Know More About Violin
The violin is a stringed instrument that you play by pulling a
bow across the strings. It belongs to the stringed instrument
family that contains the same instruments as the viola, cello
and the double bass. The violin is the smallest instrument in
this group and the one with the highest sounding pitch. This
musical instrument is essential when performing chamber music,
but it provides for exceptional solo performances as well.
Description of a violin
A violin is a hollow wooden box with rounded ends and a narrow
center. The front and the back of the instrument are slightly
convex and connected to each other by the sides, also called
ribs. There are four sets of strings on a violin that extend
from a string holder at the bottom of the body, over a raised
bridge to the end of the narrow neck, which is called the
fingerboard. On the fingerboard, the four strings are inserted
into a pegbox and are held there with pegs. The pegs are twisted
in order to tune the violin, in much the same way as you tune a
guitar, in order to raise or lower the pitch of each string. The
bow is a long arched strip of wood with horsehair strings
stretched along its length. When the bow is drawn across the
strings on the body of the violin it produces a sound.
The body of the violin is a resonator, which means that it
amplifies the vibration produced by drawing the bow across the
strings. There is a block of wood inside the body of the violin,
called a sound post and this device helps to coordinate the
vibrations of the front and back panels. There are two F-shaped
holes in the table near the bridge that lets the panels vibrate
freely.
Playing the violin
When a musician plays the violin, he/she must hold the neck of
the instrument with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand.
The left shoulder supports the violin and keeps it in the
correct position of having the chin rest on a support located
beside the stringholder. He/She grasps the bow with the right
hand and draws it across the strings near the bridge. The left
hand fingers press or pluck the strings against the wood in
different ways to produce different c sounds or chords. This
pressure shortens the string and raises or lowers the pitch.
History of the Violin
The modern violin was developed in Italy in the sixteenth
century using the techniques used in a variety of other stringed
instruments, but mainly the viol. The viol had more strings than
we see on the violin and the body was not convex, but was flat.
The most famous violin in the world is the Stradivarius, named
after its maker, Antonio Stradivari from the Italian town of
Cremona. Although there have been a few minor changes in the
overall design of the violin, the designs of the Italian
masters, the design has basically remain the same.