The Violin family (also called viola da braccio, or lira da braccio family) of musical instruments was developed in Italy in the sixteenth century. The modern violin family consists of the violin, viola and cello, along with the double bass and the octobass. Instrument names in the ancestral violin family are all derived from the root viola, which is a derivative of the Medieval Latin word vitula (meaning "stringed instrument").

A violino (often abbreviated violin) is a "little viola", a violone is a "big viola" or a bass violin, and a violoncello (often abbreviated cello) is a "small violone" (or, literally, a "small big viola"). (The violone is not part of the modern violin family; its place is taken by the modern double bass.) The instruments of the ancestral violin family may be descended in part from the lira da braccio and the medieval Byzantine lira . The playing ranges of the instruments in the modern violin family overlap each other, but the tone quality and physical size of each distinguishes them from one another.

Both the violin and the viola are played under the jaw, the viola being the larger of the two instruments, with a playing range reaching a perfect fifth below the violin's. The cello is played sitting down with the instrument between the knees, and its playing range reaches an octave below the viola's. The double bass is played standing or sitting on a stool, with a range that typically reaches a minor sixth, an octave, or a ninth below the cello's.

The octobass is played standing with a range that typically reaches an octave below the double bass's.

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