First violin? When?

The word “violin” is related to the word “viol”. The word violin comes from the Middle Latin
word vitula and It means stringed instrument,perhaps coming from Vitula the Roman godness
of joy.The violin is often called a fiddle, either when used in a folk music context, or even in
Classical music scenes, as an informal nickname for the instrument.

It is known that the first violin originated in Northern Italy in the early 1500’s. The exact
inventor isn’t known, believing that other violins were being played by the best violists during
the late 1400’s. However, prevailing theory credits Andrea Amati of Cremona, making the first
violin, due to the fact that the oldest violin in existence was fashioned by him.
The other claimant to the inventor of the violin is Gasparo di Bertolotti and he created
instruments as well.

Precursor of the violin?

The first stringed instruments were mostly plucked(for ex the greek lyre).the first violin
makers probably borrowed from various developments of the Byzantine area.These included
arabic rebab,the viele(also known as the fidel or viula)and lira da braccio.

interesting facts about the violin :

1. The modern violin has been around for roughly 500 years. It was said to have been designed
in the 1500’s by Andrea Amati.
2. Playing the violin burns approximately 170 calories per hour.
3. Violins are typically comprised of spruce or maple wood.
4. Violins come in many different sizes. Typically, students will start learning violin at a young
age with a 1/32 or 1/16 size violin. As the student ages they will graduate up to a full sized
violin.
5. Violins are very complex. Over 70 different pieces of wood are put together to form the
modern violin.
6. The word violin comes from the Latin word vitula, meaning stringed instrument;
7. The world record in cycling backwards playing a violin is 60.45 kilometres in 5 hours 8 seconds.
8. The most expensive violin in the world was made by Giuseppe Guarneri in 1741. This
extravagant violin was appraised with a value of $18 million.
9. Violin bows typically contain 150 to 200 hairs. They can be made up of a variety of materials
including nylon and horse hair.
10. Violin strings were first made of sheep gut (commonly known as catgut), which was stretched,
dried, and twisted. Other materials violin strings have been made out of include: solid steel,
stranded steel, or various synthetic materials, wound with various metals, and sometimes
plated with silver.