Learn Hardcore Russian: В оркестре моя подруга играет на скрипке, а её брат — на пианино. - In the orchestra my female friend plays the violin, and her brother plays the piano.

играть на + prepositional case
- играть на скрипке – to play the violin
- играть на гитаре – to play the guitar
- играть на флейте – to play the flute

Saying играть скрипку sounds wrong in standard Russian when you mean “to play the violin.” The preposition на is required in this meaning.

Without на, играть usually means:

“to play” (a game, a role, a part in a movie, etc.):
- играть в футбол – to play football
- играть роль – to play a role

What case is скрипке, and why does it end with -е?

Скрипке is in the prepositional case singular.

The prepositional case is used here because of the pattern играть на + prepositional for musical instruments.

The noun скрипка (nom. sg.) is feminine, ending in -а. Its prepositional singular form is:

скрипка → скрипке

This -е ending is the regular prepositional ending for many feminine nouns in -а/-я and masculine nouns like оркестр → в оркестре.

Why is it на пианино without any ending change, while скрипка → скрипке changes?

Пианино is an indeclinable noun in Russian: its form never changes, regardless of case or number.

So:

Nominative: пианино
Prepositional: на пианино
Genitive: у пианино
etc. — it always stays пианино.

But grammatically, in на пианино, it is still in the prepositional case (because of на with the “instrument” meaning). It just looks the same as the base form.

Why is it в оркестре, not в оркестр?

Russian distinguishes between:

в + prepositional = “in, inside (location)”
- в оркестре – in the orchestra (as a member of the group)
в + accusative = “into, to (direction, movement)”
- в оркестр – into the orchestra / to the orchestra (movement)

In your sentence, we talk about where she plays (her membership), not movement, so we use the prepositional case: в оркестре.

Could we say Моя подруга играет в оркестре на скрипке instead? Is the word order important?

Yes, Моя подруга играет в оркестре на скрипке, а её брат — на пианино is perfectly correct.

Word order in Russian is relatively flexible and is often used for emphasis rather than basic grammar:

В оркестре моя подруга играет на скрипке…
– fronting в оркестре emphasizes “as for the orchestra / in the orchestra…”
Моя подруга играет в оркестре на скрипке…
– more neutral, emphasizing моя подруга as the topic.

Both are grammatically fine; the original just chooses a certain focus.

What is the difference between а and и here? Why not и её брат?

Both а and и can be translated as “and,” but they have different nuances:

и – simple “and,” just adding information.
а – “and” with a contrast or comparison, similar to “whereas,” “while,” or sometimes “but.”

In the sentence:

…моя подруга играет на скрипке, а её брат — на пианино.

а highlights a contrast:

She plays the violin, whereas her brother plays the piano.

Using и would sound less contrastive and more like simple addition.

What is the purpose of the long dash — before на пианино?

The dash marks an omission of the verb играет in the second part.

Full version would be:

…моя подруга играет на скрипке, а её брат играет на пианино.

In Russian, when you repeat the same verb in a parallel structure, you can often omit the second occurrence and show this with a dash:

Она любит чай, а он — кофе.
(= он любит кофе.)

So:

её брат — на пианино
is short for
- её брат играет на пианино.

Why is the verb играет (imperfective) used, and not a perfective form?

Играет is the imperfective aspect (present tense of играть). Imperfective is used for:

regular, habitual actions
ongoing states / generally true facts

The sentence describes what they generally do or what role they have in the orchestra:

She plays the violin (that’s her role/habit).
He plays the piano.

A perfective form like сыграет, поиграет would imply a single, completed action (“will play once / for a while”), which doesn’t fit a general statement about their roles.

Why is it моя подруга and not мой друг or моя девушка?

All three exist, but they differ:

подруга – female friend (non-romantic or romantic; context decides)
- моя подруга – my (female) friend
друг – male friend (or generic “friend” in dictionaries, but grammatically masculine)
- мой друг – my (male) friend
девушка – literally “young woman / girl,” but commonly used as “girlfriend” in the romantic sense:
- моя девушка – my (romantic) girlfriend

In your sentence, моя подруга simply states that the friend is female, with no necessary romantic implication.

What does её mean exactly, and how is it pronounced?

Её is the possessive pronoun “her” or “hers”:

её брат – her brother

It is pronounced [йи-йо], approximately yee-YO, with the stress on the second syllable.

Two notes:

Pronoun type:
- она – she
- её – her / hers
Spelling: in many printed texts you’ll see ее instead of её; both spellings are standard, but the pronunciation is always with ё: [ййо].

Could we omit её and just say а брат — на пианино?

Grammatically, yes, you can say:

…моя подруга играет на скрипке, а брат — на пианино.

This would usually be interpreted as “and (her) brother plays the piano,” especially if the context is clear that the brother belongs to the same family.

However:

её брат explicitly marks the possession: her brother (not someone else’s).
Omitting её is natural if it’s already very clear whose brother you mean or if it’s “the brother” as shared context.

In a textbook-style sentence, keeping её is clearer for learners and avoids ambiguity.

Why is оркестр masculine, and how does that affect other words?

Оркестр is a masculine noun in Russian:

It ends in a consonant (a typical sign of masculine nouns).
Nominative singular: оркестр
Prepositional singular: в оркестре

Because оркестр is masculine:

Any adjective agreeing with it must be masculine:
- большой оркестр – a big orchestra
- в большом оркестре – in a big orchestra

In your sentence, there is no agreeing adjective, so you just see the case change: оркестр → в оркестре.

Is there any difference in meaning between играть на скрипке and быть скрипачкой?

Yes, there is a nuance:

играть на скрипке – literally “to play the violin”; describes the activity.
быть скрипачкой – “to be a (female) violinist”; describes the profession/identity.

Your sentence:

…моя подруга играет на скрипке…
tells us she plays the violin in the orchestra (this could be as a hobby or as a job; it doesn’t specify).

If you said:

Моя подруга — скрипачка в оркестре.
you’d be emphasizing her role/occupation as a violinist.