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The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, [a] is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino piccolo and the pochette, but these are virtually unused.
The origin of the violin family is unclear. [1] [2] Some say that the bow was introduced to Europe from the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world, [3] [4] [5] while others say the bow was not introduced from the Middle East but the other way around, and that the bow may have originated from more frequent contact between Northern and Western Europe.
A violin is a "little viola", a violone is a "big viola" or a bass violin, and a violoncello (often abbreviated cello) is a "small violone" (or literally, a "small big viola"). (The violone is not part of the modern violin family; its place is taken by the modern double bass, an instrument with a mix of violin and viol characteristics.)
A violin consists of a body or corpus, a neck, a finger board, a bridge, a soundpost, four strings, and various fittings.The fittings are the tuning pegs, tailpiece and tailgut, endpin, possibly one or more fine tuners on the tailpiece, and in the modern style of playing, usually a chinrest, either attached with the cup directly over the tailpiece or to the left of it.
The violin is primarily used as support for a vocalist, as the sound of a violin complements that of the singer, but is also largely played solo. In solo violin concerts, the violinist is accompanied by percussion instruments, usually the tabla, the mridangam and the ghatam. The violin is also a principal instrument for Indian film music. V.
The difference was likely compounded by the different sounds expected of violin music and fiddle music. Historically, the majority of fiddle music was dance music, [3] while violin music had either grown out of dance music or was something else entirely. Violin music came to value a smoothness that fiddling, with its dance-driven clear beat ...