Violin History
Many other stringed instruments existed before the violin. The only problem is we know so little about them. Scholars and historians only know about these instruments from ancient artwork and written records.
The violin was born in Italy in the 16th century. The instrument makers of the time were more than likely influenced by other stringed instruments of the time. The ravanstron, rebec, and rabab are stringed instruments that were used thousands of years ago. These instruments surely paved the way to the modern violin. By the 11th century two main types of violin-like instruments were very popular, the rote and vielle. These instruments featured strings and fingerboards that a player could press in order to produce different pitches. The vielle was probably the most similar to the violin as they would contain two to five strings that could be plucked or bowed.
In the 16th century the Medici family hired a famous lute builder, Andrea Amati, to produce an instrument small enough for street musicians with a sound quality similar to a lyre. Thus the violin was born. This violin was so successful that Amati was commissioned by King Charles IX of France to build an entire orchestra. The oldest violin still in existence today was built in 1564 and was a part of this orchestra.
The Amati family worked along side fellow Italian families like the Guarneris and the Stradivaris. They continued to revise and refine the violin's design until the 18th century, when Antonio Stradivari built a violin that formed the basis for all future models. This design proved to be able to support the needs of musicians and has remained virtually unchanged. Variations with a modern twist such as the electric violin are found today, but the basic concepts remain unchanged to this day.
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