#history  
It emerged in the first half of the 16th century as the bass guitar of the Viola da Braccio family. One of the first surviving instruments dates back to 1572 and was created by Andrea Amati, Antonio Stradivarius achieved the best proportions and size, around 75 cm, starting in 1710. However, in the first half of the 18th century there were experiments on short-lived instruments, such as the piccollo cello used by Bach in his Leipzig cantatas or the five-string cello used by the same composer in the cello Suite No 5.

During the Baroque period, the cello played an essential role as a continuum instrument -along with other rubbed string basses- and replaced the viola da gamba tenor both as a solo and a continuum instrument. Throughout the 18th century, its presence in the orchestra as a section stabilized and increased in number, and in the second half of the 18th century, the first concert literature specially designed for the instrument appeared, such as in chamber concerts.
Almost simultaneously, sonatas, trios, quartets began to be written for him and numerous virtuosos such as Luigi Boccherini emerged.

Initially it was played standing up, holding the arch with the palm of the hand facing up. In the course of the 18th century, iconographic sources show us that the arch begins to be grasped with the palm facing down, as befits an increasingly virtuous treatment, although still at a quarter of its length. Throughout the middle and second half of the 18th century, the hand grabs the bow further towards its end, and its seated execution prevails, with the instrument between its legs. From the beginning of the 19th century, the use of the strut, which fixes the instrument to the ground and offers more safety and resonance, became widespread.

This evolution also affected the instrument itself, which grew somewhat in volume, while the greater inclination of the tuner with respect to the resonance table led to greater tension of the strings, and consequently, more volume, more brilliance and a certain loss of harmonics.
The cello appears definitively installed as the second stringed instrument in a symphonic formation -currently, an orchestra can count on a cellos section of between 10 or twelve instruments-, while consolidating its role as an important chamber instrument, both within the traditional trio or quartet, and in the most various instrumental possibilities. Concert production increased in the 19th century, which left some of the most paradigmatic samples of the genre, and even expanded even further in the 20th century, with new creations of all kinds, some written especially for soloists as relevant as the Spaniard Pau Casals or the Russian Mtislav Rostropovich.

Shape: Resonance box with high shoulders, waist pronounced in its middle section, domed torso, soundboard with two turnstiles in F, neck with fretless fingerboard and headstock with side pegs finished in volute -or formerly on the head-.

—Size: total length: 155-156 m. • width: 0'76 m.

—Tuning: four strings in fifths, C (4), G (3), D (2), A (1). [It is tuned one octave lower than the viola.]

Most of his music (score) is written in the key of F, unless there are particularly sharp notes or passages, for which the clef of C or G can be used.

—Execution: the player is seated, with the instrument, fixed to the ground by its strut, passes between the legs to create an angle against the chest, while being rubbed by an arc held by the right hand