Musical Elements
Finally, there are countless musical elements a violin can
do that no other instruments can do. I
probably won’t even be able to think of all of them, but I’ll do my best.
There is pizzicato (plucking the strings), vibrato,
harmonics (lightly pressing your finger on the string to create an extremely
higher octave), false harmonics, aka "artificial harmonics," (placing one finger down while another is very
lightly places to create an extremely higher octave), tremolos (moving the bow
very fast-usually at the tip), spaccatos (a brush stroke with your bow),
staccatos (a short “bite” sound for notes), left-hand pizzicato (instead of
plucking the “normal” way, with your right hand, you’d pluck with your left), trills
(playing two notes, every other note, very fast), chords, double stops, turning
your bow over on the wood part and placing against the string (forgive me, I
forget the appropriate name for this,) and more.
One could argue many other instruments can perform many of
these functions. Most string instruments
can, yes. However, they cannot apply
these to the other two categories mentioned above.
Finally, I’d like to point out that violinists can not only
play any type of music, but can be put in any situation and it would still be
appropriate. A violin can be played in
an orchestra at Heinz Hall or at in a family reunion around the campfire. A violin can be played accompanying a country
singer or Celine Dion.
Til next time
~Givi Girl
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