The Violin Is One of the Oldest Musical Instruments - Essay Example

?Research music paper The violin is arguably one of the oldest musical instruments that still are of relevance to the modern categories of music. This is a high pitched stringed instrument with a close resemblance to a guitar only that it is smaller and with fewer strings. It is placed on the shoulders and played by drawing a bow across the strings, the nature of the sound produced is regulated by a finger that stops or prolongs a given key depending on the type of the music (Margaret, 1990). Violins or as otherwise referred to fiddle originated in the ancient Greek and became very common in the Roman Empire where violinists entertained royalties. Today, a number of modern generation artists still use the instrument in producing a variety of music genres. Such modern day musicians include Celine Dion. The name violin is an English word derived from a Latin word vitula, which translates to stringed instrument in English. This implies that the instrument was not an English creation and only gained a lot of prominence in the United Kingdom in the sixteenth century following its extensive use in the modern day Italy. The violin was played a lot in Italy and became part of the Italian cultural heritage. Some of the most celebrated violinists and violin manufacturers such as Gasparo da Salo and Giovanni Paolo Maggini among many others were all Italians. The instrument played a role in the development of the modern day salsa dance, which coincidentally was part of the Italian heritage too. The spread of the instrument to other parts of the world resulted from colonization and the subsequent industrialization in the late eighteenth century. Italians spread throughout the world to the Americas and other parts of Europe taking their culture with them. In doing so, other people began appreciating the instrument in music production. Celine Dion one of the modern day musicians who have used violins in most of her songs is a Canadian but of Italian decent. The use of the instrument has today acquired a global acceptance and appreciation by different people from all over the world. The development of the instrument has centered on the modifications of its features and addition of aesthetics to make it look more beautiful and produce better quality sounds (Bartruff, 1989). Among the common features of a violin are the strings. This is a fundamental part of the instrument mandated with the production of the sound. The strings nailed to the tail stretch the entire length of the instrument and pass all the way to the upper most part of the instrument called the scroll. In the ancient Greek and Roman days, the strings were made of sheep gut, these were pieced, stretched and dried to the desired quality to produce high quality sound and last longer. With the modern day technological advancements, the strings are today made of steel or aluminum. Additionally, while in the ancient day the people relied only on the instrument to entertain, the modern technological developments allow the sound to pass through other machines that boosts its gain and quality. These make recordings and music productions easier. Furthermore, the instrument earns the ability to entertain a large number of people despite is small size and the relatively low sound it produces. Tunings are other essential parts of the instrument. These regulate the quality and pitch of sound that every stroke of the strings produces. The tunings resemble those found in a guitar and are placed at the scroll end of the instrument. These are protruding stick at the end of the instrument on which the strings wind. The violinists therefore use these to adjust the tightness of the strings depending on the note of the music required. Without the tunings, the strings may easily break; the tunings gives the strings an allowance to slacken thereby preventing any synapses from accidental pulls. Despite the numerous advantages and purposes of the tunings, their primary function is to regulate the pitches of the sounds produced. Bows on the other hand are not directly attached to the instrument but are party to the instrument. These are bows just like any other but are smaller and used differently. The bows are made by bending a stick and connecting the two ends by strings. The early bows were made from wooden sticks joined by thinner sheep guts. The sticks had to be light to allow comfort of operation. The modern bows are more aesthetic and made from better materials such as aluminium and steel and joined by strings of similar materials. Aluminium is one of the lightest yet the strongest metals, this therefore guarantees the comfort of operation while guaranteeing the quality and longevity of the instrument. Additionally, the bows are made of sticks but from better quality wood such as oak and joined by horse hair from the frog to the tip. The frog and the tip are the two points of the bow, which in this case is not bent. These present more beauty despite the fact that they are susceptible to breakages and other insect attack thereby limiting their quality. Unlike the guitar, violins have no frets where players put their hands and regulate the pitch of the sound. This places the violinists in very precarious situations since they determine where to rest their hands on the violin to regulate the pitch. Putting the hands to close to the bridge, the part designated for drawing, damages the quality of the pitch while placing the hand further from the bridge and closer to the scroll may also not have effect on the sound that the instrument produces. The player must therefore strike a balance and put his or her hands precisely in the center of the neck to derive maximum control of the pitch (Richard, 1991). The instrument is placed on the left shoulder with the bridge facing upwards. This gives the player effective use of the right hand to draw the bow. The left hand however, holds the instrument strategically on the left shoulder in a comfortable manner to allow the fingers rest on the neck of the instrument thereby allowing easy pitch regulation. Such playing is referred to as stopped playing and has a different quality from the open playing. The type of playing is determined by the music genre and the producer requirements. Open playing gives the violinists more room to hold the instrument. The development of the electric violin is the latest advancement on the instrument. These have magnetic fields that pick up the movements of the bow on the strings and convert it into electric current, which it communicates to other musical machines for easier recording and handling to produce a holistic music played at different volumes. References Bartruff, W., 1989, The History of the Violin, New York: Springer. Margaret J. K., 1990, On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments. Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Richard, P., 1991, Violin changes by 1800, Oxford: OUP. Read More