Can u sumerize all the information about violins for me on wikipedia all the important facts There would be too many facts to post and alot of what is posted could be opinions as well. The best thing to do is to summarize things yourself because each person would summerize a subject differently, leaving some information in and adding other information that may not be as important. The best thing you can do is ask a violinist. no, cause i don't know what part of it is important to you. Depends on what your looking for in terms of important facts. There are multiple articles on violins. It gives a general overview of good facts. Reading may take some time, but it's worth reading if your doing research. The violin is a 4 stringed musical instrument used in an orchestra and the note scale has a wide range of notes because it has no frets. I think thats everything. Here goes...
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.
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鈥檚 earliest fiddlers. Their two-stringed upright fiddles are strung with horsehair strings, played with horsehair bows, and often feature a carved horse鈥檚 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.
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 Ges霉, are the most sought-after instruments by both collectors and performers.
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.
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. Most E strings are unwound, either plain or gold-plated steel.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Bowing or plucking an open string鈥攖hat is, a string played without any finger stopping it鈥攇ives 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.
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.
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, coll茅, ricochet, sautill茅, martel茅, spiccato, and staccato.
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).
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
Violin authentication is the process of determining the maker and date of a violin. Multiple references may be required to assist in the process of authentication. This is often employed to combat fraudulent practices such as violin forgery and other forms of misrepresentation. |
