The
violin is a
bowed
string instrument with four
strings usually tuned in
perfect fifths. It is the smallest and
highest-pitched member of the
violin
family of string instruments, which also includes the
viola and
cello.
The violin is sometimes informally called a
fiddle, regardless of the type of music played on it.
The word "violin" comes from the
Middle
Latin word
vitula, meaning "stringed instrument"; this
word is also believed to be the source of the
Germanic "fiddle".
The violin, while it
has ancient origins, acquired most of its modern characteristics in
16th-century Italy
, with some
further modifications occurring in the 18th century.
Violinists
and collectors particularly prize the instruments made by the
Gasparo da Salò, Giovanni Paolo Maggini, Stradivari, Guarneri and
Amati families from the 16th to the 18th
century in Brescia
and Cremona
and by
Jacob Steiner in Austria
.
A person who makes or repairs violins is called a
luthier, or simply a violin maker. The parts of a
violin are usually made from different types of
wood (although electric violins may not be made of wood
at all, since their sound may not be dependent on specific
acoustic characteristics of the
instrument's construction), and it is generally strung with
gut,
nylon/steel
composite, or steel strings.
Someone who plays the violin is called a violinist or a fiddler.
The violinist produces sound by drawing a bow across one or more
strings (which may be stopped by the fingers of the other hand to
produce a full range of pitches), by plucking the strings (with
either hand), or by a
variety of
other techniques. The violin is played by musicians in a wide
variety of musical genres, including
Baroque music,
classical,
jazz,
folk music,
pop-punk and
rock and
roll. The violin has come to be played in many non-western
music cultures all over the world.
History
The earliest stringed instruments were mostly plucked (e.g. the
Greek
lyre).
Bowed instruments may have originated in
the equestrian cultures of Central
Asia, an example being the Kobyz ( ) or
kyl-kobyz is an ancient Kazakh
string instrument or Mongolian
instrument Morin
huur:
- Turkic and Mongolian horsemen from Inner Asia were probably the
world’s earliest fiddlers. Their two-stringed upright fiddles were
strung with horsehair strings, played with horsehair bows, and
often feature a carved horse’s head at the end of the neck. ... The
violins, violas, and cellos we play today, and whose bows are still
strung with horsehair, are a legacy of the nomads.
It is believed that these instruments eventually spread to China,
India, the Byzantine Empire and the Middle East, where they
developed into instruments such as the
erhu in
China, the
rebab in the Middle East, the bowed
Byzantine lyra and the
esraj in India.
The violin in its present form emerged in
early 16th-Century Northern Italy, where the port towns of Venice
and Genoa
maintained
extensive ties to central Asia through
the trade routes of the silk
road.
The modern European violin evolved from various bowed stringed
instruments which were brought from the Middle East and the
Byzantine Empire
. Most likely the first makers of violins borrowed from three types
of current instruments: the
rebec, in use
since the 10th century (itself derived from the
Byzantine lyra and the
Arabic rebab),
the
Renaissance fiddle, and the
lira da braccio (derived from the
Byzantine
lira)
.One of the earliest explicit descriptions of
the instrument, including its tuning, was in the Epitome
musical by Jambe de Fer, published
in Lyon
in 1556. By this time, the violin had
already begun to spread throughout
Europe.
The oldest documented violin to have four strings, like the modern
violin, is supposed to have been constructed in 1555 by
Andrea Amati, but the date is very doubtful.
(Other violins, documented significantly earlier, only had three
strings and were called "violetta".) The violin immediately became
very popular, both among street musicians and the nobility,
illustrated by the fact that the French king
Charles IX ordered Amati to construct
24 violins for him in 1560.
The oldest surviving violin, dated inside, is
from this set, and is known as the "Charles IX," made in Cremona
c.
1560. The finest Renaissance carved and decorated violin in the
world is the
Gasparo da Salò
(1574 c.) owned by
Ferdinand II, Archduke of
Austria and later, from 1841, by the Norwegian virtuoso
Ole Bull, who used it for forty years and
thousands of concerts, for his very powerful and beautiful tone,
similar to those of a Guarneri.
It is now in the Vestlandske
Kustindustrimuseum in Bergen
(Norway). "The Messiah"
or
"Le Messie" (also known as the "Salabue") made by
Antonio Stradivari in 1716
remains pristine, never having been used.
It is now located in
the Ashmolean
Museum
of Oxford
.

rithg
The most famous
violin
makers (
luthiers) between the 16th
century and the 18th century include:
- The school of Brescia, beginning in the late 14 with liras,
violettas, violas and active in the field of the violin in the
first half of 16th century
- The
Dalla Corna family, active 1510 - 1560 in Brescia
and Venezia
, Italy
- The Micheli family, active 1530 - 1615 in Brescia
- The Inverardi family active 1550 - 1580 in Brescia
- The Bertolotti Gasparo da
Salò family, active 1530 - 1615 in Salò and Brescia
- Gio Paolo Maggini, active 1600 - 1630 in Brescia
- The school of Cremona, beginning in the half of 16 century vith
violas and violone and in the field of violin in the second half of
16 century
- The
Amati family, active 1500-1740 in Cremona
, Italy
- The Guarneri family, active 1626-1744
in Cremona
- The Stradivari family, active
1644-1737 in Cremona
Significant changes occurred in the construction of the violin in
the 18th century, particularly in the length and angle of the neck,
as well as a heavier bass bar. The majority of old instruments have
undergone these modifications, and hence are in a significantly
different state than when they left the hands of their makers,
doubtless with differences in sound and response. But these
instruments in their present condition set the standard for
perfection in violin craftsmanship and sound, and violin makers all
over the world try to come as close to this ideal as
possible.
To this day, instruments from the "Golden Age" of violin making,
especially those made by Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù, are the
most sought-after instruments by both collectors and performers.
The current record amount paid for a Stradivari violin was
$3,544,000.00 at an auction on May 16, 2006. All Stradivarius
violins have unique names; the most expensive Stradivari violin is
known as the "Hammer" ,referring to the first owner named Christian
Hammer. It was made in 1707.
Construction and mechanics
The construction of a violin
A violin typically consists of a
spruce top
(the
soundboard, also known as the
top plate,
table, or
belly), maple ribs
and back, two endblocks, a
neck, a
bridge, a soundpost, four
strings, and various fittings, optionally including a
chinrest, which may attach directly over, or to the
left of, the
tailpiece. A distinctive
feature of a violin body is its "hourglass" shape and the
arching of its top and back. The hourglass shape
comprises two upper bouts, two lower bouts, and two concave C-bouts
at the "waist," providing clearance for the
bow.
The "voice" of a violin depends on its shape, the wood it is made
from, the graduation (the thickness profile) of both the top and
back, and the
varnish which coats its
outside surface. The varnish and especially the wood continue to
improve with age, making the fixed supply of old violins much
sought-after.
The great majority of glued joints in the instrument use animal
hide glue for a number of reasons: it is
capable of making a thinner joint than most other glues, it is
reversible (brittle enough to crack with carefully applied force,
and removable with warm water) when disassembly is needed, and
since fresh hide glue will stick to old hide glue, more original
wood can be preserved when repairing a joint. (More modern glues
must be cleaned off entirely in order for the new joint to be
sound, which generally involves scraping off some wood along with
the old glue.) Weaker, diluted glue is usually used to fasten the
top to the ribs, and the nut to the fingerboard, since common
repairs involve removing these parts.
The
purfling running around the edge of the
spruce top provides some protection against cracks originating at
the edge. It also allows the top to flex more independently of the
rib structure. Painted-on
faux purfling on the
top is a sign of an inferior instrument. The back and ribs are
typically made of
maple, most often with a
matching striped
figure, referred to
as "flame," "fiddleback" or "tiger stripe"
The
neck is usually maple with a flamed
figure compatible with that of the ribs and back. It carries the
fingerboard, typically made of ebony,
but often some other wood stained or painted black.
Ebony is the preferred material because of its
hardness, beauty, and superior resistance to wear. Fingerboards are
dressed to a particular
transverse curve,
and have a small lengthwise "scoop," or concavity, slightly more
pronounced on the lower strings, especially when meant for gut or
synthetic strings.
Some old violins (and some made to appear old) have a grafted
scroll, evidenced by a glue joint
between the pegbox and neck. Many authentic old instruments have
had their necks reset to a slightly increased angle, and lengthened
by about a centimeter. The neck graft allows the original scroll to
be kept with a
Baroque violin when bringing
its neck into conformance with modern standards.

Front and back views of violin
bridge
The
bridge is a precisely cut
piece of maple that forms the lower anchor point of the vibrating
length of the strings and transmits the vibration of the strings to
the body of the instrument. Its top curve holds the strings at the
proper height from the fingerboard in an arc, allowing each to be
sounded separately by the bow. The
sound
post, or "soul post," fits precisely inside the instrument
between the back and top, below the treble foot of the bridge,
which it helps support. It also transmits vibrations between the
top and the back of the instrument.
The
tailpiece anchors the strings to the
lower bout of the violin by means of the tailgut, which loops
around an ebony button called the tailpin (sometimes confusingly
called "endpin" like the cello's spike), which fits into a tapered
hole in the bottom block. Very often the E string will have a fine
tuning lever worked by a small screw turned by the fingers. Fine
tuners may also be applied to the other strings, especially on a
student instrument, and are sometimes built into the
tailpiece.
At the scroll end, the strings wind around the
tuning pegs in the pegbox. Strings usually have a
colored
silk wrapping at both ends, for
identification and to provide friction against the pegs. The
tapered pegs allow friction to be increased or decreased by the
player applying appropriate pressure along the axis of the peg
while turning it.

Violin and bow.
Strings
Strings were first made of sheep gut
(commonly known as
catgut), stretched, dried
and twisted. Modern strings may be gut, solid
steel, stranded steel, or various synthetic materials,
wound with various metals, and sometimes plated with
silver. Most E strings are unwound, either plain or
gold-plated steel.
Violinists often carry replacement strings with their instruments
to have one available in case a string breaks. Strings have a
limited lifetime; apart from obvious things, such as the winding of
a string coming undone from wear, a player will generally change a
string when it no longer plays "true," with a negative effect on
intonation, or when it loses the desired tone. The longevity of a
string depends on how much and how intensely one plays.
Pitch range
The compass of the violin is from
G3 (G below
middle C) to C8 (the highest note of the modern
piano.) The top notes, however, are often
produced by natural or artificial
harmonics.
Acoustics
The arched shape, the thickness of the wood, and its physical
qualities govern the sound of a violin. Patterns of the
nodes made by sand or glitter sprinkled on
the plates with the plate vibrated at certain frequencies, called
"
Chladni patterns," are occasionally
used by
luthiers to verify their work before
assembling the instrument.
Sizes
Children typically use smaller string instruments than adults.
Violins are made in so-called "fractional" sizes for young
students: Apart from full-size (4/4) violins, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8,
1/10, 1/16, and even 1/32-sized instruments exist. Extremely small
sizes were developed, along with the
Suzuki program, for violin students as young
as 3. Finely-made fractional sized violins, especially smaller than
1/2 size, are extremely rare or nonexistent. Such small instruments
are typically intended for beginners needing a rugged violin, and
whose rudimentary technique does not justify the expense of a more
carefully made one.
These fractional sizes have nothing to do with the actual
dimensions of an instrument; in other words, a 3/4-sized instrument
is
not three-quarters the length of a full size
instrument. The body length (not including the neck) of a
"full-size" or 4/4 violin is about 14 inches (35 cm),
smaller in some 17th century models. A 3/4 violin is about
13 inches (33 cm), and a 1/2 size is approximately
12 inches (30 cm). With the violin's closest family
member, the viola, size is specified as body length in inches or
centimeters rather than fractional sizes. A
"full-size" viola averages
16 inches (40 cm).
Occasionally, an adult with a small frame may use a so-called "7/8"
size violin instead of a full-size instrument. Sometimes called a
"lady's violin", these instruments are slightly shorter than a full
size violin, but tend to be high-quality instruments capable of
producing a sound that is comparable to fine full size
violins.
Violin sizes are not standardized and dimensions vary slightly
between makers.
Tuning

Scroll and pegbox, correctly
strung
The pitches of open strings on a violin
Violins are tuned by turning the
pegs in
the pegbox under the scroll, or by adjusting the
fine
tuner screws at the
tailpiece. All
violins have pegs; fine tuners (also called
fine
adjusters) are optional. Most fine tuners consist of a metal
screw that moves a lever to which the string is attached. They
permit very small pitch adjustments with much more ease than the
pegs.
Fine tuners are usually used with solid metal or composite strings
that may be difficult to tune with pegs alone; they are not used
with gut strings, which are more
elastic and do not respond adequately to the
very small movements of fine tuners. Some violinists have fine
tuners on all 4 strings; most classical players have only a single
fine tuner on the E string.
To tune a violin, the A string is first tuned to a
standard pitch (usually 440
Hz),
using either a tuning device or another instrument. (When
accompanying a fixed-pitch instrument such as a piano or accordion,
the violin tunes to it.) The other strings are then tuned against
each other in intervals of perfect fifths by bowing them in pairs.
A minutely higher tuning is sometimes employed for solo playing to
give the instrument a brighter sound; conversely, Baroque music is
sometimes played using lower tunings to make the violin's sound
more gentle. After tuning, the instrument's bridge may be examined
to ensure that it is standing straight and centered between the
inner nicks of the
f-holes; a crooked bridge
may significantly affect the sound of an otherwise well-made
violin.
The tuning G-D-A-E is used for most violin music. Other tunings are
occasionally employed; the G string, for example, can be tuned up
to A. The use of nonstandard tunings in
classical music is known as
scordatura; in some folk styles,
it is called "cross-tuning." One famous example of scordatura in
classical music is Saint-Saëns'
Danse Macabre, where the
solo violin's E string is tuned down to E flat to impart an eerie
dissonance to the composition. Another example would be in the
third movement of Contrasts, by
Béla Bartók, where the E string is
tuned down to E flat and the G tuned to a G sharp.
In Indian classical music and Indian light music, the violin is
likely to be tuned to D -A -D -A in the South Indian style. As
there is no concept of absolute pitch in Indian classical music,
any convenient tuning maintaining these relative pitch intervals
between the strings can be used. Another prevalent tuning with
these intervals is F-B -F-B , which corresponds to Sa-Pa-Sa-Pa in
the Indian
carnatic classical music
style. In the North Indian
Hindustani style, the tuning is
usually Pa-Sa-Pa-Sa instead of Sa-Pa-Sa-Pa. This could correspond
to B -F-B -F, for instance.
While most violins have four strings, there are violins with as
many as seven strings. The extra strings on such violins typically
are lower in pitch than the G-string; these strings are usually
tuned to C, F, and B flat. If the instrument's playing length, or
string length from nut to bridge, is equal to that of an ordinary
full-scale violin i.e., a bit less than , then it may be properly
termed a violin. Some such instruments are somewhat longer and
should be regarded as violas. Violins with five strings or more are
often used in jazz or folk music.
Bows
A violin is usually played using a
bow
consisting of a stick with a ribbon of horsehair strung between the
tip and frog (or nut, or heel) at opposite ends. A typical violin
bow may be 75 cm (29 inches) overall, and weigh about 60
g (2 oz). Viola bows may be about 5 mm (3/16") shorter and 10
g (1/3 oz) heavier.
At the frog end, a screw adjuster tightens or loosens the hair.
Just forward of the frog, a
leather thumb
cushion and winding protect the stick and provide grip for the
player's hand. The winding may be wire (often silver or plated
silver), silk, or whalebone (now imitated by alternating strips of
tan and black plastic.) Some student bows (particularly the ones
made of solid fiberglass) substitute a plastic sleeve for grip and
winding.
The hair of the bow traditionally comes from the tail of a "white"
(technically, a grey) male horse, although some cheaper bows use
synthetic fiber. Occasional rubbing with
rosin
makes the hair grip the strings intermittently, causing them to
vibrate. The stick is traditionally made of
brazilwood, although a stick made from this type
of wood which is of a more select quality (and higher price) is
referred to as
pernambuco (both types are
taken from the same tree species). Some student bows are made of
fiberglass or various cheap woods. Recent innovations have allowed
carbon fiber to be used as a material
for the stick at all levels of craftsmanship.
Playing
The standard way of holding the violin is with the left side of the
jaw resting on the chinrest of the violin, and supported by the
left shoulder, often assisted by a
shoulder rest. This practice varies in some
cultures; for instance, Indian (
Carnatic and
Hindustani) violinists play
seated on the floor and rest the scroll of the instrument on the
side of their foot. The strings may be sounded by drawing the hair
of the bow across them
(arco) or by plucking them
(pizzicato). The left hand
regulates the sounding length of the string by stopping it against
the fingerboard with the fingertips, producing different
pitches.
First Position Fingerings
Left hand and pitch production
As the violin has no
frets to stop the
strings, the player must know exactly where to place the fingers on
the strings to play with good
intonation. Through practice and ear
training, the violinist's left hand finds the notes intuitively by
muscle memory. Beginners sometimes
rely on
tapes placed on the
fingerboard for proper left hand finger placement, but usually
abandon the tapes quickly as they advance. Another commonly-used
marking technique uses dots of
white-out on the fingerboard, which wear
off in a few weeks of regular practice. This practice,
unfortunately, is used sometimes in lieu of adequate ear-training,
guiding the placement of fingers by eye and not by ear. Especially
in the early stages of learning to play, the so-called "ringing
tones" are useful. There are nine such notes in first position,
where a
stopped note sounds a unison or
octave with another (open) string, causing it to vibrate
sympathetically. Thus, "when
unaccompanied, [a violinist] does not play consistently in either
the tempered or the natural [just] scale, but tends on the whole to
conform with the Pythagorean scale".
The fingers are conventionally numbered 1 (index) through 4 (little
finger). Especially in instructional editions of violin music,
numbers over the notes may indicate which finger to use, with "0"
indicating "open" string. The chart to the right shows the
arrangement of notes reachable in first position. Not shown on this
chart is the way the spacing between note positions becomes closer
as the fingers move up (in pitch) from the nut. The bars at the
sides of the chart represent the usual possibilities for beginners'
tape placements, at 1
st, high 2
nd,
3
rd, and 4
th fingers.
Positions
The placement of the left hand on the fingerboard is characterized
by "positions". First position, where most beginners start
(although some methods start in third position), is the most
commonly used position in string music. The lowest note available
in this position in standard tuning is an open G; the highest note
in first position is played with the fourth finger on the E-string,
sounding a B, or reaching up a half step (also known as the
"extended fourth finger") to the C two octaves above
middle C.
Moving the hand up the neck, so the first finger takes the place of
the second finger, brings the player into
second position.
Letting the first finger take the first-position place of the third
finger brings the player to
third position, and so on. The
upper limit of the violin's range is largely determined by the
skill of the player, who may easily play more than two octaves on a
single string, and four octaves on the instrument as a whole,
although when a violinist has progressed to the point of being able
to use the entire range of the instrument, references to particular
positions become less common. Position names are mostly used for
the lower positions and in method books; for this reason, it is
uncommon to hear references to anything higher than fifth position.
The lowest position on a violin is half-position, where the first
finger is a half-step away from the nut. This position is less
frequently used. The highest position, practically speaking, is
15
th position.
Moving between positions is called "shifting." The player moves
from position to position by typically using a guide finger. For
example, when a player shifts from first to fourth position, they
will use the last finger they used in first position as the guide
finger. Then, the player moves their entire hand to fourth
position, but with the last finger used in first position guiding
the hand. The guide finger should not press on the string during
the shift; it should only glide down the string. This guide finger
moves to its respective spot in fourth position, but does not press
down on the string. Then, the finger that plays the note after the
shift should be pressed onto the string and the bow is moved to
sound the note.
The same note will sound substantially different, depending on what
string is used to play it. Sometimes the composer or arranger will
specify the string to be used in order to achieve the desired
tone quality; this is indicated in the music
by the marking, for example,
sul G, meaning to play on the
G string. For example, playing very high up on the lower strings
gives a distinctive quality to the sound. Otherwise, moving into
different positions is usually done for ease of playing.
Open strings
Bowing or plucking an
open string—that is, a string played
without any finger stopping it—gives a different sound from a
stopped string, since the string vibrates more freely at the nut
than under a finger. Other than the low G (which can be played in
no other way), open strings are generally avoided in some styles of
classical playing. This is
because they have a somewhat harsher sound (especially open E) and
it is not possible to directly use vibrato on an open string.
However, this can be partially compensated by applying vibrato on a
note that is an octave higher than the open string.
In some cases playing an open string is called for by the composer
(and explicitly marked in the music) for special effect, decided
upon by the musician for artistic reasons (common in earlier works
such as Bach), or played in a fast passage, where they usually
cannot be distinguished.
Playing an open string simultaneously with a stopped note on an
adjacent string produces a
bagpipe-like
drone, often used by composers in imitation of
folk music. Sometimes the two notes are identical
(for instance, playing a fingered A on the D string against the
open A string), giving a ringing sort of "fiddling" sound. Playing
an open string simultaneously with an identical stopped note can
also be called for when more volume is required, especially in
orchestral playing.
Double stops and drones
Double stopping is when two separate
strings are stopped by the fingers, and bowed simultaneously,
producing a sixth, third, fifth, etc. harmony. Sometimes moving to
a higher position is necessary for the left hand to be able to
reach both notes at once. Sounding an open string alongside a
fingered note is another way to get a partial chord. While
sometimes also called a double stop, it is more properly called a
drone, as the drone note may be
sustained for a passage of different notes
played on the adjacent string. Three or four notes can also be
played at one time (triple and quadruple stops, respectively), and,
according to the style of music, the notes might all be played
simultaneously or might be played as two successive double stops,
favoring the higher notes. Playing the notes simultaneously is done
by applying more pressure to the bow. But, be careful not to cause
tension in the left hand and bow arm. A double stop can also be
achieved by using a fast bow speed and/or bowing closer to the
fingerboard.
Vibrato
Vibrato is a technique of the left hand and
arm in which the pitch of a note varies in a pulsating rhythm.
While various parts of the hand or arm may be involved in the
motion, the end result is a movement of the fingertip bringing
about a slight change in vibrating string length. Violinists
oscillate backwards, or lower in pitch from the actual note when
using vibrato, since perception favors the highest pitch in a
varying sound. Vibrato does little, if anything, to disguise an
out-of-tune note: in other words, vibrato is a poor substitute for
good intonation. Still, scales and other exercises meant to work on
intonation are typically played without vibrato to make the work
easier and more effective. However, music students are often taught
that unless otherwise marked in music, vibrato is assumed or even
mandatory. This can be an obstacle to a classically trained
violinist wishing to play in a style that uses little or no vibrato
at all, such as baroque music played in period style and many
traditional fiddling styles.
Vibrato can be produced by a proper combination of finger, wrist
and arm motions. One method, called "hand vibrato," involves
rocking the hand back at the wrist to achieve oscillation, while
another method, "arm vibrato," modulates the pitch by rocking at
the elbow. A combination of these techniques allows a player to
produce a large variety of tonal effects.
The "when" and "what for" of violin
vibrato
are artistic matters of style and taste. For example if you overdo
the variation of the note's tone it may become very distracting and
overwhelm the piece. In acoustical terms, the interest that vibrato
adds to the sound has to do with the way that the overtone mix (or
tone color, or timbre) and the directional pattern of sound
projection change with changes in pitch. By "pointing" the sound at
different parts of the room in a rhythmic way, vibrato adds a
"shimmer" or "liveliness" to the sound of a well-made violin. See
Schleske and
Weinreich. Vibrato is, in a large part, left to
the discretion of the violinist. Different types of vibrato will
bring different moods to the piece, and the varying degrees and
styles of vibrato are often characteristics that standout in
well-known violinists.
Vibrato Trill
Vibrato can also be used for a fast trill. A
trill initiated from just hammering the finger up and down on the
fingerboard will create a harsher quality than with a vibrato
trill. For example, if trilling on the first finger, the second
finger is placed very slightly off the string and vibrato is
implemented. The second finger will lightly touch the string above
the first finger causing the pitch to change. This has a softer
quality and many think it is nicer-sounding than a hammered trill.
Note - this trill technique only works well for semi-tonal trills,
it is far more difficult to vibrato trill for an interval of a tone
or more.
Harmonics
Lightly touching the string with a fingertip at a harmonic
node creates
harmonics. Instead of the normal tone, a higher
pitched note sounds. Each node is at an integer division of the
string, for example half-way or one-third along the length of the
string. A responsive instrument will sound numerous possible
harmonic nodes along the length of the string. Harmonics are marked
in music either with a little circle above the note that determines
the pitch of the harmonic, or by diamond-shaped note heads. There
are two types of harmonics:
natural harmonics and
artificial
harmonics (also known as "false harmonics").
Natural harmonics are played on an open string. The pitch of the
open string is called the fundamental frequency. Harmonics are also
called
overtones. They occur at whole-number
multiples of the fundamental, which is called the first harmonic.
The second harmonic is the first
overtone,
the third harmonic is the second overtone, and so on. The second
harmonic is in the middle of the string and sounds an octave higher
than the string's pitch. The third harmonic breaks the string into
thirds and sounds an octave and a fifth above the fundamental, and
the fourth harmonic breaks the string into quarters sounding two
octaves above the first. The sound of the second harmonic is the
clearest of them all, because it is a common
node with all the succeeding even-numbered
harmonics (4th, 6th, etc.). The third and succeeding odd-numbered
harmonics are harder to play because they break the string into an
odd number of vibrating parts and do not share as many nodes with
other harmonics.
Artificial harmonics are more difficult to produce than natural
harmonics, as they involve both stopping the string and playing a
harmonic on the stopped note. Using the "octave frame"—the normal
distance between the first and fourth fingers in any given
position—with the fourth finger just touching the string a
fourth higher than the stopped note
produces the fourth harmonic, two octaves above the stopped note.
Finger placement and pressure, as well as bow speed, pressure, and
sounding point are all essential in getting the desired harmonic to
sound. And to add to the challenge, in passages with different
notes played as false harmonics, the distance between stopping
finger and harmonic finger must constantly change, since the
spacing between notes changes along the length of the string.
The "harmonic finger" can also touch at a
major third above the pressed note (the
fifth harmonic), or a
fifth higher
(a third harmonic). These harmonics are less commonly used; in the
case of the major third, both the stopped note and touched note
must be played slightly sharp otherwise the harmonic does not speak
as readily. In the case of the fifth, the stretch is greater than
is comfortable for many violinists. In the general repertoire
fractions smaller than a sixth are not used. However, divisions up
to an eighth are sometimes used and, given a good instrument and a
skilled player, divisions as small as a twelfth are possible.
There are a few books dedicated solely to the study of violin
harmonics. Two comprehensive works are Henryk Heller's seven-volume
Theory of Harmonics, published by Simrock in 1928, and
Michelangelo Abbado's five-volume
Tecnica dei suoni
armonici published by Ricordi in 1934.
Elaborate passages in artificial harmonics can be found in virtuoso
violin literature, especially of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Two notable examples of this are an entire section of
Vittorio Monti's
Csárdás and a passage towards
the middle of the third movement of
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's
Violin Concerto.
Right hand and tone colour
The right arm, hand, and bow are responsible for tone quality,
rhythm,
dynamics,
articulation, and most (but not all)
changes in
timbre.
Bowing techniques
The most essential part of bowing technique is the bow grip. It is
usually with the thumb bent in the small area between the frog and
the winding of the bow. The other fingers are spread somewhat
evenly across the top part of the bow.
The violin produces louder notes with greater bow speed or more
weight on the string. The two methods are not equivalent, because
they produce different timbres; pressing down on the string tends
to produce a harsher, more intense sound. One can also achieve a
louder sound by placing the bow closer to the bridge.
The sounding point where the bow intersects the string also
influences timbre. Playing close to the bridge (
sul
ponticello) gives a more intense sound than usual, emphasizing
the higher harmonics; and playing with the bow over the end of the
fingerboard (
sul tasto) makes for a delicate, ethereal
sound, emphasizing the
fundamental
frequency.
Dr.
Suzuki referred to the sounding point as the "
Kreisler highway"; one may think of different
sounding points as "lanes" in the highway.
Various methods of 'attack' with the bow produce
different articulations. There are
many bowing techniques that allow for every range of playing style
and many teachers, players, and orchestras spend a lot of time
developing techniques and creating a unified technique within the
group. These techniques include legato-style bowing,
collé, ricochet,
sautillé,
martelé,
spiccato, and staccato.
Pizzicato
A note marked
pizz. (abbreviation for
pizzicato) in the written music is to be
played by plucking the string with a finger of the right hand
rather than by bowing. (The index finger is most commonly used
here.) Sometimes in virtuoso solo music where the bow hand is
occupied (or for show-off effect),
left-hand pizzicato
will be indicated by a "+" (plus sign) below or above the note. In
left-hand pizzicato, two fingers are put on the string; one
(usually the index or middle finger) is put on the correct note,
and the other (usually the ring finger or little finger) is put
above the note. The higher finger then plucks the string while the
lower one stays on, thus producing the correct pitch. By increasing
the force of the pluck, one can increase the volume of the note
that the string produces.
Col legno
A marking of
col legno (
Italian for "with the wood") in the written
music calls for striking the string(s) with the stick of the bow,
rather than by drawing the hair of the bow across the strings. This
bowing technique is somewhat rarely used, and results in a muted
percussive sound. The eerie quality of a violin section playing
col legno is exploited in some symphonic pieces, notably
the "Witches' Dance" of the last movement of
Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Saint-Saens'
symphonic poem "
Danse Macabre"
includes the string section using the
col legno technique
to imitate the sound of dancing skeletons. "Mars" from Gustav
Holst's "
The Planets" uses
col
legno to play a repeated rhythm in 5/4 time signature. Dmitri
Shostakovich uses it in his Fourteenth Symphony in the movement 'At
the Sante Jail'. Some violinists, however, object to this style of
playing as it can damage the finish and impair the value of a fine
bow.
Martelé
Literally "hammered", a strongly accented effect produced by
releasing each bowstroke forcefully and suddenly. Martelé can be
played in any part of the bow. It is sometimes indicated in written
music by an arrowhead.
Tremolo
Very rapid repetition (typically of a single note, but occasionally
of multiple notes), usually played at the tip of the bow. Tremolo
is marked with three short, slanted lines across the stem of the
note.
Mute or sordino
Attaching a small metal, rubber, or wooden device called a
"
mute" or "
sordino" to the bridge of the violin gives a softer,
more mellow tone, with fewer audible
overtones; the sound of an entire orchestral string
section playing with mutes has a hushed quality. The conventional
Italian markings for mute usage are
con sord., or
con
sordina, "with mute", and
senza sord., "without mute"
or
via sord., "mute out." Larger metal, rubber, or wooden
mutes are available, known as "practice mutes" or "hotel mutes".
Such mutes are generally not used in performance, but are used to
deaden the sound of the violin in practice areas such as hotel
rooms. Some composers have used practice mutes for special effect,
for example at the end of Luciano Berio's
Sequenza VIII
for solo violin.
Musical styles
Classical music
Since the
Baroque era, the violin has
been one of the most important of all instruments in
classical music, for several
reasons. The tone of the violin stands out above other instruments,
making it appropriate for playing a melody line. In the hands of a
good player, the violin is extremely agile, and can execute rapid
and difficult sequences of notes.
Violins make up a large part of an
orchestra, and are usually divided into two
sections, known as the first and second violins. Composers often
assign the melody to the first violins, while second violins play
harmony, accompaniment patterns or the melody an octave lower than
the first violins. A
string quartet
similarly has parts for first and second violins, as well as a
viola part, and a bass instrument, such as the
cello or, rarely, the
double bass.
Jazz
The earliest references to jazz performance using the violin as a
solo instrument are documented during the first decades of the 20th
century.
Joe Venuti, one of the first
jazz violinists, is known for his work with guitarist
Eddie Lang during the 1920s. Since that time
there have been many
improvising
violinists including
Stéphane Grappelli,
Stuff Smith,
Regina
Carter,
Johnny Frigo,
John Blake and
Jean-Luc Ponty. While not primarily jazz
violinists,
Darol Anger and
Mark O'Connor have spent significant parts of
their careers playing jazz.
Violins also appear in ensembles supplying orchestral backgrounds
to many jazz recordings.
Popular music
Up to the 1970s, most types of popular music used bowed strings.
The hugely popular
Motown recordings of the
1960s and 1970s relied heavily on strings as part of their
trademark texture. Earlier genres of pop music, at least those
separate from the
rock and roll
movement, tended to make use of fairly traditional orchestras,
sometimes large ones; examples include the American
"Crooners" such as Bing Crosby. This carried through
into 1970s
disco music such as "I Will
Survive" by
Gloria Gaynor and "Love's
Theme" by
Love Unlimited
Orchestra.
The rise of
electronically created
music in the 1980s saw a decline in their use, as synthesized
string sections took their place. However, while the violin has
very little usage in
rock music, it
has some history in
progressive
rock (e.g.
The Electric
Light Orchestra,
King Crimson,
Kansas) and has a stronger place in
modern fusion bands, notably
The Corrs.
The fiddle has also always been a part of
British folk-rock music, as exemplified by
the likes of
Fairport Convention
and
Steeleye Span.
The popularity of
crossover music
beginning in the last years of the 20th century has brought the
violin back into the popular music arena, with both electric and
acoustic violins being used by popular bands.
Dave Matthews Band features violinist
Boyd Tinsley.
The Flock featured violinist
Jerry Goodman who later joined the
jazz-rock fusion band,
The Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Yellowcard featured the instrument with a role
equal to the guitar in many of their songs.
Blue October are well-known for their
violin-based Music with Master violinist Ryan Delahoussaye
James'
Saul Davies,
who is also a
guitarist, was enlisted by the
band as a violinist. For their first three albums and related
singles, the British group
No-Man made
extensive use of electric and acoustic solo violin as played by
band member Ben Coleman (who played violin exclusively).
The
alternative metal band
Hurt is one of the only metal bands to
have violin that does not hire a session worker.
Independent artists such as
Owen
Pallett,
The Shondes and
Andrew Bird have also spurred increased interest
in the instrument.
Indie bands
have often embraced new and unusual arrangements, allowing them
more freedom to feature the violin than their
mainstream brethren. It has been used in the
post-rock genre by bands such as
Sigur
Rós,
Zox,
Broken Social Scene, and
A Silver Mt. Zion. The
electric violin has even been used by bands
like
The Crüxshadows within the
context of keyboard based music.
Indian,
Turkish, and
Arabic
pop music is filled with the sound of violins, both
soloists and
ensemble.
Indian classical music
The violin is a very important part of South Indian classical music
(
Carnatic music). It is believed to
have been introduced to the South Indian tradition by
Muthuswamy Dikshitar. Though primarily
used as an accompaniment instrument, the violin has become popular
as a solo instrument in the orchestration. Popular film composers
such as
Ilaiyaraaja have used the violin
extensively in film music scoring. This type of music was often
played on a harmonic scale.
Folk music and fiddling
Like many other instruments used in
classical music, the violin descends from
remote ancestors that were used for
folk
music.
Following a stage of intensive development
in the late Renaissance, largely in
Italy
, the violin had improved (in volume, tone, and
agility), to the point that it not only became a very important
instrument in art music, but proved highly appealing to folk
musicians as well, ultimately spreading very widely, sometimes
displacing earlier bowed instruments. Ethnomusicologists have observed its
widespread use in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
In many traditions of
folk music, the
tunes are not written but are memorized by successive generations
of musicians and passed on, in what is known as the
oral tradition.
Fiddle
When played as a folk instrument, the violin is ordinarily referred
to in English as a
fiddle (though the term
"fiddle" may be used informally no matter what the genre of music).
There is technically no difference between a fiddle and a violin.
However, some folk fiddlers alter their instruments for various
reasons. One example may be seen in American (e.g.,
bluegrass and
old-time) fiddling: in these styles, the
bridge is sometimes shaved down so that it is less curved. This
makes it easier to play
double stops and
triple stops, allowing one to play
chord with less effort. In addition,
many fiddle players prefer to use a
tailpiece with fine tuners on all four strings
instead of only using one on the E string as many classical players
do.
Electric violins

acoustic and electric violin
An
electric violin is a violin equipped with an
electric signal output of its sound, and is generally considered to
be a specially constructed instrument which can either be:
- an electro-acoustic violin capable of producing both
acoustic sound and electric signal
- an electric violin capable of producing only electric
signal
To be effective as an acoustic violin, electro-acoustic violins
retain much of the resonating body of the violin, often looking
very much like, sometimes even identical to, an acoustic violin or
fiddle. They are often varnished with bright colours and made from
alternative materials to wood.The first specially built
electric violins date back to the late 1930s
and were made by Victor Pfeil, Oskar Vierling, George Eisenberg,
Benjamin Miessner,
George
Beauchamp,
Hugo Benioff and Fredray
Kislingbury.
Since electric violins do not rely on string tension and resonance
to amplify their sound they can have more strings. For example five
stringed electric violins are available from several manufacturers,
and a seven string electric violin (with three lower strings
encompassing the
cello's range) is available.
The majority of the first
electric
violinists were musicians playing jazz and popular music.
Violin authentication
Violin authentication is the process of
determining the maker and manufacture date of a violin. This
process is similar to that used to determine the
provenance of art works. As significant value may
be attached to violins made either by specific makers or at
specific times and locations,
forgery
and other methods of
fraudulent
misrepresentation can be used to inflate the value of an
instrument.
See also
For instruments related to the violin, see
String instruments.
Notes
- Margaret J. Kartomi: On Concepts and Classifications of Musical
Instruments. Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology, University of
Chicago Press, 1990
- Seashore, Carl (1938). Psychology of Music, 224. quote
in Kolinski, Mieczyslaw (Summer - Autumn, 1959). "A New Equidistant
12-Tone Temperament", p.210, Journal of the American
Musicological Society, Vol. 12, No. 2/3, pp. 210-214.
- . "Now we will discipline the shaking of the left hand in the
following manner: Shake the wrist slowly and evenly in 8th notes.
Start from the original position and for the second 8th note the
wrist is to move backward (toward the scroll). Do this in triplets,
dotted 8ths and 16ths, and 16th notes. A week or two later, the
vibrato may be started on the Violin. ... The procedure will be as
follows: 1. Roll the finger tip from this upright position on the
note, to slightly below the pitch of this note."
References
- The Violin Forms of Antonio Stradivari, by Stewart
Pollens (1992), London: Peter Biddulph. ISBN 0-9520109-0-9
- Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching, by Ivan
Galamian (1999), Shar Products Co. ISBN 0-9621416-3-1
- The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance
Techniques, by Patricia and Allen Strange (2001), University
of California Press. ISBN 0-520-22409-4
- The Fiddle Book, by Marion Thede (1970), Oak
Publications. ISBN 0-8256-0145-2
- Latin Violin, by Sam Bardfeld, ISBN 0-9628467-7-5
- The Cambridge Companion to the Violin, edited by Robin
Stowell (1992), Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-39033-8
- The Violin Explained - Components Mechanism and Sound
by James Beament (1992/1997), Clarendon Press. ISBN
0-19-816623-0
- Antonio Stradivari, his life and work, 1644-1737', by
William Henry Hill; Arthur F Hill; Alfred Ebsworth Hill
(1902/1963), Dover Publications. 1963. OCLC
172278. ISBN 0486204251
- An Encyclopedia of the Violin, by Alberto Bachmann
(1965/1990), Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80004-7
- Violin - And Easy Guide, by Chris Coetzee (2003), New
Holland Publishers. ISBN 1-84330-332-9
- The Violin, by Yehudi Menuhin (1996), Flammarion. ISBN
2-08-013623-2
- The Book of the Violin, edited by Dominic Gill (1984),
Phaidon. ISBN 0-7148-2286-8
- Violin-Making as it was, and is, by Ed. Heron-Allen
(1885/1994), Ward Lock Limited. ISBN 0-7063-1045-4
- Violins & Violinists, by Franz Farga (1950),
Rockliff Publishing Corporation Ltd.
- Viols, Violins and Virginals, by Jennifer A. Charlton
(1985), Ashmolean Museum. ISBN 0-907849-44-X
- The Violin, by Theodore Rowland-Entwistle (1967/1974),
Dover Publications. ISBN 0-340-05992-3
- The Early Violin and Viola, by Robin Stowell (2001),
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62555-6
- The Complete Luthier's Library. A Useful
International Critical Bibliography for the Maker and the
Connoisseur of Stringed and Plucked Instruments by Roberto Regazzi, Bologna: Florenus, 1990.
ISBN 88-85250-01-7
- The Violin, by George Dubourg (1854), Robert Cocks
& Co.
- Violin Technique and Performance Practice in the Late 18th
and Early 19th Centuries, by Robin Stowell (1985), Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 0-521-23279-1
- History of the Violin, by William Sandys and Simon
Andrew (2006), Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-45269-7
- The Violin: A Research and Information Guide, by Mark
Katz (2006), Routledge. ISBN 0-8153-3637-3
- Per gli occhi e 'l core. Strumenti musicali
nell'arte by Flavio Dassenno, (2004) a complete survey of the
brescian school defined by the last researches and documents.
Further reading
External links