Baroque violin owing to the high placement of its "eyes"—holes on either side. The fingerboard on a Baroque violin is also shorter than that on a modern violin. During the Baroque period, the use of higher positions on the violin increased. In 1600, the highest note in regular use was the C above the E-string, while by 1700 the A one octave above the E-string was relatively common (being, for instance, the highest note used in Bach's violin music). Virtuoso violinists throughout the period continued to push the boundaries of possibility, with Locatelli reputedly playing in 22nd position. Baroque violins are typically
Baroque music chamber music, which is music for a small ensemble of instrumentalists. The middle Baroque period in Italy is defined by the emergence of the vocal styles of cantata, oratorio, and opera during the 1630s, and a new concept of melody and harmony that elevated the status of the music to one of equality with the words, which formerly had been regarded as pre-eminent. The florid, coloratura monody of the early Baroque gave way to a simpler, more polished melodic style. These melodies were built from short, cadentially delimited ideas often based on stylized dance patterns drawn from the sarabande or