Baritone Violin

Alisa Rose demonstrates her low-tuned violin, strung with Super Sensitive Sensicore Octave strings.

The standard range of bowed instruments (violin, viola, cello, and bass) has been well established for centuries, but lately a few variants, like the five-string violin or baritone violin have become popular. The baritone violin is typically a standard-size violin that has been strung with heavier strings tuned an octave below standard tuning.

San Francisco Bay Area violinist/fiddler Alisa Rose is known as much for her classical playing as for her fiddling and lyrically intense soloing on bluegrass and rock tunes. She plays in numerous ensembles, including the Lonely Bird Band, with Peghead Nation co-founder Scott Nygaard and mandolinist Jesse Appelman, as well as a duo with up-and-coming bluegrass mandolinist Tristan Scroggins and the RossoRose duo, with pianist Amy Zanrosso. She is an acclaimed composer of fiddle and classical music, recently debuting her “Piano Trio for Luisa” as part of the Trinity Arts Chamber Music Festival.  

In this video she demonstrates her baritone violin, an unidentified instrument that she strings with Super Sensitive Sensicore Octave strings. Alisa uses the instrument in a variety of musical settings, including her duo with Tristan, who joins her for a duet performance of his original “Wyoming,” which is featured on the duo’s soon-to-be-released album Grana. Supersensitive.com; Arosefiddle.com.

Related Instrument Demos Posts

John Silakowski Five-String Violin This John Silakowski violin is owned by Peghead Nation Fiddle Sty Brittany Haas demonstrates her primary fiddle. Read More

Jonathan Cooper Violin Read More

Fiddle Care and Maintenance How to make sure that your fiddle and bow stay in top shape. Read More

D’Addario Releases Two New Mini-Tuners Based on D'Addario's popular NS Micro Tuner, these new units add functionality. Read More

Martin 0X Tenor Uke A great-sounding, durable ukulele. Read More

Bourgeois Aged Tone M5O Black-Top Octave Mandolin Joe K. Walsh demos Bourgeois’ new A-style instrument. Read More

Mike’s Banjo Mute Evie Ladin demonstrates a great tool for quiet banjo practice. Read More

L.R. Baggs HiFi Duet A newly designed internal microphone adds even more dimension and tonal versatility to the acclaimed HiFi pickups. Read More

Will Seeders 11-inch Dobson Banjo Evie Ladin demonstrates one of her own go-to banjos. Read More

Shubb C7 and C8 Partial Capos Two great capos for simulating alternate tunings. Read More