How many strings does a violin have
How many strings does a violin have
How Many Strings Does a Violin Have
A violin is a small musical instrument used to produce beautiful sounds in songs and musical symphonies. A violin has a similar shape to a guitar but is much smaller, however a violin is played using a stick (Bow) rather than your fingers. All new music students should develop an understanding of their musical instruments; understanding the anatomy of an instrument will assist the learner in improving their ability to play the instrument well.
Anatomy of Violins:
The shape of the violin is just like the guitar, the hourglass shape. The material with which violins are made can be wooden and the strings are made of iron or synthetic steel.
Strings of a Violin
The way a violin produces music is through the action of the bow on the strings. All violin strings look the same on the outside but all are different in shape, size, and dimension. The number of total strings on a violin varies according to the size of the violin. There can be four, five, or eight strings on a violin. However, basic and common violins come with four strings. These Four strings are given separate names by music experts. They are:
String E:
This is the lowest string on the violin that produces the lower pitched music. When you pick a violin with the head pointing towards the chin, it will be on the leftmost side of the violin. It is usually pressed with the index finger to produce music.
String A:
Sting A is next to string E, the second left string on your violin. It produces a sound that is a little bit higher in pitch than Sting E. Usually, it is pressed with the middle finger of the hand to produce music..
String D:
String D is the third left string of your violin and next to String A. This string is usually pressed by the ring finger to produce music.
String G:
Last but not least, the fourth basic string of the violin is String G. String G also produces a flat sound.
String C:
String C is the fifth string. It is optional and cannot be found on basic violins. This string is used only by professional violin players.
The Structure of the Violin
The structure of the strings
The violin has four strings
From high to low, the strings on the violin are E, A, D, and G. They are made from a variety of materials including catgut (sheep intestine), nylon, and steel.
The tuning pegs are used for tuning
The neck is carved from a single piece of wood, and the part at the end that appears to wind in on itself is called the «scroll.» The strings are attached to the tuning pegs, which are fitted inside narrowly carved holes, and held in place by friction.
Only the high E string has an adjuster so that it can be easily tuned, while the others rely on the tuning pegs for tuning, which might take some getting used to.
Recently, some violins come with four adjusters built into the tailpiece, so this is another option to consider.
The tuning pegs
The four strings are attached to the four tuning pegs
The neck is carved from a single piece of wood, excluding the tuning pegs
The origins of the Violin
The birth of the violin
The eastern ancestors of the violin
Instruments like the violin that use a bow to produce a sound are called bowed stringed instruments. The Arabian rabab and the rebec, which came from the orient in the middle ages and was played widely in Spain and France in the fifteenth century, are said to be the ancestors of the violin. Near the end of the middle ages, a bowed stringed instrument called a fiddle appeared in Europe.
In the East, the Chinese erhu and morin khur evolved from the rabab, and so they are relatives of the violin.
A woman playing a fiddle
Who made the first violin?
The oldest existing violin, built by Andrea Amati.
Compared to its ancestors, the violin is in a class by itself in terms of completeness. In addition, it was not improved gradually over time, but appeared in its current form suddenly around 1550. Yet, none of these early violins exist today. This history of the violin is inferred from paintings from this era that feature violins.
The two earliest violin makers in recorded history are both from northern Italy: Andre Amati from Cremona and Gasparo di Bertolotti from Salon (Gasparo di Salon). With these two violin makers, the history of the violin emerges from the fog of legend to hard fact. Violins produced by these two still exist today. In fact, the oldest violin in existence today is one built by Andre Amati around 1565.
violin
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violin, byname fiddle, bowed stringed musical instrument that evolved during the Renaissance from earlier bowed instruments: the medieval fiddle; its 16th-century Italian offshoot, the lira da braccio; and the rebec. The violin is probably the best known and most widely distributed musical instrument in the world.
Like its predecessors but unlike its cousin the viol, the violin has a fretless fingerboard. Its strings are hitched to tuning pegs and to a tailpiece passing over a bridge held in place by the pressure of the strings. The bridge transmits the strings’ vibrations to the violin belly, or soundboard, which is made of pine and amplifies the sound. Inside the instrument, beneath the treble foot of the bridge and wedged between the violin belly and back, which is made of maple, is the sound post, a thin stick of pine that transmits the string vibrations to the instrument’s back, contributing to the characteristic violin tone. The belly is supported from beneath by the bass bar, a narrow wood bar running lengthwise and tapering into the belly. It also contributes to the resonance of the instrument. The sidewalls, or ribs, are constructed of pine-lined maple.
The violin was early recognized for its singing tone, especially in Italy, its birthplace, where the earliest makers—Gasparo da Salò, Andrea Amati, and Giovanni Paolo Maggini—had settled its average proportions before the end of the 16th century. During its history the violin has been subject to modifications that have progressively adapted it to its evolving musical functions. In general, the earlier violins are more deeply arched in the belly and back; the more modern, following the innovations of Antonio Stradivari, are shallower, yielding a more virile tone. In the 19th century, with the advent of large auditoriums and the violin virtuoso, the violin underwent its last changes in design. The bridge was heightened, the sound post and bass bar were thickened, and the body became flatter. The neck was angled back, giving greater pressure of the strings on the bridge. The result was a stronger, more brilliant tone in place of the delicate, intimate tone of the violin of the 18th century.
Italian musical masters took the violin from fiddle to first chair
Strummed, plucked, or bowed, violins had been making music for centuries before Andrea Amati and Antonio Stradivari brought them to new heights in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The violin is arguably the world’s most popular instrument. Its expressive tones suit a variety of musical styles, from fast and furious to slow and sanguine. Becoming popular in the 16 th century with both commoners and nobles, the violin has remained a democratic instrument, universal and versatile. (See also: 1,700-year-old musical instrument found, and it still works.)
The development of the modern violin was gradual and complex, evolving from a variety of other stringed instruments. The pear-shaped lira, found in Europe as early as the ninth century, was played in an upright position and bowed. The influence of the two-stringed rabab, an Arabian fiddle introduced to western Europe in the 11th century, and the three-stringed rebec, which appeared in Spain between the 11th and 13th centuries, likely as a result of the Crusades, is also reflected in the modern violin. The French vielle, like the rebec, was usually supported on the chest or under the chin and was widely used by troubadours in the 13th to 15th centuries to accompany singing and dancing. Stringed instruments have a long history in folk music, but the violin became more standardized after it went to court.
Most historians agree that today’s violin emerged in the early 16th century in northern Italy, an area which would maintain the violin-making tradition over the coming centuries. Maple and spruce, the two types of wood most favored by violin makers then and since, were readily available in the Lombardy region. The city of Brescia, located at the foot of the Alps, was the earliest to excel in the crafting of violins, but Cremona, home to the world’s most famous luthiers, Giuseppe Guarneri, Antonio Stradivari, and the Amati family, became synonymous with the art of violin making. (See also: Inside Einstein’s love affair with ‘Lina’–his cherished violin.)
Lombardy Luthiers
In February 1539 master craftsman Andrea Amati leased (and later bought) a house and workshop in Cremona that remained in his family’s possession for 200 years and became one of the premier musical instrument workshops in Europe. (Watch: Turning sound into music–why do we do it?)
In the early 1560s, Catherine de Médicis, the French queen regent, commissioned Amati to make a variety of string instruments for the Royal Ensemble. How many Amati made and delivered remains unknown, but it is thought that the scale of work required ultimately established the basic form and construction of the modern violin. Amati’s creation had a wooden sound box with two F-shaped apertures. Tuned to perfect fifths, four strings stretched along the instrument’s neck, where they were tightened with pegs. Amati’s workshop was a family venture, as he shared the secrets of his craft with his two sons, Girolamo and Antonio. The dynasty extended to a third generation with Girolamo’s son, Nicolò, who became the maestro to two of the most celebrated violin makers: Andrea Guarneri and Antonio Stradivari.
First Among Instruments
1523
Records from the Alpine region of Savoy notes payment for the services of “trompettes” and “vyollons.”
Circa 1535
Gaudenzio Ferrari paints one ofthe first depictions of a violin in the Saronno Cathedral in Lombardy, Italy.
Circa 1510
Andrea Amati is born. His work will establish Cremona, Italy, as the center for violin making in Europe.
1644
Master violin maker Antonio Stradivari is born. His instruments will become treasures, valued for their acoustics.
The violin’s sound continued to expand through the centuries, embraced by fiddlers and virtuosos alike. During the 17th century, the violin became an important instrument in the orchestra as composers like Claudio Monteverdi incorporated it into their compositions. Composers and musicians, such as Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), Franz Joseph Haydn (1731-1809), and Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), continued to focus on the sounds of the strings, bringing the violin to greater prominence in the orchestra.
Around 1786, François Tourte created the modern bow, standardizing its length and weight. The invention of the chin rest around 1820 made the instrument easier to hold and increased its range of play. The neck and fingerboard were both lengthened and tilted in the 19th century, allowing the violinist to play the highest notes, and the bass bar was made heavier to produce a bigger, more brilliant sound.
Whether sounding sweet or sad, playful or somber, the violin’s ability to evoke almost any mood has helped take it all the way to the top. Often referred to as the «concertmaster,» the first chair violinist has become the leader of the orchestra, second only to the conductor. She tunes the orchestra, plays the violin solos, and coordinates how the other strings should play their parts in perfect harmony.