The Violin, also known as the Fiddle, is a bowed string instrument. It is not to be confused with its slightly larger relative, the Viola. The Violin is a bowed string instrument. It's smallest and highest member in the Violin family, it is played with a bow like a bass.
Tuning[]
English: G, D, A, E
Romanic: Sol, Re, La, Mi
Strings may be tuned to different notes, known as Scordatura.
Playing[]
The Violin reads treble clef. It is tuned in perfect fifths, ranging from G below the staff to the highest notes on the piano, glockenspiel, and piccolo. Not all violinists prefer it, but on very high notes, 8va marks can be written to minimize the use of ledger lines.
The player holds the violin on their left (for left-handed players, their right) shoulder. It is played by moving a bow across the strings and having the player hold down the strings to change the pitch. It can also be plucked with the fingers, a technique known as pizzicato. As there are no frets on the instrument like a guitar, it is more difficult to play in tune. To make it easier to play in tune, players can remember certain positions, where the player can move their hand down the neck and can precisely place their fingers on each part of the neck to play a note. Typically the bow is held with the right hand and the notes are played with the left hand, but left-handed players can do it vice versa.
Uses[]
The Violin is one of the most common and versatile instruments, used in symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, string ensembles, string quartets, rock and pop bands, country bands, jazz bands, and as solo instruments, either accompanied or unaccompanied.
Because violins can easily be drowned out by other instruments in the orchestra, there is a large number of them. They are typically split into two groups, known as Violins 1 and Violins 2. The leader of the first violin section is known as the concertmaster, and leads the string section of an orchestra.
In rock and pop bands, as well as other groups or as a solo instrument, there is a variant of violin known as the electric violin. It can have either four or five strings, the fifth string being a low C, the same as the C string on a viola. It is plugged into an amplifier like an Electric Guitar and distortion can be added to the sound.
Notable solos[]
- Shostakovich. Symphony no. 5, op. 47. I, II mvts
- Rimsky-Korsakoff. Scheherazade
Composers[]
- Bach
- Telemann
- Handel
- Vivaldi
- Corelli
- Mozart
- Haydn
- Beethoven
- Tchaikovsky
- Sibelius
- Paganini
- Sarasate
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The strings can be made of nylon, steel, or sheep guts. The latter is mainly used for Baroque music but is less common. Electric Violins mostly use steel strings.
- In the popular kids cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants, Mr. Krabs (a character) plays the world's smallest Violin. The episode in question for this is Squilliam Returns.
- This is the only instrument in the violin family that the 2nd string is not D string.