Music

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Violin

Did you know the violin has been around for 500 years? The violin can be used by numerous ages. The word violin comes from the Latin word vitula, meaning stringed instrument. This research paper is going to tell you about the musical instrument the violin, the background of the violin, how it is made, and interesting facts about the violin.

The string instruments were made in Europe in the medieval ages. The exact place where the violin was originally made was in Italy around the 1500's.It is Andrea Amati who is the of the known developers of the violin. In Italy, Andrea Amati lived in Cremona between 1535 to 1611; he became the founder of the world’s most famous school of violin making, after that, violin making expanded over the whole continent of Europe. Other famous makers include Amati, Guarneri, Antonio Stradivari, and the families of Ruggeri and Bergonzi. For more than 150 years, violins were made by Stradivari and Guarneri and are the most desired concert instruments.

Have you ever wonder how your instrument the violin was made in the past and the present? The body of the violin is made of spruce or maple wood. Do you know how many pieces of wood does it take to make one violin? The hollow instrument has 70 different pieces of wood.

Have you ever counted the horse hairs on your violin bow? Each violin bow has about 150 to 200 hairs. Violin strings were first made out of sheep gut (commonly known as catgut), which was stretched, dried, and twisted. But now materials used for violin strings include: solid steel, stranded steel, or various synthetic materials. The last part to finish the violin is varnish or a glossy finish. They used to use dead animal’s blood for the varnish on the violin to give it a bright, dark color.There are 3 important reasons why varnish is used: to protect the instrument from negative weathering; enhance the instrument’s sounds; and emphasise the wood’s natural beauty.

There are many interesting facts about the violin. The most expensive violin in the world was made by Giuseppe Guarneri in 1741. Did you know this valuable violin is worth $18 million? Did you know playing the violin burns estimated about 170 calories per hour? The world’s smallest violin is only 37 millimetres long. It is small enough to fit in a box of matches. Violins come in many sizes to fit people of all sizes, for example 1/32, 1/16,1/10,⅛, ¼,¾,and 4/4. Playing the violin has many benefits. One benefit, is that violinists are able to use both sides of the brain better than most non-violinists. It is a great instrument used to keep others entertained a long time ago (called a fiddle) and as entertainment now for the violinist and the audience. Violins are one of the most popular instruments in an orchestra. Violins are very old instruments but can tell stories about our history. Many violinist now play with an electric violin but cost more than a regular violin. Who is the fastest violin player in the world? It is a violinist named Ben Lee he had set a new record in April 2010 by playing all 810 notes of ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ in 64.21 seconds. Which is playing 13 notes per second.