Did you know you can borrow musical instruments from the Toronto Public Library? We have different types of drums and guitars! Keyboards and ukuleles! And yes, violins!
The history of this amazing instrument goes back centuries. There are records of ancient Hebrews using stringed instruments. The earliest known bowed instrument is an Arabic instrument called the rabāb. It has two or three strings to play. The rabāb influenced the development of many other musical instruments.
The violin is also related to an instrument called the viol. Sometimes called the viola da gamba, the viol has six strings, while the average violin has four. The viol was popular in the 16th to 18th centuries.
Many historians believe that the modern violin originated in northern Italy, during the early 1500s. Andrea Amati founded a school of violin making. He has been credited with setting the form and style of the violin as we know it today. Amati apparently built a violin around 1560 that still exists today! You can admire it in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.
His grandson Nicolò Amati was also a notable violin maker. Nicolò had a student, Antonio Stradivari, who went on to become very famous. He came up with innovative designs and proportions which are still used.
For more notes on the history of the violin, check out these books!
