Air on the G String original. Later, a spurious story was put about that the melody was always intended to be played on the G string alone. The violin solo part of Wilhelmj's arrangement is sometimes played on the counter-tenor violoncello. As a result of the popularity of the piece, "on the G string" remained in the name of various arrangements whether or not a string instrument playing on its G string was involved. Most of these versions have in common that the original melody of the first violins is played in the low register of a solo instrument, accompanied by a reduction of the
Violin technique other strings are not so equipped. The A string is tuned first to a reference pitch source such as a tuning fork or, in most orchestras, the oboe, typically to 440 Hz, although some orchestras tune to another standard A such as 442, or even as high as 445 or 446 Hz to produce a brighter sound. Early music groups interested in authentic performance may use a lower standard A. When playing with a fixed-pitch instrument such as a piano or accordion, the violinist must tune to accommodate that instrument. The other strings are then tuned to the A in