What does concertmaster mean in music?

Ensemble & rehearsal

Concertmaster

Also: leader, first violin principal

The concertmaster is the principal first violinist, who leads the string section, decides its bowings, tunes the orchestra, and acts as the link between the players and the conductor.

The role is practical rather than ceremonial. The concertmaster marks the bowings that the whole first violin section will use, and which the other string sections generally follow, so that fifty bows move together, which affects articulation and sound far more than it affects appearance. They also play whatever violin solos appear in the repertoire.

Before a concert they signal the oboe for the tuning A and lead the sections in tuning to it. During rehearsal they are the person who raises a question on behalf of the strings, and in performance the section watches them for the exact placement of an entry.

British orchestras call the position leader. Each other string section has a principal who does the equivalent job for that section, with the assistant or co-principal sharing the outside desk.

Concertmaster and section seating: The concertmaster is the principal first violinist, who leads the string sections, decides bowings, and tunes the orchestra before the conductor appears.
Tutti: Tutti indicates that the whole ensemble or the whole section plays, and in a concerto part it marks the orchestral passages where the soloist rests.
Divisi: Divisi instructs a string section to split into two or more groups playing different notes, rather than every player attempting the written chord alone.
Up-bow and down-bow: Down-bow moves the bow from frog to tip and is marked with a bracket symbol; up-bow moves from tip to frog and is marked with a V.

Every term in this glossary is taught in context somewhere in Arco's curricula, on the staff, on the keyboard, and on your own fingerboard at the same time.

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