A violin looks simple: a wooden box, four strings, and a bow. In fact a modern violin has about seventy parts, glued together and never nailed. Knowing their names helps you follow your child's lessons and notice when something needs attention.

The body

The body is a hollow box. Its top, also called the belly or table, is usually spruce. The back and the sides, called the ribs, are usually maple, and so is the neck. A violin Antonio Stradivari made in 1687, now at the Smithsonian, uses the same woods.

A thin inlaid border, called purfling, runs near the edges of the top and back.

The two f-holes are the curved openings cut into the top on either side of the bridge. They connect the air inside the body to the air outside, which matters most for the violin's low notes. They also let the strip of top between them move more freely.

The bridge, sound post, and bass bar

A string on its own makes very little sound. The bridge, a thin piece of maple, passes the strings' vibration into the body, which sends it into the air as sound. The top of the bridge is arched, so the bow can play one string at a time, or two together.

The bridge is not glued down. The pressure of the strings holds it in place. If it starts to lean, ask your teacher to straighten it instead of adjusting it yourself.

Two parts sit inside the body. The sound post is a small spruce stick wedged between the top and the back, under the foot of the bridge on the E string side. It keeps the top from sinking under the pressure of the strings, and it links the vibrations of the top and back. The bass bar is a long, thin strip of wood glued under the top on the other side, beneath the G string. It spreads the bridge's motion across a wide area of the top.

If you hear a rattle or see a loose piece of wood inside the violin, it may be the sound post. Loosen the strings slightly and take the violin to a repair technician.

The neck, fingerboard, and scroll

The player's left hand wraps around the neck. Glued along the top of the neck is the fingerboard, made of ebony. The fingerboard has no frets like a guitar's. The player presses a string against the fingerboard to shorten the part that vibrates, and a shorter string plays a higher note.

At the top of the fingerboard is the nut, a small grooved piece that holds the strings in position. The part of each string that vibrates runs from the bridge to the nut.

Past the nut, each string winds around a peg. Turning a peg tightens or loosens its string, and a tighter string sounds higher. The pegs sit in the pegbox, which ends in the scroll, the curl at the very top of the violin.

The tailpiece, fine tuners, and chinrest

At the other end, the strings attach to the tailpiece. Your child's violin may also have fine tuners, sometimes called adjusters, at that end. They change a string's pitch a little at a time. Save the stiffer pegs for a string that is far out of tune. The fine tuners should not touch the top of the violin. Our article How to Tune a Violin or Viola explains how to use both.

The violin rests between the player's left shoulder and chin, and the chinrest gives the chin a place to hold it. Violins had no chinrests until the 1800s. Before then, you could hear the player's left hand as it moved from one position to the next along the neck.

The strings

A violin has four strings. From lowest to highest they are tuned to G, D, A, and E, each a fifth apart. (A fifth spans five notes of the scale, as from G up to D.) Strings are made of animal gut, nylon, or steel.

The bow

The bow is a wooden stick with horsehair stretched between its two ends. Most bows for advanced students and professionals are made of pernambuco, also called Brazil wood. The tree grows only in Brazil's Atlantic Rainforest, and its populations are threatened. Some bows made for beginners use synthetic materials instead. On a modern bow, the stick curves in toward the hair.

The hair comes from a horse's tail, though some bows use a synthetic substitute. The player puts rosin on the hair so it grips the string. It then pulls the string to one side and lets it slip back, hundreds of times in a single stroke, which keeps it vibrating. Our article The Violinist's Toolkit: Rosin has more about rosin.

The player holds the bow at the frog, which is often made of ebony and has an adjusting screw. Before playing, turn the screw to tighten the hair. Your teacher will show you how tight. Be careful not to overtighten: the gap between the hair and the stick should be about the width of a pinky finger. Loosen it before the bow goes back in its case.

The far end of the bow is the tip, also called the point. Try not to touch the hair with your fingers, because oil and dirt from skin spoil it.

The viola

A viola has the same parts as a violin in a larger size, and it is held the same way. It is tuned five notes lower, to C, G, D, and A, which gives it a darker, warmer sound. You can read about learning it on our viola lessons page.

Smaller sizes for growing players

Violins and violas also come in smaller sizes, made in proportion to a child's body. Our guide to choosing the right violin size explains how to find a good fit.

If you have questions about your child's instrument, we are happy to talk. If you are new to lessons, a free trial lesson is a good place to start.

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