Section Player

What it is

A section player is any orchestral musician who is not a principal. In the strings this means everyone behind the first stand of each section. See the performance section for everything related.

They are sometimes called tutti players, from the Italian for all, since they play when the whole section plays.

Section players are the majority of any orchestra. A symphony orchestra might have thirty violinists, of whom four are principals or assistants.

What the job demands

Not what students often assume.

Blending. The goal is that thirty violins sound like one large violin, not thirty individuals. That requires suppressing personal tendencies in vibrato, phrasing and articulation to match the section.

This is genuinely difficult for players trained as soloists, and it is a distinct skill that has to be learned.

Following. Watching the principal and the conductor simultaneously while reading a part. Entrances come from the front and must be taken without hesitation. The note identification on this site is worth having open while you practise this.

Consistency. A section player who varies their interpretation makes the section sound uneven. Doing the same thing every time is a virtue here in a way it is not in solo playing.

Sight-reading. Professional orchestras rehearse very little relative to the amount of music covered. Reading well and quickly is essential.

Endurance. Long rehearsals and long programmes, often with little rest.

Stand partners

Section string players sit in stands of two, sharing one part.

The outside player, nearer the audience, turns pages. This means they must read ahead, memorise a bar or two, turn, and rejoin without a gap.

The inside player does not turn and is responsible for keeping the part in order and marking anything the outside player asks for.

Stand partner relationships matter more than outsiders expect. Two players sharing a stand for a season develop a working relationship, and a difficult partnership makes the job unpleasant.

Page turns in fast music are a real skill. A poorly timed turn creates an audible gap, and it is the outside player's problem to solve.

Divisi

When a section is asked to split into two or more parts, marked divisi or div. in the score.

Convention is that the outside player of each stand takes the upper part and the inside player takes the lower, though scores sometimes specify differently.

Return to unison is marked unis.

A student meeting divisi for the first time in a youth orchestra often does not know which line to take, and it is worth being told rather than discovered mid-rehearsal.

Is it a lesser role

No, and the assumption is worth addressing directly because students absorb it.

Professional orchestral section playing is a competitive career. Auditions for a section seat in a major orchestra attract dozens or hundreds of applicants for one position, all conservatory-trained.

The skills differ from solo playing rather than being a reduced version of them. Many outstanding soloists are poor section players, because the disciplines pull in opposite directions.

A section that plays with unified articulation, matched vibrato and precise ensemble is producing something no soloist can, and the difference between a good orchestra and a great one lies substantially in its sections.

What students should take from it

Ensemble playing is a skill to develop deliberately, not something that happens automatically once you can play your instrument.

Listening across the section, matching rather than projecting, watching while reading, and taking an entrance from a gesture rather than a count are all learnable and all taught poorly or not at all in most settings.

Students who play in youth orchestras should be encouraged to think about these things rather than treating rehearsal as group practice.

The audition reality

Worth knowing because students assume section seats are what you settle for.

A section violin opening in a major American orchestra typically draws well over a hundred applicants, nearly all conservatory-trained, many with graduate degrees.

Auditions run behind a screen for the early rounds. Candidates play solo repertoire and a list of orchestral excerpts, and the excerpts are where most are eliminated, because they expose rhythm, intonation and stylistic knowledge with no room to hide.

The process can take a full day and several rounds. Many orchestras end without hiring anyone if no candidate meets the standard.

Why blending is genuinely hard

Students trained toward solo playing spend years developing an individual sound: their vibrato, their phrasing, their tone.

Section playing asks them to suppress most of it. Match the vibrato width of the player beside you. Take the phrasing from the front. Play the articulation the section agreed rather than the one you prefer.

That is not a lesser skill. It is a different discipline, and players who cannot make the adjustment struggle in orchestras regardless of how well they play alone.

Reading about playing in context is a start, and playing it with someone watching your hands is faster. We teach private and group violin lessons in Buford, Duluth and Milton. Call 470-789-2422 or book a no-commitment evaluation lesson.