# violin, tuning, strings and fretboard



## Pierre menard

I have some questions about the beatiful sounding instrument which is the violin:

How many strings does this instrument have?

What are the tuning of the strings? 

How many fretboards does it have (or if it had, how many would it be?)?

I have a feeling that it has four strings.........

My guitar have 23 (or is it 22?) fretboards......i guess the violin has less than this......but i dont know how many..........

Anybody know the right answers to these three questions?


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## Argus

Pierre menard said:


> I have some questions about the beatiful sounding instrument which is the violin:
> 
> How many strings does this instrument have?
> 
> What are the tuning of the strings?
> 
> How many fretboards does it have (or if it had, how many would it be?)?
> 
> I have a feeling that it has four strings.........
> 
> My guitar have 23 (or is it 22?) fretboards......i guess the violin has less than this......but i dont know how many..........
> 
> Anybody know the right answers to these three questions?


By fretboards I take it you mean frets. A guitar has one fretboard (unless it's a killer double-neck like Jimmy Page and John McLaughlin played in the 70's).

A violin has four strings, normally tuned from lowest to highest G, D, A, E. No frets.

I don't mean to come off as a knob, but whats wrong with using Wikipedia for finding out basic stuff like this.


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## Pierre menard

Argus said:


> By fretboards I take it you mean frets. A guitar has one fretboard (unless it's a killer double-neck like Jimmy Page and John McLaughlin played in the 70's).
> 
> A violin has four strings, normally tuned from lowest to highest G, D, A, E. No frets.
> 
> I don't mean to come off as a knob, but whats wrong with using Wikipedia for finding out basic stuff like this.


Yeah, ha, ha! I meant frets, i guess.......i thought frets and fretboard was the same......
You say it has no frets....i understand you, but do you know how many notes that span the neck......like if it had frets, how many would it be?

An other thing im wondering is if you can play chords, two or three notes simultaneously, with the violin? I guess you can do it if you play it like a guitar, but can you do it, is it done, with the that bow - thing?

Regarding your question about using wikipedia when finding out basic stuff.....it's much more fun asking in forums, i think.......i relish the excitement of anticipating and reading exciting, often more than not emotionaly tinged, answers....! Or something like that.....


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## Argus

Pierre menard said:


> Yeah, ha, ha! I meant frets, i guess.......i thought frets and fretboard was the same......
> You say it has no frets....i understand you, but do you know how many notes that span the neck......like if it had frets, how many would it be?
> 
> An other thing im wondering is if you can play chords, two or three notes simultaneously, with the violin? I guess you can do it if you play it like a guitar, but can you do it, is it done, with the that bow - thing?
> 
> Regarding your question about using wikipedia when finding out basic stuff.....it's much more fun asking in forums, i think.......i relish the excitement of anticipating and reading exciting, often more than not emotionaly tinged, answers....! Or something like that.....


Chords can be played but are called a double stop when 2 strings are sounded and triple stops for 3 strings. Due to the arc of the strings when looking down the neck, only adjacent strings can be sounded together when playing arco (bowed).

I'm not sure the exact range of a violin but I think it is similar to a guitar at about 3.5 to 4 octaves depending on the level of the player, plus harmonics extend the range further. One of the qualities of the violin family of instruments is that the player and composer aren't limited to the 12 tones likes on a piano. Quarter tones and further microtonal divisions of a semitone are available.


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## Pierre menard

Argus said:


> Chords can be played but are called a double stop when 2 strings are sounded and triple stops for 3 strings. Due to the arc of the strings when looking down the neck, only adjacent strings can be sounded together when playing arco (bowed).
> 
> I'm not sure the exact range of a violin but I think it is similar to a guitar at about 3.5 to 4 octaves depending on the level of the player, plus harmonics extend the range further. One of the qualities of the violin family of instruments is that the player and composer aren't limited to the 12 tones likes on a piano. Quarter tones and further microtonal divisions of a semitone are available.


hmmm, ok, thanks for clarifying......one question: You say harmonics extend the range further........hmmm.....i did not understand this....could you try to clarify this a little further?


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## Argus

Pierre menard said:


> hmmm, ok, thanks for clarifying......one question: You say harmonics extend the range further........hmmm.....i did not understand this....could you try to clarify this a little further?


A harmonic is when you don't actually finger/fret a note but lightly touch your finger on the string at certain points called nodes. These nodes are found by dividing the length of the string into 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 and so on. On a guitar these are located at the twelfth, seventh, fifth frets. Without getting too technical, by damping the string at these locations without actually pressing the string down onto the fingerboard a note much higher than the natural one at that position is produced when the string is bowed or struck. So a natural harmonic at the mid-point (twelfth fret) of a string produces a tone that is one octave higher than the regular note there e.g. Instead of A440, A880 is heard. A player can also create artificial harmonics by changing the length of the string by 'fretting' the string and then finding the areas where the new re-positioned nodes are found. So a really good player will be able to play these harmonics all over the fingerboard, which effectively increases the range of the instrument.

Comprende?


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## mamascarlatti

If you want to know what harmonics sound like watch this:

Czardas by Monti

At about 3.40 he starts using harmonics to play a short passage.


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## Pierre menard

Argus said:


> A harmonic is when you don't actually finger/fret a note but lightly touch your finger on the string at certain points called nodes. These nodes are found by dividing the length of the string into 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 and so on. On a guitar these are located at the twelfth, seventh, fifth frets. Without getting too technical, by damping the string at these locations without actually pressing the string down onto the fingerboard a note much higher than the natural one at that position is produced when the string is bowed or struck. So a natural harmonic at the mid-point (twelfth fret) of a string produces a tone that is one octave higher than the regular note there e.g. Instead of A440, A880 is heard. A player can also create artificial harmonics by changing the length of the string by 'fretting' the string and then finding the areas where the new re-positioned nodes are found. So a really good player will be able to play these harmonics all over the fingerboard, which effectively increases the range of the instrument.
> 
> Comprende?


Ah, i sometimes do that with my guitar......so that is called harmonics......thanks for the enlightening explanation, mate.......


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## Pierre menard

mamascarlatti said:


> If you want to know what harmonics sound like watch this:
> 
> Czardas by Monti
> 
> At about 3.40 he starts using harmonics to play a short passage.


yeah, a very distinct type of sound........i guess you need the bow to get such a long full duration of the harmonics......hmmm, do you know if this harmonics - part was intended by the composer.....? Or is it something that the player added himself?


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## mamascarlatti

Pierre menard said:


> yeah, a very distinct type of sound........i guess you need the bow to get such a long full duration of the harmonics......hmmm, do you know if this harmonics - part was intended by the composer.....? Or is it something that the player added himself?


It always been in every version I've heard.


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## Pierre menard

mamascarlatti said:


> It always been in every version I've heard.


Hmmm, do anyone know if there are notation - signs in connection with harmonics? Does harmonics have its own notation or signs?

Maybe like a sign that says something like "From now on play these notes as harmonics".....and maybe a sign that says "After this, dont play the notes as harmonics, play them by fretting".......


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## Argus

Pierre menard said:


> Hmmm, do anyone know if there are notation - signs in connection with harmonics? Does harmonics have its own notation or signs?
> 
> Maybe like a sign that says something like "From now on play these notes as harmonics".....and maybe a sign that says "After this, dont play the notes as harmonics, play them by fretting".......


To show a harmonic is to be played the head of the note is diamond/square shaped instead of the usual round shape. Sometimes there are also the letters fl. which stand for flageolet.

Another thing to remember about harmonics is that apart from the half string one, they can be played in 2 places along the string. So the next harmonic after the octave at half string is a harmonic a twelfth higher than the open string note at a third of the way into the string. e.g the open A strings second harmonic is an E a twelfth higher. This can be played a third of the way into the string from both the nut and the bridge end. Same goes for the next harmonic which is 2 octaves higher than the open string note and a quarter of the way into the string. The higher up the harmonic series you get the more difficult they are both to play and hear effectively.

If you are a guitarist, also look up pinch harmonics as they are pretty cool and I don't know of any standard way of notating them specifically over the other harmonics.


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## mamascarlatti

Pierre menard said:


> ...play them by fretting".......


With regards to the violin, you simply have to forget the whole idea of frets. It's an alien concept. You have to learn to find your note by ear and eventually muscle memory (although little kids sometime have tapes put on the fingerboard at the beginning to help them find the notes, until the ear kicks in).


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## Pierre menard

mamascarlatti said:


> With regards to the violin, you simply have to forget the whole idea of frets. It's an alien concept. You have to learn to find your note by ear and eventually muscle memory (although little kids sometime have tapes put on the fingerboard at the beginning to help them find the notes, until the ear kicks in).


yeah, i understand you, what i meant was pressing down the string, not just touching it lightly to produce harmonics........


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