This article is intended to help those new violinists starting out as beginners; there is a mountain of terms and phrases out there, that are used by violinists, and even though I can't explain them all in this article I can answer some frequently asked questions.
What is an Arpeggio?
An arpeggio is the notes of any chord which are played in sequence individually. A G major chord is made up of three notes; these are G, B and D. Played as an arpeggio, the sequence would be G, B, D,D,B, and G.
What is a Double Stop?
This is when two of the strings on a violin are played together, or both "stopped" by the violinists finger. This is used a lot in Fiddle music, and because of this a fiddle player prefers the bridge of the violin to be flatter than the more traditional rounded bridge.
What is pizzicato?
Generally the violin is played using a bow that is drawn across the strings. Pizzicato is a technique that a violinist uses when he plucks the strings in the same way as a guitarist.
What is a mute?
By attaching a small rubber, wooden or metal "mute" to the bridge of the violin, the result is that the resonance is restricted thus giving the instrument a more melodious tone, and reducing the sound volume. It is often used by violinists to practice if they don't want to disturb other household members, but is also used in passages during live performance to produce a very soft and quiet sound.
What is Vibrato, and how is it produced?
This is an effect used by violinist to make the violin sound more expressive and is achieved by changing the pitch of a note up and down either slowly or quickly. Quite literally the violinist is vibrating the string using his finger. There are three types of vibrato and each give a different effect. Finger Vibrato gives a tight smaller sound, arm vibrato much larger and more vibrant, and wrist vibrato which is between the two and gives a controlled vibration which can be large or small.
What is first, second and third position on a violin?
These positions correspond to where you put your fingers on the fingerboard of the violin. In first position, your fingering takes place near the tuning pegs. Second position is when you move up the fingerboard towards the bridge. Third position is even further up the neck of the board towards the bridge. Most beginners start off just in the first position. Second and third are for the more advances student.
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