Of all the instruments in the orchestra, the violin is the most visible, simply by being the most numerous! Sitting at the front of the stage, there can often be more than 30 of these smallest of the string family in the orchestra at any one time.

Modern violins have roots in the early Greek ages, but started to become the instruments we know today in the 1500s. Its four strings are usually played with a bow or plucked (pizzicato), but the violin is famously versatile and can produce all sorts of effects such as ethereal harmonics, double stops (playing more than one note at once) or being hit with the wooden part of the bow (col legno).

• The principal of the First Violins is called the Leader, or Concertmaster, whose role is to play any orchestral solos and to make technical decisions on behalf of the rest of the string section