Playing the violin entails holding the instrument under the chin, supported by the left shoulder (see below for variations of this posture). The strings are sounded either by drawing the bow across them (arco), or sometimes by plucking them (pizzicato). The left hand regulates the sounding length of the strings by stopping them against the fingerboard with the fingers, producing different notes.
Read more about Playing The Violin: Posture, Left Hand: Producing Pitch, Right Hand and Tone Color, Mute, Tuning, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words playing the, playing and/or violin:
“Lovely,
this plowmans son
with the good-looking wife
has gone so thin over you
that the woman,
though jealous,
is playing the go-between herself!”
—Hla Stavhana (c. 50 A.D.)
“When you take a light perspective, its easier to step back and relax when your child doesnt walk until fifteen months, . . . is not interested in playing ball, wants to be a cheerleader, doesnt want to be a cheerleader, has clothes strewn in the bedroom, has difficulty making friends, hates piano lessons, is awkward and shy, reads books while you are driving through the Grand Canyon, gets caught shoplifting, flunks Spanish, has orange and purple hair, or is lesbian or gay.”
—Charlotte Davis Kasl (20th century)
“So I cradle this average violin that knows
Only forgotten showtunes, but argues
The possibility of free declamation anchored
To a dull refrain....”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)