In 7th century Greece, there was an instrument called the kithara, a seven stringed lyre, the

features of which were very different from the violin. The 13th century French vielle was very
different from the rebec. It had five strings and a larger body, which was closer in shape and
size to the modern violin, with ribs shaped to allow for easier bowing. There is no reference
to the word violin until the reign of Henry VIII, but something very much like the violin
existed, and its name was fydyl.

In 15th century Italy, two distinct kinds of bowed instruments emerged. One was fairly square
in shape and held in the arms and was called a lira da braccio or viola da braccio, meaning
viol of the arm. The other bowed instrument was a viola da gamba, meaning viol for the leg.
These gambas were important instruments during the Renaissance period, but were
gradually replaced by the louder instruments of the less aristocratic lira da braccio family as
the modern violin developed.

The violin first appeared in the Brescia area of Northern Italy in the early sixteenth century.
The first clear description of the violin, depicting its fretless appearance and tuning, was in
the 1556 Epitome Musicale by Jambe de Fer. By this time the violin had begun to spread
throughout Europe. It was mainly used to perform dance music but was introduced into the
upper classes as an ensemble instrument.

Where the viol, which was preferred in aristocratic circles, had been perfect for contrapuntal
music and for accompanying the voice, the violin was normally played by professional
musicians, servants and illiterate folk musicians. “The violin is very different from the viol. I
did not put the said violin in a diagram, for you can consider it upon the viol, joined that few
persons are found who make use of it other than those who, by their labour on it, make their
living. ”Jambe de Fer from the Journal of the Viola Da Gamba Society of America, November
1967.

The viola and cello developed alongside the violin in early 16th century Italy. The first
four-stringed violin by Amati was dated 1555 and the oldest surviving of his instruments is
from around 1560, but between 1542 and 1546, Amati also made several three-stringed
violins. Amati built his violins using a mould, which meant the measurements became much
more precise. The Brescian school of luthiers had existed for 50 years before violin making
began in Cremona, but the Cremona school gained prominence after 1630, when the
bubonic plague swept Northern Italy and eliminated much of the Brescian competition.

Italy had managed to avoid the thirty-year war and development of the instrument continued
in a golden age of culture. Andrea Amati mastered many apprentices, and produced a
dynasty of violinmakers, including the Guarneris, Bergonzis, and Rugeris His own sons
followed him into the trade, and his grandson, Nicoló Amati, the most famous Amati, trained
Antonio Stradivarius. His violins are some of the most imitated by modern makers today. The
violin, originally an instrument of the lower classes, continued to gain popularity, becoming
integral in the orchestra during the seventeenth century as composers such as Monteverdi
began writing for the new string family.

The instrument continued to develop between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, and
the surviving historic violins have all undergone alterations. The violin bow changed
dramatically in around 1786, when Françoise Xavier Tourte invented the modern violin bow
by changing the bend to arch backwards and standardising the length and weight. The violin
fingerboard was lengthened in the 19th century, to enable the violinist to be able to play the
highest notes. The neck of the modern violin was lengthened by one centimetre to
accommodate the raising of pitch in the 19th century and the bass bar was made heavier to
allow for greater string tension.

Where classical luthiers would fix the neck to the instrument by nailing and gluing it to the
upper block of the body before attaching the soundboard, the neck of the modern violin is
mortised to the body once it is completely assembled. By the 18th and 19th century the violin
had become extremely popular. By the late 18th century, makers had begun to use
varnished developed to dry more quickly. The quality of the wood used in violin making has
been affected by the lack of purity of modern water as nearly all substances dissolved in
water permanently penetrate wood.

By the 19th century violins were being mass-produced all over Europe. Millions were made
in France, Saxony and the Mittenwald, in what is now Germany, Austria, Italy and Bohemia,
now part of the Czech Republic. It is partly for this reason that the violins of the early Italian
masters are so prized, so well regarded and so expensive. A Stradivarius violin will now sell
for many millions, the most expensive so far on record sold for $16million in 2011.

More recently, new violins were invented for modern use. The Romanian Stroh violin used
amplification like that of a gramophone to boost the volume. In the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, before electronic amplification became common, these violins with trumpet-like
bells were used in the recording studio where a violin with a directional horn suited the
demands of early recording technology better than a traditional acoustic instrument. Electric
and electro-acoustic violins have also been developed.

An electro-acoustic violin may be played with or without amplification, but a solid bodied
electric violin makes little or no sound without electronic sound reinforcement. Electric violins
can have as many as seven strings and can be used with equalisers and even sound effects
pedals, a far cry from the exacting acoustic knowledge which created the great violins of the
Italian Renaissance.