Before Cremona- Where Did the Violin Come From?

By Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins
and Ivana Truong

Where did the violin family come from?

"1647 Nicola Amati Violin"

Used by permission of the author and publisher of BC, Before Cremona, All rights reserved

It's possible, although not probable, that Andrea Amati woke up one morning and said (in Italian, of course!) "Hey! I've got a great idea for a four stringed musical instrument that doesn't have any frets, is tuned in fifths, has f-holes, violin type corners, pegs that project out to the sides,  and that you play with a stick that has rosined horse hair on it." More likely, the instruments we know as the violin, viola, and cello slowly evolved from previous instruments and were an amalgamation of ideas for instruments that had preceded them by centuries.

Why Violins Aren't Viol

by Andy Fein, luthier at Fein Violins,

 and Joe Peterson

At a glance, violin family and viol family instruments are very similar. They are both made of wood, both are played by bowing the strings, and both names share the same first four letters. But do not let that fool you! There are plenty of factors that separate violins from viols.

The head of a tenor viol, made circa 1693 by G. Karpp