How does a violin make a sound?

Question

If known, please add how the pitch is controlled.

Answer 1

The violin makes sound when the strings are plucked or bowed, this causes the strings to vibrate. Vibration causes sound. When the strings are tightened then when the strings are played it produces a higher sound. The sound comes out of the f holes of the violin. If there are cracks around the seams of the violin the sound will not be as nice. So if your violin is old it may need to be checked by an experienced violin repairman to make sure it produces a nice sound. Also, there is a sound post inside the violin and if the post is not there it probably not even play.
The names of the strings are G,D, 440 A, E.
There are pegs to tune the violin to. When the pegs are turned they loosen or tighten the strings depending on which way you turn them. If they are tightened too much the string will break. a person may use a pitch pipe, or a electric tuner, or a piano( not best) to tune to. Beginner violins have fine tuners to adjust the pitch with after the string is mostly in tune
You can purchase a beginning violin book at a music store and it will show pictures of how to hold the instrument correctly, and tips on how to tune it. It is usually best to get a teacher to instruct you , especially if you have had no lessons previously.
Hope this answers your questions.

Answer 2

Producing sound on a violin is really quite a complex series of events. Let's try to make this as simple as possible while making sure that the majority of the steps are included.

A violin consists of many parts. Here is a diagram showing some of the parts. It may be helpful to look at this while you read the explanation. http://www.violinstudent.com/violinmap.html

In it's most basic format the violin consists of 4 strings. From high to low they are tuned to E, A, D, and G.

One end of each string is connected to the "tailpiece" of the violin. The string runs across a "bridge", crosses a "nut" and is inserted into the hole of a peg at the scroll end of the violin. The bridge and the nut suspend the strings above a fingerboard and the violin's body so that the string will be able to vibrate freely. I am able to adjust the tension on the strings by turning the pegs at the scroll end of the violin. As the pegs are turned away from you, (as you look at the front of the instrument) the string is tightened. Turning the peg toward you will loosen the string. If I turn the strings tightly enough they will become tight enough that they will actually vibrate as they are plucked.

A more careful look at the strings will show you that the E, or highest string is the thinnest, then comes the A, then the D and the G. So as the strings get progressively thicker, the note produced by the string gets progressively lower or deeper.

Let's handle this slightly out of order, but we'll come back to the tuning.

Assuming the violin has been tuned, you can pluck the string. (The process of bowing will be discussed in a moment. Plucking is simpler.)

Plucking the string starts it vibrating. The vibration of the string causes the bridge, which runs between the string and the instrument's belly, to vibrate. The bridge’s vibration makes the violin’s belly vibrate. This causes the rest body of the instrument to vibrate. It also causes the "bass bar" and the "sound post" inside the violin to vibrate. The belly, ribs, back, bass bar and sound post all vibrating cause the air inside the violin to vibrate. Voila! Sound! The sound comes out the "f-holes" and carries through the air to the listener's ear.

If the sound is too high, you turn the peg slightly forward, which loosens the string slightly, which brings the pitch down. Turning the peg back will tighten the string, bringing the pitch of the string up. Here is a page that discusses tuning in more detail. http://www.violinstudent.com/tuning.

You will note that on some violins there are little finger screws on the tailpiece of the violin. These “fine tuners” allow you to make more precise adjustments of the tension on the string, and make tuning the strings easier, especially for younger violinists.

Okay, that's the basics of sound production. What about the bow? The horse hair of a bow is pulled across the strings of a violin. A brand new bow will make little or no sound on the instrument. The hair will simply slide across the strings producing a whispering, whistling whine. You need to prepare the hair by making it sticky. This is done by coating the hair with "rosin," which is prepared pine sap. The stickiness of the rosin allows the hair to pull on the strings which causes the vibration. There is a more complex discussion of rosin and how it works here. http://www.violinstudent.com/rosin.html

So, we have a violin whose strings and body vibrating produce sound. We know that the thickness of the strings as well as the tightness of the string determines the note the string produces. This basically allows us to produce four notes. For the most part, the rest of the notes are determined by the length of the string. I can't stretch the violin's neck, but I can place my fingers on the string, pinning it to the fingerboard (look at the picture I mentioned above). This causes only the portion between the finger and the bridge to vibrate, which makes a higher note than if I simply play an "open" string.

I hope this helps!

Answer 3

the pitch is controlled by the strain of the violin strings. It makes a sound because the bow causes a friction when played across the strings.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

The string on a violin vibrates to make sound, and the sound is amplified by the shape of the violin.

Pitch is controlled by adjusting the tension on the string, or by altering the size of the string.