The appearance of the violin is what captures people’s attention. Its hourglass shape with wooden body that consists of an arched top, curved ribs, and a decorated back. However, it’s not all that simple as it may seem. There are 3 main components in which the violin is made up of: the head, the neck and fingerboard, and the body. The head is the general top part of the violin, including the scroll, pegbox, and tuning pegs. Scrolls are the hand carved spiral at the very top of the instrument which has the pegbox, the hollowed out section that holds the pegs securely right below it. Inside the pegbox, you have the tuning pegs, which are four wooden pegs inserted through the pegbox for tuning. But why was it structured this way? In the 16th century, during the Italian Renaissance, the scroll of the violin was not invented for a practical purpose but to showcase the decorative woodcarving which showed luthier’s craftsmanship.
Additionally, it also served as a signature to mark the maker’s origin. Historically, carving a scroll is one of the most difficult and time consuming parts of violin making, which made masters and apprentices use it as a visual benchmark of their overall skill and performance. Unlike the scroll, the pegs and pegboxes were adopted for a few practical purposes. They were invented to securely hold tensioned strings on the violin and allow musicians to easily adjust the pitch. The suspension of the strings within a carved hollow chamber, which is the pegbox, keeps the instrument balanced and prevents the strings from slipping off the instrument’s neck. The friction created when tapered wooden pegs are jammed into the hollow pegbox can lock the strings in place.
However, there were some historical limitations that followed when instruments like the violin were first created. During that time, mechanical geared tuning machines didn’t exist. So, clockmakers had to adjust every instruments’ tunes hand-by-hand, making the instrument notably expensive. Along with these limitations, the weight distribution of the violin figured to be extremely important. Mechanical metal tuning gears are much heavier than wooden pegs and would throw off the delicate balance and acoustic resonance of the instrument. All of these initial limitations naturally led to the invention of the pegbox and the tuning pegs.
Another important part of the violin is the neck and fingerboard. The neck extends outward from the body to the pegbox and is usually made of maple. Following the neck comes the nut, a small raised strip of wood at the top of the neck that holds the strings at the correct spacing. The spacing of the strings of any stringed instrument is immensely important because it determines the instrument’s playability and tone. Other than determining the tone, it also prevents accidental string muting as well as ensures comfortable hand efficiency and properly aligns the strings with the maximum output. On top of the neck, the fingerboard holds its position. The fingerboard is a smooth, black piece of dense wood that is glued to the neck that provides a hard, stable surface against which the musician presses the strings to change their vibrating length and produce different musical notes.
Though there are many different components of the violin, the body is the most important part. The body consists of the top plate, the bridge, the tailpiece, the f-holes, and finally, the chin rest and shoulder rest. The top plate is the very front of the violin that has all of the components of the body on it, one of them being the bridge. The bridge is essentially a small carved maple support that holds the strings up above the body and transfers their vibrations to the top plate. Based on the quality of the bridge, the quality of the instrument changes completely. A lighter bridge makes the violin more responsive and louder, while a slightly thicker, denser bridge creates a warmer, softer sound. The feet of the bridge must perfectly match the arch of the violin’s top plate so sound is transmitted without loss.
Furthermore, the way the bridge is carved acts as an acoustic filter that shapes the tone and removes harsh and undesirable frequencies. While the bridge holds the strings up above the body, the tailpiece is the anchor located at the base of the violin where the strings are secured. It runs from the lower bout of the violin and connects to the endpin of the violin, which is a small wooden piece located at the very bottom of the instrument. It holds the strings taut across the bridge so they can vibrate and produce sound.
Moreover, the weight and material of the tailpiece affects the resonance, warmth, and brightness of the violin. Most importantly, it is what allows the player to make small adjustments to the pitch of each string, which is normally called a “fine tuner”. In order to support the player, the chin rest and shoulder rest is put in as attachments on the lower section of the body that provide comfort and stability for the player. First designed to protect the instrument’s tailpiece from damage caused by Louis Spohr’s playing, it developed as something to keep his chin from dampening the instrument’s top plate. Before this invention, musicians played the violin by resting it loosely on their collarbone, supporting the neck and instrument entirely with their left hand. Therefore by anchoring the violin between the collarbone and the chin, the chin rest freed the left hand, which allowed musicians to shift positions and play complex notes much easier than before.
With all of these implications, the way the violin makes sounds is surprisingly quite simple. The vibrations from the strings are transmitted to the top and bottom plate through the bridge, which has the sounds reverberate within the hollow body. The bowed string vibrates and moves in a circular motion that produces the fundamental tone. There are two essential movements in the vibration, the sound that pushes down on the top plate alternately on foot at a time and one that has both feet pushing down on the top plate simultaneously. Another key factor is the sound post, which is a post sandwiched between the top plate and the bottom plate underneath the bridge that transmits vibrations. It is what preserves the shape of the body of the violin, the bass bar running on the left hand sit, sitting under the bridge on the right hand side being the sound post. Historically, luthiers (the violin makers) developed it as instruments transitioned to louder, bowed styles to help the body resonate and create a much richer, more powerful sound, providing the essential structural support against string tension and to transfer acoustic vibrations from the top of the instrument to the back.
The development of the violin started as the Ravanstron, invented before 3000BCE in Ceylon or modern day Sri Lanka. It was made of hollowed cylindrical pieces of sycamore wood as the body and a wooden neck and two strings attached to pegs, made as a devotional and musical offering to the Hindu god in Sri Lanka. Though it was first thought of in Sri Lanka, the Chinese from the Tang Dynasty are what created the Erhu, having a long vertical stick-like neck with two tuning pegs at the top, having a small resonator body or sound box covered with python skin on the front playing end. The Erhu wasn’t played formally yet, originally used as a folk instrument to accompany local operas, banquets, and street performances. Moving over to North America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East during the 8th and 11th century, the Rebaa originated from Islamic trading routes, being the name of several related string instruments. It was first introduced to Europe when muslim forces invaded and conquered the Iberian Peninsula, invented as a portable tool to accompany oral storytelling, poetry, and religious epics in the Islamic world.
The first instrument that got closer to the modern instrument was the Rebec, which was held against the shoulder with one hand while the bow was held with the other. It had one to six strings on a single piece of wood carved into a pear shaped body, flat top and a narrow neck. It was used to play at royal courts in Europe and was later adopted as an accompaniment to church services. However, in the 15th century, popularity started to decline with the development of louder and more versatile instruments. Similar to the Rebec, the Lyra had three to five strings and was held upright like a cello and played by stopping the strings from the side with fingernails, needing a wider fingerboard and flatter bridge in order to do these actions. Referred to as the medieval fiddle or Renaissance fiddle, the Vielle involved the addition of the tailpiece and bridge, at first straight, but then curved so that the strings could be played individually. It was later replaced by the Viol in the 15th century. The Viola da gamba was what the violin evolved from and was held against the shoulder. During this time, four stringed instruments developed into one without string frets with tuning in fifths. Now, the modern violin was first recorded to be made by Andrea Amati and Gasparo di Bertolotti in the 1550s in northern Italy.
Through the multiple stages of developments in history, the violin has evolved to the instrument it is known today, and the music that it makes is enjoyed worldwide.
By: Hyorim Sung
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