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Mystery of the violin/ mysterious violin

The violin instrument, seemingly a simple wooden pear-shaped box with two precisely carved “F”
letters -wholes, four strings attached to it and a long neck, is surrounded by the legends that it is the
devil’s instrument.

The origin of this instrument comes from the 15th century from Arabic instruments such as rubab and
rabec. For this reason, many people consider the fact that the violin has Eastern roots as evil. Some
others, in turn, relate it to the person – the player who possesses the instrument, for example diabolic
Niccolo Paganini marvelously playing a melody, even just on one string while the other three broke.
Anyway, the fathers of the violin are Italians: Amati from Cremona, Gasparo da Salo from Salon and of
course prodigious Antonio Stradivari whose instruments are incomparable to the mass production of
nowadays violins.

The violin is consisted of: the body - the largest part; chin rest – a wooden part providing support
for the player; “F” wholes - directing the sound out of the violin; the bridge - a piece of wood
on which strings G,D, A, E lay; neck , fingerboard – underneath the strings; peg box- above the
neck, used for tuning ,and scroll – at the very top of the instrument, carved part. The constant
accompaniment to the violin is the bow – a wooden stick with synthetic or horse hair attached
to it.

Simply saying, the mystery of the violin is mainly the wood, the varnish, its shape and obviously, the
player. It is a real puzzle. Maple, spruce, ebony, boxwood, willow, poplar and rosewood are
considered as the best wood, preferably from the old growth trees in high altitudes. A mix of pine
resin, common oil with oil paints and a red pigment supposedly creates the best varnish.
About shape, there are many theories but precision definitely counts. Above all, the player
is the necessary ingredient.

To play the violin and then, completely posses it, demands years of patience as practicing is
very absorbing. The sound of the violin is produced by drawing the bow across one of the four
strings or by plucking the string with a finger .To get the first proper sound of the violin, you
must hold it properly (under the chin on the left side) and use the shoulder pad for comfort.
The right hand holds the bow at the bottom called “frog” and draws the bow over the strings .
Everything is significant, even the posture of the body, hands and arms. Then, you gradually
learn all the position of the notes and the process of learning is constantly expanded.

The sound of the violin is often described from delicate, mellow, shy, sensible through cautious
to confident, spacious or abrasive and edgy. This definitely explains why the violin is a
mystifying instrument.
There are many proved benefits of learning violin, for example: memory improvement and
attention span; better overall mental function; sensory development (hearing, touch, and
sight) and even your social skills like: self – trust, self - confidence

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