E-Saite

As Printed on a Score

Printed over a part as “E-Saite” or “auf der E-Saite”, sometimes with a bracket or dashed line, until another string or gewöhnlich is named. On the violin it is the top string (I corda); on the double bass the same name means the lowest string, so the staff decides which is meant.

Also spelled: E Saite

How Composers Use It

Most high violin writing lands on the E string anyway, so the marking matters when you want its brilliance kept for a phrase that could lie on the A — for edge, or for one colour across a passage. Its tone is the most penetrating in the string section and can sound thin at pp. On the double bass, E-Saite asks for the dark bottom string.

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