Glossary of stringed instruments

The violin from A to Z: In our glossary of stringed instruments, we explain terms from the world of string instruments, featuring articles about violin making, musical performance, accessories, etc.

This part of our violin forum is a work in progress: it will be updated on a regular basis, and it goes without saying that there are still gaps. We welcome your input about articles you’d particularly like to see.

• Adult beginner on the violin?
      Hello everyone! What do you think ― is it too late for a 32-year-old to learn ...
• Alemannic violins (Alemannic School)
  Scholars who study the history of instrument making define the tradition known as the Alemannic School ...
• Back
  The underside of a stringed instrument is its back. It is connected to the top of ...
• Bass bar
  The bass bar is a strip of wood glued to the inside of the top of ...
• Bausch, Ludwig Christian August (bow maker)
  Contemporaries of Ludwig Christian August Bausch referred to him as the “German Tourte.” Famous violinists of ...
• Bow
  The bow’s purpose is to generate sound from a string instrument by being pulled along the ...
• Bridge
  The bridge is one of the parts of a violin, cello or other string instrument which ...
• Bushing
  Bushing is a repair to the peg box in which new peg holes are drilled. This ...
• Button
  The “button” is the amusing name given to the handle on the screw used to tighten ...
• Carbon bow
  The carbon bow is a string bow made of carbon fibres. It was developed in the ...
• Cello (violoncello)
  The cello, which is technically called a violoncello (plural: celli or violoncelli), is a stringed instrument ...
• Chaconne (Johann Sebastian Bach, BWV 1004)
  The structure, context and interpretations of the famous Chaconne by Johann Sebastian Bach from Partita #2 ...
• Chair of Musical Instrument Making / Musical Acoustics – Vacancies
  Professorship of Musical Instrument Making / Musical Acoustics Ladies and Gentlemen, We would like to draw your ...
• Delicious “smoothies” for rhythmic practice
      A healthy recipe for better speed and intonation – a Violinorum practice tip There are some things ...
• Détaché
  Détaché describes the basic technique in playing string instruments in which every note is played with ...
• Dietl, Gustav (luthier)
  Gustav Dietl was a luthier from the village of Schönbach in what is now Czechia. He ...
• Down bow
  A down bow is the movement in which the bow is moved to the player’s right, ...
• Ebony
  Ebony is a collective term for tropical hardwoods of different varietals from the genus Diospyros. Only ...
• Endpin
  Crafted from metal or composite materials, the endpin (also called a spike) is a long stick ...
• Fine-tuners
  Fine-tuners are devices placed on the tail of a violin, viola or cello to allow more ...
• Fingerboard
  In stringed instruments of the violin family, the fingerboard generally does not have frets or markings; ...
• Frog
  The frog helps the hairs of the bow achieve the necessary tension. It is not known ...
• Grafting
  Grafting is a complicated repair in which the neck of a string instrument is replaced, but ...
• Gut strings
  Until well into the 20th century, gut strings were the primary kind of strings used in ...
• How can you tell if a bow is good?
      Hello everybody, About six months ago I got busy with other things and gave up my rental ...
• Krouchdaler, Hans (Krauchthaler)
  Hans Krouchdaler (also spelled Krauchthaler) was a master luthier of historic violins and one of the ...
• Maple (sycamore maple, sycamore)
  Acer pseudoplatanus is a member of the maple family and called sycamore in the UK and ...
• Mute
  A mute for a string instrument is a clip of wood (usually ebony), metal, plastic or ...
• Paris, 1838: Fine violin by Jacques-Pierre Thibout for sale
  The works of Jacques-Pierre Thibout were in demand like old Italian masterpieces – and were traded ...
• Pernambuco
  Ever since the days of François Xavier Tourte (1747/48-1835), pernambuco has been the most popular kind ...
• Purfling
  Purfling is an inlay placed a few millimetres from the edge of the top or back ...
• Scroll
  A scroll is the most commonly used traditional shape that artistically crowns the peg box of ...
• Spruce (“hazel spruce,” “moon wood”)
  Other than European silver fir, spruce has traditionally served as the tone wood of choice for ...
• Top
  The top, as the name suggests, is the upper part or “face” of a stringed instrument. ...
• tune a violin
  Once again I have a few beginner’s questions ? this time about violin tuning, what to ...
• Up bow
  The up bow is the stroke in which the player moves the arm from right to ...
• Viola
  The viola is a stringed instrument which belongs to the violin family (along with the violin ...
• Violin lessons online: an emergency solution or an opportunity? A guide for students and teachers
  In the course of only a few weeks online violin lessons have gone from being regarded ...
• Violin tuning – online or analog?
  In the past, a tuning fork or whistle was part of the basic equipment of a ...
• Violins and wintertime
  Tips for transporting and acclimatizing your instrument Winter is an unpredictable time of year, at least in ...
• What’s so special about old violins?
      Can someone please explain what’s so special about old violins? Okay, fine, they’re usually prettier if ...