The world's biggest violin, and the world's smallest (playing just for you)

21 August 2015, 14:07 | Updated: 6 January 2017, 14:45

From three inches to five metres - here are the world's biggest and smallest strings.

Vivaldi on the world's smallest

Meet the three-inch violin. Venezuelan violinist Baltazar Monaca plays Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in A Minor on what's been described as "the world’s smallest violin." That's some nimble finger work. 

That's right, the world's smallest violin, playing just for you...

Imgur: All Buscemi all the time.

The unbelievably large

This epic instrument is the brainchild of Markneukirchen Master Luthier, Ekkard Seidl. Though it's five metres tall, it's proportions are consistent with a standard sized violin. The 130 kilogram instrument took 15 luthiers almost 2000 hours to make - but it's all playable, earning itself a world record in the process.

The in-between

This beauty is an instrument researched and re-created in 2005, based on accounts from the 18th century. It's called the violoncello da spalla and is essentially a small cello played braced against the shoulder like a violin or viola. Awkward looking, but lovely, rich, and darkly resonant tone.