Air on the G String Wilhelmj arranged the second movement of Bach's third Orchestral Suite for violin and an accompaniment of strings, piano or organ (harmonium). On the score he had printed (on the G string) above the stave for the solo violin, which gave the arrangement its nickname. In Wilhelmj's version the piece is transposed down from its original key (D major) to C major. Then the part of the first violins is transposed down a further octave and given to a solo violin that can play the entire melody on its lowest string, the G string. The dynamic markings added by Wilhelmj are
Jazz violin symphonic approach to jazz fusion made him a popular fusion artist of the 1970s. In 1972, he featured prominently on Elton John's "Honky Chateau" album. In 1977, he pioneered the use of the 5-string electric violin, with a lower C string. He sometimes also uses a 6-string electric violin called the Violectra, with low C and F strings – not to be confused with the violectra he played from the late 1960s to the mid-80s which had 4 strings, but tuned an octave lower. Ponty was among the first to combine the violin with MIDI, electronic distortion boxes, phase shifters,