Robbie+and+the+Violin

**__The Violin__** The violin is a member of the String family and it has 4 strings. The string family includes: the cello, the viola, the violin and the double bass.

Contents


 * 1) Parts and purposes of the violin
 * 2) History
 * 3) Top 5 Greatest Violin Concetos
 * 4) How is the Violin Made?
 * 5) What is the Violin Made of?
 * 6) How Sound is Produced
 * 7) Music Styles
 * 8) Bibliography



The Parts and Purposes of the Violin
 * The Belly || To Amplify the sound and to hold the other parts of the violin ||
 * The Bridge || To raise and keep the strings tight ||
 * The Scroll || Ornementation and to house the tuning pegs ||
 * The Tuning Pegs || To tune the violin ||
 * The Fingerboard || To change the pitch of the vibrating string ||
 * The Strings || To vibrate and make sound ||
 * The Chinrest || To make the violin easy to hold ||
 * The Tailpiece || To attach the strings to the belly ||
 * The F holes || To let the sound out of the belly of the violin ||
 * Sound Post || To make a transmission of sound from the strings to the body of the violin ||
 * The Fine Tuners || To fine tune the violin ||
 * The Waist || Bow clearance and ornamentation ||

** History **

The first recorded violin was made by Andrea Amati in around 1555. His violin was a bit smaller in size and its pitch was higher as well. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Obviously, Amati's violin evolved from early string instuments but there are no recordings of these ancient instruments. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In Mediaevel times (around 1500) an instrument called the viol became popular. There were 3 viols, one for each voice (tenor, treble and bass). <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">People think that the treble viol became the violin, the tenor viol became the viola and the bass viol became the mordern day cello. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The violin became a real sensation in the Baroque period with numerous concertos and sonatas started being composed. Some of the most <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">known composers of these sonatas were Vivaldi, Bach and Handel. The baroque violin then slowly evoved to form our modern day violin. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In 1600 demand for violins was increasing rapidly . The handmade Italian violins were made by a slow and careful process. By1860 the Germans started mass producing violins and so Germany was then the place to go for violins. But these violins were not as good quality as their Italian counterparts. By the 1960s the cheap labour from South-East Asia saw the quality in violins step down again and so the centre of production switched to Asia. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The sensation of the moment is Andrea Rieu. He plays mostly classical music but he also plays some Jazz. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The latest violin is the electric violin. It is a violin with the effects and ablities of an electric guitar. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">media type="youtube" key="jkQvDvtTgpk" height="385" width="480"
 * || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Andrea Amati** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Modern Day Violin** ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**1st String** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">b flat || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">g ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**2nd String** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">f1 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">d1 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**3rd String** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">c2 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">a1 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**4th String** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">g2 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">e2 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Higest Pitch** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">>g3 || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">>e3 ||

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Top 5 Greatest Violin Concertos <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">ArticleBase


 * 1) Ludwig van Beethoven, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major, Opus 61, written in 1806
 * 2) Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major, Opus 35, written in 1878
 * 3) Johannes Brahms, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Major, Opus 77, written in 1878
 * 4) Felix Mendellsohn, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E Minor, Opus 64, written in 1844
 * 5) <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">Edward Elgar, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in B Minor, Opus 61, written in 1910

How is the Volin Made?


 * 1) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Once the wood is chosen, the sides of the violin are crafted into shape. Thin strips of wood are bent to shape inside a pre-made mold. Corner and end blocks are cut and put in place to[[image:purfling.jpg align="right"]] reinforce the sides. The top and bottom pieces are then cut to fit, and carved with a chisel to achieve the correct shape. The bottom of the violin is often one single piece of hardwood, but the top is usually two pieces of quarter-sawn wood, joined together and planed so that the join is invisible to the naked eye.
 * 2) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Once the top and bottom pieces are carved and sanded, the F holes are marked and into the top using a sharp knife, and the bass bar is glued to the underside of the top. Throughout this process the resonance or acoustics of the wood is tested using various methods.
 * 3) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The top and bottom are now glued to the sides and a channel is gouged around the edge of the violin body for purfling. This prevents any splitting or wear to the edges of the wood over time. The neck, pegbox and scroll are carved from wood matching the back material, and joined tightly to the body of the violin. At this stage, the instrument is sanded, varnished and polished. Ebony is usually used for the fingerboard, which is carved to a slightly concave shape and glued to the neck.
 * 4) <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The last pieces to be added are the bridge, the sound post, the tailpiece and finally the pegs. Once those are precisely measured and added, the instrument can be strung.

A Man Purfling a Violin

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">** What is the Violin Made Of? **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**The Wood:** Generally the belly, the sound post, and the bass bar are made of spruce, a light but strong softwood. The back, ribs, neck, pegbox, scroll, and bridge are of maple, a hardwood. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The choice of woods is basically the same as in the piano, where a hardwoodbridge is attached to a spruce soundboard, mounted on a hardwood frame. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The fingerboard of a violin is of ebony. Some old violins have ivory fingerboards.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**The Bow:** A bow typically consists of a length of wood with some other material stretched between its ends. The type of bow used to play the violin and related instruments has many hairs stretched between its ends, but bows used in other cultures often stretch a single piece of string between the ends of the wood. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fine modern bows used to play orchestral string instruments of the violin family (the violin, viola, cello and double bass) are usually made of Pernambuco wood from Brazil and are strung with horse-hair. Silver or gold, ebony wood from Africa, ivory, pearl shell, leather, and sometimes tortoise shell are materials commonly used for the "frog" and finger grip. Some fine synthetic bows are also made of fiberglass and other man made materials such as resin. Rosin, which is sticky and made from tree sap, is regularly applied to the bow hair so that the bow moving across the instrument's strings will cause the string to vibrate and produce a tone.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Maple Wood

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">** How Sound Is Produced **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Arco:** <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sound is produced when the player creates a vibration when the string is rubbed by a bow. This vibrates the wooden instrument, causing the air inside to vibrate also and act as a resonator.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Pizzicato**:

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This sound is produced when the player plucks a string. Again this vibrates the intrument to make a sound.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Percussion**:

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now the violin is being used as a percussion intrument. The player strikes the back of the violin and the sound resonates inside the violin.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Striking:**

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Striking is a method of playing when the violinist stikes the strings. This sound resonates inside the belly of the violin and is amplified.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Changing the pitch of a note:**

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To change notes you have to change the length of the string that is vibrating. This is accomplished by the player pressing a single string or multiple strings against the bridge in different places. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">media type="youtube" key="_04rjPbZarE" height="385" width="640"

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">** Music Styles **

<span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Violins play every style of music including: Classical, Rock, Jazz, Folk and some Modern Day Pop. People tend associate the violin with Baroque music but it can play all styles. The violin is also features in country music, alongside the guitar. It rarely features in Jazz but there are some bands who use the violin in Jazz regularly. In Japan a type of violin is used extensively in their type of Folk Music. A type of violin, like string intrument, can be found in every continent <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">.
 * **Music Style** || **Violinist** || **D.O.B** || **Nationality** || **A Work** ||
 * **Classical** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Yehudi Menuhin || 1970 || Was born in New York but is Jewish || //Stage Door Canteen// ||
 * **Modern Day Pop** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Josh Vietti || 1985 || Southern California || //Lost without you// ||
 * **Folk** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Darol Anger || 1953 || San Francisco || //Live at Montreux '84// ||
 * **Jazz** || Stéphane Grappelli || 1908 || French || //How could you miss// ||
 * **Rock** || <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Corrs || 1990 || Irish || //Forgiven not forgotten// ||

Bibliography

"Andrea Amati Cremona c.1566." //Leroy Douglas//. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 July 2010. <http://www.leroydouglasviolins.com/amatiphotos.htm>.

"Yehudi Menhuin." //Wikipedia//. Wiki, 8 July 2010. Web. 31 July 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yehudi_Menuhin>

"The Classical Violin." //Ultimate Violin Tools.com//. Ultimate Violin Tools.com, n.d. Web. 31 July 2010. <http://www.ultimateviolintools.com/classical-violin.html>.

Hayley, Iben. "Strings Violin." //The Guide to Symphony Orchestra Instuments//. N.p., 12 Jan. 1997. Web. 31 July 2010. <http://www.mathcs.duq.edu/~iben/violin.htm>

"The Violin" //Wikipedia//. Wiki, 31 July 2010. Web. 31 July 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin>

"The Violin Site." //About Violins//. Wiki, n.d. Web. 31 July 2010. <http://www.theviolinsite.com/history.html>.

"Violin Bows." //About Violins//. Wiki, n.d. Web. 31 July 2010. <http://www.theviolinsite.com/history.html>

Herr, Direktor. "The Wheels of Progress." //Sempre Violins//. DirtWater Designs, 14 Oct. 2008. Web. 31 July 2010. <http://sempreviolin.com/?p=60>

Marcus, Sander I. "Top Ten Violin Concetos." //ArticlesBase//. ArticlesBase.com, 4 June 2007. Web. 1 Aug. 2010. <http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/top-10-violin-concertos-of-all-time-158692.html>.