bar construction. To compare wooden bars, explore the xylophone and marimba — French index.
One name can refer to two instruments
The Renaissance vihuela and Mexican vihuela have different repertoires and construction. With the veena, also specify the type before stating a string count or body shape. When looking for a score, method or recording, these qualifiers matter as much as the main name.