What is a violin? The structure and functions of the violin

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The violin is an instrument that has had a tremendous impact on music. It was widely used in classical pieces, where its flowing gentle sound came in very handy. Folk art also noticed this beautiful instrument, although it appeared not so long ago, but managed to take its place in ethnic music. The violin has been compared to the human voice, as its sound is fluid and varied. Its shape resembles a female silhouette, which makes this instrument alive and animated. Today, not everyone has a good idea of what a violin is. Let's fix this annoying situation.

The history of the violin

The violin owes its appearance to many ethnic instruments, each of which had its own influence on it. Among them are British crotta, Armenian bambir and Arabic rebab. The design of the violin is by no means new; many Eastern peoples have been using such instruments for centuries, playing folk music on them to this day. The viola acquired its current form in the 16th century, when its production was put on stream, great masters began to appear, creatingunique tools. There were especially many such craftsmen in Italy, where the tradition of creating violins is still alive.

From the 17th century, violin playing began to take on a modern form. It was then that the compositions appeared, which are considered to be the first works written specifically for this delicate instrument. This is Romanesca per violino solo e basso by Biagio Marini and Capriccio stravagante by Carlo Farina. In subsequent years, violin masters began to appear like mushrooms after rain. Especially in this regard, Italy excelled, which gave birth to the largest number of great violinists.

How a violin works

The violin received its soft and deep sound thanks to a unique design. It can be divided into 3 main parts - this is the head, neck and body. The combination of these details allows the instrument to produce those bewitching sounds that brought him worldwide fame. The largest part of the violin is the body, on which all other parts are attached. It consists of two decks connected by shells. Decks are made from different types of wood in order to achieve the purest and most beautiful sound. The upper part is most often made of spruce, and for the lower part they use maple, sycamore or poplar.

When you play the violin, the top soundboard resonates with the rest of the instrument, creating a sound. In order for it to be lively and resonant, it is made as thin as possible. On expensive artisan violins, the thickness of the top soundboard can be only a couplemillimeters. The bottom deck is usually thicker and stronger than the top deck, and the wood it's made from is chosen to fit the sides that hold the two decks together.

Shells and ducky

The sides are the sides of the violin, located between the upper and lower decks. They are made from the same material as the bottom deck. Moreover, wood from the same tree is often used for these parts, carefully selected according to texture and pattern. This design is held not only on glue, but also on small pads that increase its strength. They are called klots and are located inside the case. There is also a bass beam inside, which transmits vibrations to the body and gives additional rigidity to the top deck.

On the body of the violin there are two cutouts in the form of the Latin letter f, which are called efs. Not far from the right cutout is one of the most important parts of the instrument - the darling. This is a small wooden beam that serves as a spacer between the upper and lower decks and transmits vibration. The darling got its name from the word "soul", which hints at the importance of this small detail. Craftsmen have noticed that the position, size and material of the homie have a significant effect on the sound of the instrument. Therefore, only an experienced violin maker can correctly position this small but important part of the body.

Tailpiece

The story about the violin and its design would be incomplete without mentioning such an important element as the tailpiece or the neck. Previously, it was carved from wood, but today for these purposes more and more oftenplastic is used. It is the tailpiece that secures the strings at the correct height. Also, sometimes there are machines on it, which make setting up the instrument much easier. Before their introduction, the violin was tuned exclusively with tuning pegs, which are very difficult to fine-tune.

The neck is held on by a button inserted into the hole on the body from the side opposite the neck. This design is constantly under severe stress, so the hole must fit perfectly to the button. Otherwise, the shell may crack, turning the violin into a useless piece of wood.

Vulture

The neck of the violin is glued on the front of the case, under which the musician's hand is located during the game. A fingerboard is attached to the neck - a rounded surface made of hard wood or plastic, to which the strings are pressed. Its shape is thought out so that the strings do not interfere with each other when played. In this case, he is helped by a stand that lifts the strings above the fingerboard. The base has cutouts for the strings, which you can make yourself according to your taste, as the new stands are sold without cutouts.

Also, string grooves are present on the nut. It is located at the very end of the neck and separates the strings from each other before they enter the peg box. It contains the tuning pegs, which serve as the main tool for tuning the violin. They are simply inserted into wooden holes and are not fixed with anything. Thanks to this, the musician can adjust the course of the tuning pegs to suit his needs. Canmake them tight and unyielding by applying light pressure during tuning. Or vice versa, take out the pegs so that they move easier, but keep the line worse.

Strings

What is a violin without strings? A beautiful but useless piece of wood, good only for hammering nails into it. Strings are a very important part of the instrument, as its sound largely depends on them. Particularly important is the role of the material from which this small but significant part of the violin is made. Like everything in our world, strings develop and absorb the best gifts of the technogenic era. However, their original material is hardly high-tech.

Oddly enough, sheep's intestines are what the ancient musical violin owes its delicate sound to. They were dried, processed and tightly twisted to subsequently receive a string. Craftsmen managed to keep the material used in the production of strings secret for a long time. Products made from sheep intestines gave a very soft sound, but wore out quickly and required frequent tuning. Similar strings can also be found today, but modern materials are much more popular.

Modern strings

Today, sheep intestines are at the full disposal of their owners, since gut strings are rarely used. They were replaced by high-tech metal and synthetic products. Synthetic strings sound close to their gut predecessors. They also have a rather soft and warm sound, but lack the disadvantages that their natural"colleagues".

Another type of strings - steel, which are made from all kinds of non-ferrous and precious metals, but most often from their alloys. They sound bright and loud, but lose in softness and depth. These strings are suitable for many classical pieces that require clarity and brilliance. They also hold the line for a long time and are quite durable.

Violin. Long road

Over the long years of its existence, the violin has become popular all over the planet. Classical music especially glorified this wonderful instrument. The violin can brighten up any work, many composers gave it a leading role in their masterpieces. Everyone is familiar with the immortal works of Mozart or Vivaldi, in which much attention was paid to this chic instrument. But over time, the violin became a relic of the past, the lot of a narrow circle of connoisseurs or musicians. The electronic sound displaced this instrument from popular music. Smooth flowing sounds are gone, giving way to a cheerful and primitive beat.

Fresh violin notes were usually written only to accompany films, new songs for this instrument appeared only with folklore performers, but their sound was rather monotonous. Fortunately, in recent years, many groups have appeared that perform modern music with the participation of the violin. The audience is tired of the monotonous love howls of another pop star, opening their hearts to deep instrumental music.

Fox Violin

A funny story put the violin in the songfamous musician - Igor Sarukhanov. Once he wrote a composition that he planned to call "The creak of the wheel." However, the work turned out to be very figurative and vague. Therefore, the author decided to call it consonant words, which should have emphasized the atmosphere of the song. Until now, fierce battles are being fought on the Internet over the name of this composition. But what does the author of the song, Igor Sarukhanov, say about this? Violin-fox is the real name of the song, according to the musician. Whether this is irony or an interesting idea based on a play on words, only the resourceful performer himself knows.

Is it worth learning to play the violin?

I'm sure many people want to master this wonderful tool, but they abandon this idea before they start to put it into practice. For some reason, it is believed that learning to play the violin is a very difficult process. After all, there are no frets on it, and even this bow, which should become an extension of the hand. Of course, it is easier to start learning music with a guitar or piano, but mastering the art of playing the violin is only more difficult at first. But then, when the basic skills are firmly mastered, the learning process becomes about the same as on any other instrument. The violin develops the ear well, as it has no frets. This will be a good help in further music lessons.

If you already know what a violin is and have firmly decided to master this instrument, it is important to know that they come in different sizes. For children, small models are selected - 3/4 or 2/4. For an adult, a standard violin is needed - 4/4. Naturally, you need to start classes under the supervision of an experienced mentor, since it is very difficult to learn on your own. For those who wish to try their luck in mastering this instrument on their own, a lot of textbooks have been created for every taste.

A unique musical instrument

Today you learned what a violin is. It turns out that it is not an archaic relic of the past, on which only the classics can be performed. There are more and more violinists, many groups have begun to use this instrument in their work. The violin is found in many literary works, especially for children. For example, Fenina's Violin by Kuznetsov, beloved by many children and even their parents. A good violinist can play any genre of music, from heavy metal to pop. We can safely say that the violin will exist as long as there is music.