The History of Violin is Traced Back Thousands of Years

Do you know that the violin dates back over several thousand years ago? The history of the violin starts from its ancient stringed precursors known as the ravanstron, the rebec, and the rabab, as well as the rote and the vielle that emerged in the 11th century, to its current form that was created in the 16th century.

Back in 16th century Italy, a family name Medici commissioned the famous lute maker, Andrea Amati to create a stringed musical instrument that sounded similar to a lyre, but was small enough to be carried. These first violins were extremely successful that King Charles IX of France ordered Amati to create an entire orchestra of the instruments.

In fact, violins from this very orchestra, dating back to 1564, are still in existence. In the 18th century, a man named Antonio Stradivari finally built a violin that became the basis from which all violin models today are formed.

Violins are designed to withstand the test of time. They are small and hollow wooden instruments with a long neck and four lines of string tuned a fifth pitch from each other, from low to high. While there are electric violins that have been built, they have not deviated from this basic design.

Normally made from spruce or maple, the violin's fingerboard is manufactured from ebony or ivory. Strings in the past were made of gut, but today they are made from different materials, such as metal, nylon perlon, or synthetic core.

This beautiful and graceful stringed instrument with its ancient beginnings is still being played today, from concert violinists stroking their bows across priceless Stradivaris to beginners plucking the strings of rented instruments while taking online violin lessons.