The Violin

Violin

"It seems strange to think that my violin was once a tree, but what else could have caught the music that lies within it, waiting for the touch . . ."

-from "Love Letters of a Musician" by Myrtle Reed, taken from www.gala.com/quotes/topics/violin

The violin is a musical instrument that was developed in Italy in the sixteenth century along with the other instruments of it's family. The Medieval Latin word "vitula", meaning "string instrument", is where the violin gets it's name from. The violin's full name is "violino", meaning "little viola". It is also known as the fiddle.

The violin is played underneath the jaw using 3 fingers on the string. The fourth finger can also be used. The hand is held in a "V" position on the neck. A horse hair bow is pulled across the strings to produce sound. You can also "pluck" or use "pizzicato", creating an airier sound. The 4 strings that can be played are E,A,D, and G, each going up in the musical scale from there: E to F to G and an A on 4th finger, A to B to C and D on 4th finger, D to E to F to G on fourth finger, and G to A to B to C on fourth finger. All strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths ( seven semitones), e.g. E is a perfect fifth above A.

This post gives you the most basic parts of the violin. You can go to www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin for more information.

Picture taken from www.joansviolinlessons.com/images/violin-diagram.jpg