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What's the biggest number of notes that a cello can play simultaneously? Does it always play only one note at a time or is it common for a cello to play two lines at the same time? Can it also play three or even four notes, or is it totally impossible? Or is it, perhaps, possible, but very inconvenient for a cellist and, therefore, very uncommon in usual practice?

phoog
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brilliant
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    It should be noted that it's not possible to play every possible pair of two notes in the instrument's range. For example, it's not possible to play low D and low F sharp at the same time, because both can only be produced on the C string, and it's not possible to produce notes that are so far apart that the player's hand can't reach. – phoog Aug 04 '22 at 13:02
  • Of course you can play four notes. Unfortunately this question has been closed. I've added my answer to the other question. – Victor Eijkhout Aug 04 '22 at 22:22

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It's completely possible to play two notes at the same time on a cello, as stated by this website (https://www.8notes.com/school/lessons/cello/beginners-guide-to-cello-double-stopping.asp)

What is a double-stop?

It is simply the playing of two notes on adjacent strings, at the same time. Because the Cello has four strings it is also possible to play triple and quadruple-stops.

So the max is four notes played simultaneously (although this can be hard to do). Playing four notes in a chord is possible by rolling the bow quickly. A cellist can also use their fingers to play four notes at the same time by plucking.

This Music S.E. question should also be useful: https://music.stackexchange.com/questions/20432/is-it-common-to-play-several-strings-of-a-cello-simultaneously#:~:text=Triple%20Stops,tone%20quality%20will%20be%20poor..

user87626
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    That quotation is misleading. It should probably say "you can actually play four simultaneous notes - *one* on each string". – Kilian Foth Aug 04 '22 at 08:45
  • Thanks for the feedback, I'll change my answer. – user87626 Aug 04 '22 at 08:47
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    The hearpstrings.com quote is a little odd too: "Many cellos are not designed to allow the production of triple and quadruple stops." One might quibble about the definition; cello repertoire is full of three- and four-note chords played by rolling across the strings. But if we define "triple and quadruple stops" narrowly to mean "bowing three or four strings truly simultaneously and for a sustained time," then it's not just "many" cellos that can't do this; perhaps a few experimental models have flat bridges, almost all viola-family instruments have enough curve that they must roll chords. – Andy Bonner Aug 04 '22 at 12:22
  • @Andy Bonner almost all bowed instruments with more than two strings have a curved bridge so the player can bow the inner strings without being forced to bow the outer strings. – phoog Aug 04 '22 at 12:57
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    You didn't specify whether the cellist plays the strings with the bow or plucks them with their fingers (called "pizzicato"). When using fingers, the cellist can play four notes at a time. When using a bow, the cellist can sustain single notes on two adjacent strings. I mention sustain, because when playing a triple or quadriple stop, the third and/or 4th string is only heard at the onset of the note/dyad. Wouldn't any experiment with a flat bridge fail? The curvature of the bridge on bowed instruments allows players to choose which string(s) to isolate, not possible on a flat bridge. – David Fuentes Aug 04 '22 at 13:07
  • You can play a double-stop while left-hand pizz-ing the other two strings. – Carl Witthoft Aug 04 '22 at 13:39
  • You can choose a "special" bow, of types that exist, with clearance and very low tension on the hairs, to allow all 4 strings to be played with one stroke position. – Carl Witthoft Aug 04 '22 at 13:42
  • And there are several "electric" cello models with 5 strings FWIW – Carl Witthoft Aug 04 '22 at 13:45
  • And then there's [this trick](https://youtu.be/DYiweB6VOLw), in which you remove the frog from the stick of the bow, drape the hair over all four strings, pass the stick below the back of the instrument, clutch it all together and bow all four strings simultaneously. Not for the faint of heart, maybe impossible with the greater body width of cello, and surely outside the scope of the OP's intent. – Andy Bonner Aug 04 '22 at 14:56
  • -1 for "many cellos are not designed to allow the production of triple and quadruple stops" -- weird quote. Also for "this technique is also quite difficult." Not all double-stops are difficult to play well. – aparente001 Aug 04 '22 at 19:37
  • @aparente001 Ok, I changed the quote. Better now? – user87626 Aug 04 '22 at 22:17
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    Yes............ – aparente001 Aug 17 '22 at 20:08