Violin

The Violin

THE VIOLIN

The Violin : A History of Melody (Name (School (Instructor / Professor (Course /Subject

Violin

Abstract

The violin is one of the most recognizable of all musical instruments Young and old people have grown to appreciate the soothing sound and mellow tones that accompany the playing of this musical instrument . The violin is a very versatile and integral part of orchestras and string quartets . In one sense , the orchestra would not be complete without the violin , what with its distinct sound that wafts over the audience ion

every performance . And the violin has the distinction of only a few classical instruments . It has crossed over , if you will , into other musical genres with much success . How did this musical instrument come about , and how has its history shaped its sound and form today

Violin 1

The origins of the violin

The violin emerged from a primitive musical bow , usually an arched stick with a string stretched taut between the two ends (Hughes , 2008 The string is divided by a loop or a bridge (Thinkquest , 1999 . The first bridge was used to add to the instruments ' resonance when the string was vibrated , and strings were across suitable receptacles (Hughes , 2008 . These resonance enhancers took many forms-tortoise shells , coconut , calabash , wooden boxes and even pig bladders (Thinkquest , 1999 , thrust tightly between the strings and the bow (Thinkquest , 1999 . Also to enhance the resonance of the bow , the instrument was held before the mouth (Thinkquest , 1999

The violin probably came to Europe around the 9th century , mostly originating from Asia (Thinkquest , 1999 . It took the evolutionary process of the violin about 450 years to bring the violin to its present form . This only shows the long years of experience needed by the makers of the stringed instrument (Thinkquest , 1999 . The use of a bow to draw across the strings followed , probably imported into Europe from Asia by Arab travellers (Hughes , 2008

The evolution of the violin was slow . It took until the middle Ages for a version of the zither , a popular and older instrument , to evolve into the vielle , which saw the instrument being held against the shoulder This differentiated it from the zither , as the latter was held across the knees (Hughes , 2008 . As time went on , the original one string grew to four , and for a time , five strings (Hughes , 2008 . Fashionable until the 16th century , the vielle was changed with the small wooden ribs used in similar wooden plucked instruments replaced by the tailpiece and bridge (Hughes , 2008

Violin 2

By the time of the Renaissance , the viol (a bowed stringed instrument chiefly of the 16th and 17th centuries made in treble , alto , tenor , and bass sizes and distinguished from members of the violin family especially in having a deep body , a flat back , sloping shoulders usually six strings , a fretted fingerboard , and a low-arched bridge (Merriam-Webster , 2008 , was being used , the first having a hole adding resonance and tone to the instrument (Hughes , 2008 . It...