I was wondering the other day how I could describe the violin to someone in 1 minute. Here are the points I came up with!
1. The name violin comes from the latin vitula, which means stringed instrument.
2. The current form of the violin emerged in the medieval times. This early version we call the fiddle.
3. Although the violin has evolved over the centuries it is interesting to see that its original or predecessor versions are still active in music making, even today! Such predecessors are the lira, which is still a regular instrument on the Balkans, and the Arab rebab.
4. The violin we know today is coming from Italy, just as the piano. These first violin makers were Andrea Amati and Gasparo di Bertolotti.
5. A typical violin has approximately 70 parts. Originally the strings were made from sheep guts. The bows were made from horsehair.
6. As modern auditoriums appeared and audience got bigger it was important to make the violin louder in order for the listeners to hear them clearly. This major improvement was made by Antonio Stradivari, also an Italian instrument maker. This was achieved mostly by bending the neck, thus giving the strings bigger pressure, resulting in louder sounds.
7. Fiddle and violin are the same thing, but two different names. The name violin is more often used in association with classical music.
8. The violin is one of the most important instruments in any orchestra. In fact, before the appearance of the conductor role, it was the violinist who led the musicians.
9. It is not an easy job to be a violinist! It is difficult to learn to play it and takes many years of practice. By playing a violin it is estimated that you will burn 170 calories per hour.
10. The most expensive violin existing today is the Messiah Stradivarius, a violin made by the famous maker. It is exhibited at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England.
11. We associate the violin with classical music and orchestra, but in fact fiddle has made its way to popular mainstream music as well, such as rock, pop or folk music.
12. It is member of the violin family, where other members are the viola, the cello and the double bass. These instruments in this order are getting bigger in size and lower in pitch.