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About the Violin:
The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings 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 inclusion of the double bass in the family is disputed.)
A violin is sometimes informally called a fiddle, no matter what kind of music is played on it. The word "violin" comes to us through the Romance languages from the Middle Latin word vitula, meaning "stringed instrument"; this word may also be the source of the Germanic "fiddle".
A person who plays the violin is called a violinist or fiddler, and a person who makes or repairs them is called a luthier, or simply a violin maker.
Equipment costs:
Low end Violin: £100
High end Violin: £4500
High end Violin: £4500
Accessories:
- Strings
- Bow
- Violin Bridge Pick Up
- Violin Mute
- Gig Bag/Cases
- Violin Chin Rest
- Bridges
- Pitchpipes
- Bow rosin
- Violin String Adjuster
- Tuning pegs
- Tuner
Genres played on the Violin:
- Classical
- Folk Music and fiddling
- Blues
- Jazz
- Pop
- Rock
- Indian classical music
Famous players:
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Joseph Haydn
Famous songs & albums:
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 (1717–1723)
- Violin Concerto in E major, BWV 1042 (1717–1723)
- Double Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043 (1723)
History:
Famous Violin Players from different Ages
Baroque era:
Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1751)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Thomas Baltzar (1631–1663)
Heinrich Biber (1644–1704)
Classical era:
Pierre Gaviniès (1728–1800)
Johann Gottlieb Graun (1703–1771)
François-Antoine Habeneck (1781–1849)
Joseph Haydn (1732- 1809)
19th century:
Piere Martin Marsick (1847–1924)
Jacques Féréol Mazas (1782–1849)
Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840)
François Prume (1816–1849)
Post-19th century:
Isaac Stern (1920–2001)
Henryk Szeryng (1918–1988)
Joseph Szigeti (1892–1973)
Jacques Thibaud (1880–1953)
Jazz violinists:
Svend Asmussen (born 1916)
Stéphane Grappelli (1908–1997)
Jean-Luc Ponty (born 1942)
Regina Carter (born 1966)
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 Mongolian instrument Morin huur:
Turkic and Mongolian horsemen from Inner Asia were probably the world’s earliest fiddlers. Their two-stringed upright fiddles are 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, and the Middle East, where they developed into instruments such as the erhu (China) and rebab (Middle East), and esraj (India). The violin in its present form emerged in early 16th century in Northern Italy, where the port towns of Venice and Genoa maintained extensive ties through the trade routes of the Mongol 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 Arabic rebab), the Renaissance fiddle, and the lira da braccio. 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, was constructed in 1555 by Andrea Amati. (Other violins, documented significantly earlier, only had three strings.) 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 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.
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 and can cost almost unlimted sums.
Baroque era:
Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1751)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Thomas Baltzar (1631–1663)
Heinrich Biber (1644–1704)
Classical era:
Pierre Gaviniès (1728–1800)
Johann Gottlieb Graun (1703–1771)
François-Antoine Habeneck (1781–1849)
Joseph Haydn (1732- 1809)
19th century:
Piere Martin Marsick (1847–1924)
Jacques Féréol Mazas (1782–1849)
Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840)
François Prume (1816–1849)
Post-19th century:
Isaac Stern (1920–2001)
Henryk Szeryng (1918–1988)
Joseph Szigeti (1892–1973)
Jacques Thibaud (1880–1953)
Jazz violinists:
Svend Asmussen (born 1916)
Stéphane Grappelli (1908–1997)
Jean-Luc Ponty (born 1942)
Regina Carter (born 1966)
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 Mongolian instrument Morin huur:
Turkic and Mongolian horsemen from Inner Asia were probably the world’s earliest fiddlers. Their two-stringed upright fiddles are 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, and the Middle East, where they developed into instruments such as the erhu (China) and rebab (Middle East), and esraj (India). The violin in its present form emerged in early 16th century in Northern Italy, where the port towns of Venice and Genoa maintained extensive ties through the trade routes of the Mongol 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 Arabic rebab), the Renaissance fiddle, and the lira da braccio. 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, was constructed in 1555 by Andrea Amati. (Other violins, documented significantly earlier, only had three strings.) 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 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.
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 and can cost almost unlimted sums.
Type of Violin:
- Full-size violins (4/4)
- 3/4 violins
- 1/2 violins
- 1/4 violins
- 1/8 violins
- 1/10 violins
- 1/16 violins
- 1/32 violins
- Viola
- Cello
- Double Bass
- Violin concerto
- Violin sonata
- Carnatic Violin
- Electric violin
- Baroque violin
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