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Violin

Part of a series on
Violinists
Fiddle
Fiddlers
History
Musical styles
Technique
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Making and maintenance
Luthiers
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v t e

The violin is a bowed stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart, the lowest being the G just below middle C. It is the smallest and highest-tuned member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello. Music written for the violin almost always uses the G clef (treble clef). (A related bowed string instrument, the double bass, technically belongs to the similar but distinct viol family.)

A colloquial name for the violin is the fiddle, and a violin is typically called a fiddle when used to play traditional music (see below).

A person who plays violin is called a violinist or fiddler, and a person who makes or repairs them is called a luthier, or simply a violinmaker.

Violin construction and mechanics

File:ViolinImageWithFocusOnBridge.jpg

Detail of bridge and strings

Main article: Violin construction and mechanics

Construction

A violin typically consists of a spruce top, maple ribs and back, two endblocks, a neck, a bridge, a soundpost, four strings, and various fittings, optionally including a chinrest, which may attach directly over, or to the left of, the tailpiece. A distinctive feature of a violin body is its "hourglass" shape and the arching of its top and back. The hourglass shape comprises an upper bout, a lower bout, and two concave C-bouts at the "waist," providing clearance for the bow.

The voice of a violin depends on its shape, the wood it is made from, the "graduation" (the thickness profile) of both the top and back, and the varnish which coats its outside surface. The varnish and especially the wood continue to improve with age, making the fixed supply of old violins much sought-after. Loose parts or open seams may cause buzzes and should be professionally attended to; in particular, no adhesive other than animal hide glue should ever be used on a violin. A well-tended violin can outlive many generations of players, so it is wise to take a curatorial view when caring for a violin.

The purfling running around the edge of the spruce top is said to give some resistance to cracks originating at the edge. It is also claimed to allow the top to flex more independently of the rib structure. Painted-on faux purfling on the top is usually a sign of an inferior instrument. Ideally the top is glued on with slightly diluted hide glue, to make future removal possible. The back and ribs are typically made of maple, most often with a matching striped figure, called "flame."

The neck is usually maple with a flamed figure compatible with that of the ribs and back. It carries the fingerboard, typically made of ebony, but often some other wood stained or painted black. Ebony is considered the preferred material because of its hardness, beauty, and superior resistance to wear. The maple neck alone is not strong enough to support the tension of the strings without distorting, relying for that strength on its lamination with the fingerboard. For this reason, if a fingerboard comes loose (it happens) it is vital to slacken the strings immediately. The shape of the neck and fingerboard affect how easily the violin may be played. Fingerboards are dressed to a particular transverse curve, and have a small lengthwise "scoop," or concavity, slightly more pronounced on the lower strings, especially when meant for gut or synthetic strings.

Some old violins (and some made to appear old) have a grafted scroll, or a seam between the pegbox and neck itself. Many authentic old instruments have had their necks reset to a slightly increased angle, and lengthened by about a centimeter. The neck graft allows the original scroll to be kept with a Baroque violin when bringing its neck to conformance with modern standard.

The bridge is a carefully carved piece of maple, having several purposes: its top curve holds the strings at the proper height from the fingerboard in an arc allowing each to be sounded separately by the bow. It also transmits the vibrations of the strings to the body of the violin. The sound post, or "soul post", fits precisely between the back and top, and may be moved slightly when adjusting the tone of the instrument.

The tailpiece anchors the strings to the lower bout of the violin by means of the tailgut, which loops around the endpin, which fits into a tapered hole in the bottom block. Very often the E string will have a fine tuning lever worked by a small screw turned by the fingers. Fine tuners may also be applied to the other strings, and are sometimes built in to the tailpiece.

At the scroll end, the strings wind around the tuning pegs in the pegbox. Strings usually have a colored "silk" wrapping at both ends, for identification and to provide friction against the pegs. The tapered pegs allow friction to be increased or decreased by the player applying appropriate pressure along the axis of the peg while turning it. Various brands of peg compound or peg dope help keep the pegs from sticking or slipping.

Strings

Strings were first made of sheep gut, stretched, dried and twisted. Modern strings may be solid steel, stranded steel, or various synthetic materials, wound with various metals.

Violinists carry replacement strings with their instruments to have one available in case a string breaks. A teacher can advise students how often to change strings, as it depends on how much and how hard one plays. Apart from obvious things, such as the winding of a string coming undone from wear, a player will generally change a string when it no longer plays "true", with a negative effect on intonation.

For more information, see the strings section of Violin construction.

Acoustics

The arched shape, the thickness of the wood, and its physical qualities govern the sound of a violin. Patterns of the nodes (places of no movement) made by sand or glitter sprinkled on the plates with the plate vibrated at certain frequencies, called "Chladni patterns", are occasionally used by luthiers to verify their work before assembling the instrument.

Sizes

Children learning the violin often use fractional sized violins, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/10, and 1/16. Occasionally, even a 1/32 sized instrument is used.

The body length (not including the neck) of a 'full-size' or 4/4 violin is about 14 inches (35 cm) or smaller in some models of the 17th century. A 3/4 violin is 13 inches (33 cm), and a 1/2 size is 12 inches (30 cm). Viola size is specified as body length in inches rather than fractional sizes. A 'full-size' viola averages 16 inches (40 cm).

When determining the violin size appropriate for a child, a general rule is to have the child hold the instrument against the neck, and reach out past the end of the scroll. Some teachers feel that students can handle a size if they are able to reach around the end of the scroll and see the tips of the fingers, while others recommend smaller sizes as safer, preferring to have the scroll fall short of the student's wrist.

Tuning

Violins are tuned by turning the pegs, or by winding the fine tuner screws, if present, at the tailpiece. Fine tuners permit the tension of the string to be adjusted in very small increments more easily than by using the pegs, and are usually recommended for beginners or those using metal strings. Experienced players commonly use one on the E-string even if the other strings are not so equipped.

The A string is first tuned to a standard pitch (usually 440 Hz) or to another instrument. (When playing with a fixed-pitch instrument such as a piano or accordion, the violin must tune to accommmodate it.) The other strings are then tuned to each other, starting with the tuned A string, in intervals of perfect fifths by bowing them in pairs. Sometimes, 441 Hz and 442 Hz are used to tune for solo pieces to give the instrument a brighter sound. After tuning, experienced players make sure that the bridge is standing straight and centered between the inner nicks of the f holes, since bridges are free to move about, being held in place only by the tension of the strings.

The tuning G-D-A-E is used for the great majority of all violin music. However, any number of other tunings are occasionally employed (for example, tuning the G string up to A), both in classical music, where the technique is known as scordatura, and in some folk styles where it is called "cross-tuning." One famous example of scordatura in classical music is Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre, where the solo violin's E string is tuned down to E flat to give the part an eerie dissonant sound.

Some electric violins have five, six, or even seven strings, others have the usual four. Usually the extra strings go lower, to C, F, and B flat. If the instrument's playing length, or string length from nut to bridge, is equal to a violin's (a bit less than 13 inches, or 330 mm,) it may be properly termed a violin. Acoustic 5-string instruments exist, with a scale length closer to that of a viola's; they are commonly called violas.

Bows

A violin is usually played using a bow consisting of a stick with a ribbon of horsehair strung between the tip and frog (or nut, or heel) at opposite ends. A typical violin bow may be 29 inches (74.5 cm) overall, and weigh about 2 oz. (60 g). Viola bows may be about 3/16" (5 mm) shorter and 1/3 oz. (10 g) heavier.

At the frog end, a screw adjuster tightens or loosens the hair. Just forward of the frog, a leather thumb cushion and winding protect the stick and provide grip for the player's hand. The winding may be wire, silk, or whalebone (now imitated by alternating strips of yellow and black plastic.) Some student bows (particularly the ones made of solid fiberglass) substitute a plastic sleeve for grip and winding.

The hair of the bow traditionally comes from the tail of a "white" (technically, a grey) male horse, although some cheaper bows use synthetic fiber. Occasional rubbing with rosin makes the hair grip the strings intermittently, causing them to vibrate. The stick is traditionally made of pernambuco or the less expensive brazilwood, although some student bows are made of fiberglass. Recent innovations have allowed carbon-fiber to be used as a material for the stick at all levels of craftsmanship.

For more information, see the Bow section of Violin construction.

Playing the violin

Main article: Playing the violin

The violin is usually held under the chin and supported by the left shoulder, often assisted by a shoulder rest. The strings may be sounded either by plucking them (pizzicato) or by drawing the hair of the bow (arco) across them. The left hand regulates the sounding length of the string by stopping it against the fingerboard with the fingertips, producing different pitches.

Left Hand & Producing Pitch

Placement of the left hand fingers on the strings does not rely on frets; the player must stop the string at the right spot from skill alone, or else sound out of tune. Good intonation comes from long hours of practice. Jascha Heifetz, a genius of the violin, was said never to practice finger exercises, yet played very much in tune due to his ability to adjust more quickly than most people could hear.

Beginners often rely on tapes on the finger board in several places for proper left hand finger placement, but quickly abandon the tapes as they advance. Another commonly-used marking technique uses dots of 'white-out' on the fingerboard, which wear off in a few weeks with regular practice.

The fingers are conventionally numbered 1 (index) through 4 (little finger). Especially in instructional editions of violin music, numbers over the notes may indicate which finger to use, with "O" indicating "open" string. The chart to the right shows the arrangement of notes reachable in first position. Note well: left hand finger placement is a matter of the ears and hand, not the eyes, that is, it has strong aural and tactile/kinesthetic components, with visual references being only marginally useful. Note also (not shown on this chart) that the spacing between note positions becomes closer as the fingers move "up" (in pitch) from the nut. The yellow bars on the sides of the chart represent three of the usual tape placements for beginners, at 1st, high 2nd, and 3d fingers.

Positions

The placement of the left hand on the fingerboard is characterized by "positions". First position, where most beginners start (some methods start in third position,) is nearest to the nut, or scroll end, and furthest from the player's face. The lowest note available in this position in standard tuning is an open G; the highest notes in first position are stopped with the fourth finger on the E-string, sounding a B, or reaching up a half step to the C two octaves above middle C.

Moving the hand up the neck, so the first finger takes the place of the second finger, brings the player into second position. Letting the first finger take the first-position place of the third finger brings the player to third position, and so on. The upper limit of the violin's range is largely determined by the skill of the player, who may easily play more than two octaves on a single string, and four octaves on the instrument as a whole.

The same note will sound substantially different depending on what string is used to play it. Sometimes the composer or arranger will specify the string to be used in order to achieve their desired tone quality.

Open strings

A special timbre results from playing a note on an open string, or without touching its string with a finger. Open string notes (G, D, A, E) have a very distinct sound resulting from absence of the damping action of a finger. Other than low G (which can be played in no other way), open strings are usually selected for special effects. In classical music, an open string is sometimes considered to make a rather harsh sound and, in most cases, should be avoided.

Playing an open string simultaneously with a stopped note on an adjacent string produces a bagpipe-like drone, often used by composers in imitation of folk music. Sometimes the two notes are identical (for instance, playing a fingered A on the D string against the open A string), giving a ringing sort of "fiddling" sound.

Audio samples
Style	Audio (Ogg)
Fingered	67 KB
Open	49 KB
Double-stop	90 KB
Pizzicato	44 KB
Vibrato	55 KB
See the Violins category at Misplaced Pages Commons for more media

Double stops and drones

Double stopping is when two separate strings are stopped by the fingers, and bowed simultaneously, producing a part of a chord. Sometimes moving to a higher position is necessary for the left hand to be able to reach both notes at once. Sounding an open string alongside a fingered note is another way to get a partial chord. While sometimes also called a double stop, it is more properly called a drone, as the drone note may be sustained for a passage of different notes played on the adjacent string. Three or four notes can also be played at one time (triple and quadruple stops, respectively), and, according to the style of music, the notes might all be played simultaneously or might be played as two successive double stops, favoring the higher notes.

Vibrato

Vibrato is a technique of the left hand and arm in which the pitch of a note varies in a pulsating rhythm. While various parts of the hand or arm may be involved in the motion, the end result is a movement of the fingertip bringing about a slight change in vibrating string length. Violinists oscillate backwards, or lower in pitch from the actual note when using vibrato, since perception favors the highest pitch in a varying sound. Vibrato does little, if anything, to disguise an out-of-tune note: in other words, vibrato is a poor substitute for good intonation. Music students are taught that unless otherwise marked in music, vibrato is assumed or even mandatory. This can be an obstacle to a classically-trained violinist wishing to play in a style that uses little or no vibrato at all, such as baroque music played in period style and many traditional fiddling styles.

The "when" and "what for" of violin vibrato are artistic matters of style and taste, perhaps beyond the reach of this article. In acoustical terms, the interest that vibrato adds to the sound has to do with the way that the overtone mix (or tone color, or timbre) and the directional pattern of sound projection change with changes in pitch. By "pointing" the sound at different parts of the room in a rhythmic way, vibrato adds a "shimmer" or "liveliness" to the sound of a well-made violin. See Schleske and Weinreich.

Harmonics

Lightly touching the string with a fingertip at a harmonic node while bowing close to the bridge can create harmonics. Instead of the normal solid tone a wispy-sounding overtone note of a higher pitch is heard. Each node is at an integer division of the string, for example half-way or one-third along the length of the string. A responsive instrument will provide numerous possible harmonic nodes along the length of the string.

Harmonics are marked in music with a little circle above the note that determines the pitch of the harmonic. There are two types of harmonics: natural harmonics and artificial harmonics (also known as false harmonics).

Artificial harmonics are more difficult to produce than the natural harmonics described above. Stopping a note on one string and having another finger just touching the string a fourth higher produces the fourth harmonic, two octaves above the stopped note. Finger placement and pressure, as well as bow speed, pressure, and sounding point are all essential in getting the desired harmonic to sound.

The "harmonic finger" can also touch at a major third above the pressed note, or a fifth higher. These harmonics are less commonly used; in the case of the major third, the harmonic does not speak as readily; in the case of the fifth, the stretch is greater than is comfortable for many violinists.

Elaborate passages in artificial harmonics can be found in virtuoso violin literature, especially of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Right Hand & Tone Colour

The right arm, hand, and bow are responsible for tone quality, rhythm, dynamics, articulation, and certain (but not all) changes in timbre.

Bowing techniques

The violin produces louder notes with greater bow speed or more weight on the string. The two methods are not equivalent, because they produce different timbres; pressing down on the string tends to produce a harsher, more intense sound.

The sounding point where the bow intersects the string also influences timbre. Playing close to the bridge (sul ponticello) gives a more intense sound than usual, emphasizing the higher harmonics; and playing with the bow over the end of the fingerboard (sul tasto) makes for a delicate, ethereal sound, emphasizing the fundamental frequency. Dr. Suzuki referred to the sounding point as the "Kreisler highway"; one may think of different sounding points as "lanes" in the highway.

Various methods of 'attack' with the bow produce different articulations.

Pizzicato

A note marked pizz. (abbreviation for pizzicato) in the written music is to be played by plucking the string with a finger of the right hand rather than by bowing. (The index finger is most commonly used here.) Sometimes in virtuoso solo music where the bow hand is occupied (or for show-off effect), left-hand pizzicato will be indicated by a "+" (plus sign) below or above the note.

Col legno

A marking of col legno (Italian for "with the wood") in the written music calls for striking the string(s) with the stick of the bow, rather than by drawing the hair of the bow across the strings. This bowing technique is somewhat rarely used, and results in a muted percussive sound. The eerie quality of a violin section playing col legno is exploited in some symphonic pieces, notably the "witches' dance" of the last movement of Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique. Some violinists, however, object to this style of playing as it can damage the finish and impair the value of a fine bow.

Mute

Attaching a small metal or rubber device called a "mute" to the bridge of the violin gives a more mellow tone, with fewer audible overtones. Parts to be played muted are marked con sord., for the Italian sordino, mute. (The instruction to play normally, without the mute, is senza sord.) There are also massive metal, rubber, or wooden mutes available. These are known as "practice mutes" or "hotel mutes". Such mutes are generally not used in performance, but are used to deaden the sound of the violin in practice areas such as hotel rooms. Some composers have used practice mutes for special effect, for example at the end of Luciano Berio's Sequenza VIII for solo violin.

Making and maintenance

File:10a thumb.jpg

Constructing a new violin; image courtesy of www.TheViolinSite.com

Main article: Violin making and maintenance

Making

The traditional approach starts with a set of plans, which include a drawing of the outer shape of the instrument. The outer contour is designed by the violin maker, and today the outlines of the old masters' violins are usually used. From these plans a template is constructed, which can be made from thin metal or other materials, and is a flat "half-violin" shape. The template is used to construct a mould, which is a thick violin-shaped piece of wood with notches to hold the blocks temporarily glued in place.

The ribs, flat pieces of wood curved by means of careful heating, are built around the mould, being glued to the blocks. The front and back are carved sections which fit the garland of ribs after it is separated from the mould. When the body is complete, the neck, carved out of a separate piece of wood (usually maple), is set in its mortise to complete the basic structure of the instrument, after which it is varnished.

Vital to the sound and playability of the instrument is setup, which includes adjusting the neck angle if needed, fitting the pegs so they turn smoothly and hold firmly, dressing the fingerboard to the proper scooped shape, fitting the soundpost and bridge, adjusting the tailgut and installing the tailpiece, and stringing up. A chinrest may be put on at this time.

Then the instrument begins the playing-in process, as its parts adjust to the string tension. The sound of a violin may be said to "open up" in the first weeks and months of use, a process which continues more gradually over the years.

Maintenance

A violin requires care and maintenance to preserve its playing qualities. Some of this care is simply common sense, like keeping the instrument clean. While some maintenance procedures can be done by the owner, others are best left to a qualified repair person.

Violinists often wipe the top and fingerboard with a soft cloth to remove accumulated rosin dust. If left for long enough, the rosin will fuse with the varnish, turning it black in that area. The bow stick is also wiped off for the same reason. A careful violin owner does this cleaning every time the instrument is played.

Cleaning the rosin off strings can also make a striking difference to the sound, and is also done regularly. A common wine cork serves admirably, quietly scrubbing off the crust of rosin without damaging the winding of the string. The use of alcohol is generally avoided, as it easily damages violin varnish in ways which may be difficult or impossible to restore.

The violin can be occasionally checked by a technician, who will know if repairs need to be made. The tuning pegs may occasionally be treated with "peg dope" when they either slip too freely, causing the string to go flat or slack, or when they stick, making tuning difficult.

For the bow, care consists of regular cleaning of the stick with a cloth. Bow hairs sometimes break when the instrument is played; this is perfectly normal. However, if it seems there are more bits of broken hair at the end of the bow than can be accounted for, the bow might have "bow bugs." They are eliminated by vacuuming both the bow and its case. When so many hairs have been lost that the bow no longer plays well, the bow is "rehaired", and the old horsehair replaced with new hair. When the bow is not being used, the hair is loosened in order to prevent the bow from becoming "sprung" and the hair stretched.

Some folk players do not clean rosin from the body of their instrument, believing that an accumulation over time improves the tone of their instrument. Others playing in the same traditions do keep theirs cleaned. The practice of allowing the rosin to accumulate may have originated in times and places when rosin was hard to obtain. The bow could be recharged by passing it over the collected rosin on the fiddle's belly.

History

Main article: History of the violin

An intricately carved 17th century (believed 1660) British Royal Family violin, on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

The violin first emerged in northern Italy in the early 16th century. Most likely the first makers of violins borrowed from three different types of current instruments: the rebec, in use since the 10th century (itself derived from the Arab rebab), the Renaissance fiddle, and the lira da braccio. The earliest explicit description of the instrument, including its tuning, was in the Epitome musical by Jambe de Fer, published in Lyons in 1556. By this time the violin had already begun to spread throughout Europe.

It is said that the first real violin was built by Andrea Amati in the first half of the 16th century by order of the Medici family, who had asked for an instrument that could be used by street-musicians, but with the quality of a lute, which was a very popular instrument among the noble in that time. Needless to say, the violin immediately became very popular, both among street-musicians and the nobility, illustrated by the fact that the French king Charles IX ordered Amati to build a whole orchestra in the second half of the 16th century.

The oldest surviving violin, dated inside, is the "Charles IX" by Andrea Amati, made in Cremona in 1564. "The Messiah" or "Le Messie" (also known as the 'Salabue') made by Antonio Stradivari in 1716 remains pristine, never having been used. It is now located in the Ashmolean Museum of Oxford.

The most famous violin makers, called luthiers, between the late 16th century and the 18th century included:

Amati family of Italian violin makers, Andrea Amati (1500-1577), Antonio Amati (1540-1607), Hieronymous Amati I (1561-1630), Nicolo Amati (1596-1684), Hieronymous Amati II (1649-1740)
Guarneri family of Italian violin makers, Andrea Guarneri (1626- 1698), Pietro of Mantua (1655-1720), Giuseppe Guarneri (Joseph filius Andreae) (1666-1739), Pietro Guarneri (of Venice) (1695-1762), and Giuseppe (del Gesu) (1698-1744)
Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737) of Cremona
Jacob Stainer (1617-1683) of Absam in Tyrol

It is still believed, perhaps erroneously, that at the beginning of the 18th century, the violin was built in a way that can be expressed as "perfect." It is commonly asserted that "Never since that time has a major improvement been made to the instrument", but changes have occurred, particularly to do with the length and angle of the neck, as well as a heavier bass bar. The majority of old instruments have undergone these modifications, and hence are in a significantly different state than when they left the hands of their makers, doubtless with differences in sound and response.

Nevertheless, instruments of approximately 300 years of age, especially those made by Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesù, are the most sought after instruments (for both collectors and performers). In addition to the skill and reputation of the maker, an instrument's age can also influence both price and quality.

Musical styles

Main article: Musical styles (violin)

Classical music

Since the Baroque era the violin has been one of the most important of all instruments in classical music, for several reasons. The tone of the violin stands out above other instruments, making it appropriate for playing a melody line. In the hands of a good player, the violin is extremely agile, and can execute rapid and difficult sequences of notes.

The violin is also considered a very expressive instrument, which is often felt to approximate the human voice. This may be due to the possibility of vibrato and of slight expressive adjustments in pitch and timbre. Many leading composers have contributed to the violin concerto and violin sonata repertories.

Violins make up a large part of an orchestra, and are usually divided into two sections, known as the first and second violins. Composers often assign the melody to the first violins, while second violins play harmony, accompaniment patterns or the melody an octave lower than the first violins. A string quartet similarly has parts for first and second violins, as well as a viola part, and a bass instrument, such as the cello or, rarely, the bass.

Jazz

The violin is used as a solo instrument in jazz, though it is a relative rarity in this genre; compared to other instruments, like saxophone, trumpet, piano and guitar, the violin appears fairly infrequently. It is, however, very well suited to jazz playing, and many players have exploited its qualities well.

The earliest references to jazz performance using the violin as a solo instrument are documented during the first decades of the 20th century. The first great jazz violinist was Joe Venuti who is best known for his work with guitarist Eddie Lang during the 1920s. Since that time there have been many superb improvising violinists including Stéphane Grappelli, Stuff Smith, Ray Perry, Ray Nance, Claude "Fiddler" Williams, Leroy Jenkins, Billy Bang, Mat Maneri, Malcolm Goldstein. Other notable jazz violinists are Regina Carter and Jean-Luc Ponty.

Violins also appear in ensembles supplying orchestral backgrounds to many jazz recordings.

Popular music

While the violin has had very little usage in rock music compared to its brethren the guitar and bass guitar, it is increasingly being absorbed into mainstream pop with artists like Vanessa Mae, Bond, Linda Brava, Miri Ben-Ari, Nigel Kennedy, Yellowcard, Dave Matthews Band with Boyd Tinsley, Arcade Fire, Jean-Luc Ponty and Camper Van Beethoven. Independent artists such as Final Fantasy and Andrew Bird have also spurred increased interest in the instrument.

The hugely popular Motown recordings of the 60's and 70's relied heavily on strings as part of their trademark texture. Earlier genres of pop music, at least those separate from the Rock 'n' Roll movement, tended to make use of fairly traditional orchestras, sometimes large ones; examples include the American "Crooners" such as Bing Crosby.

Up to the 1970s, most types of popular music used bowed strings, but the rise of electronically created music in the 1980s saw a decline in their use, as synthesized string sections took their place. Since the end of the 20th century, real strings have began making a comeback in pop music.

Indian and Arabic pop music is filled with the sound of violins, both soloists and ensembles.

Indian Classical Music

The violin is a very important part of South Indian classical music (Carnatic music). The violin is primarily used as support for a vocalist, as the sound of a violin complements that of the singer. It is also used in solo concerts where the violinist is accompanied by percussion instruments, usually the Mridangam and the Ghatam.

The violin is also a principal instrument for South Indian Film music. Ilayaraja and A. R. Rahman have used the violin very effectively in this genre.

Folk music and fiddling

Like many other instruments of classical music, the violin descends from remote ancestors that were used for folk music. Following a stage of intensive development in the late Renaissance, largely in Italy, the violin had improved (in volume, tone, and agility), to the point that it not only became a very important instrument in art music, but proved highly appealing to folk musicians as well, ultimately spreading very widely, sometimes displacing earlier bowed instruments. Ethnomusicologists have observed its widespread use in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

In many traditions of folk music, the tunes are not written but are memorized by successive generations of musicians and passed on in both informal and formal contexts.

Fiddle

When played as a folk instrument, the violin is ordinarily referred to in English as a fiddle.

One very slight difference between "fiddles" and ordinary violins may be seen in American (e.g., bluegrass and old-time music) fiddling: in these styles, the top of the bridge may be cut so that it is very slightly less curved. This reduces the range of right-arm motion required for the rapid string-crossings found in some styles, and is said to make it easier to play double stops, or to make triple stops possible, allowing one to play chords.

Various clichés describe the difference: "The violin sings, the fiddle dances." or "A fiddle is a violin with attitude." In reality, there is usually only one fiddle playing in any given venue. Twin fiddling is represented in some North American and Scandinavian styles, but it is said that two traditional Irish fiddlers in the same room makes about as much sense as having two storytellers going at the same time. By contrast, violins often play in sections, since sound reinforcement (before electronic amplification) was only possible by adding instruments.

Fiddle playing is characterized by a huge variety of ethnic or regional traditions, each of which has its own distinctive sound, including, but not limited to:

American fiddling, including
- Old Time fiddling
- New England style fiddling
- Cajun fiddling
- Texas style fiddling
- Contest Fiddling
- Bluegrass fiddling
Arab Music
Balkan Music, Táncház (Hungarian) and Romanian music

Canadian fiddling, including
- Cape Breton fiddling, with a distinct Scottish and Acadian influence
- Québécois fiddling, influenced from the Brittany area of northern France
- Newfoundland fiddling, with a strong Irish Sliabh Luachra style of playing
English fiddling
French fiddling (including a rich Breton fiddling tradition)
Irish fiddling (with many distinct styles, including, for example, the Donegal fiddle tradition)
Nordic folk fiddling (including Hardanger fiddling)
Scottish fiddling
Slovenian fiddling
South Indian Carnatic fiddling

MIDI

The sound of a real violin can be simulated electronically with the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) system, using electronic synthesis. Under MIDI, all instruments are assigned a number; a single violin played arco is instrument #41 (where the numbering begins from 1). Though general MIDI does not allow for distinction between up bows and down bows, it is possible to differentiate between staccato and legato by adjusting note durations (most notation software capable of outputting MIDI can handle this). General MIDI also provides for regular pizzicato but not left-hand pizzicato; in any case, under MIDI, pizzicato strings are at most an approximation of the actual sound.

Composers for violin

Classical violinists