Violin Family Tree

Looking back into ancient history, I came across many intriguing stringed and bowed instruments that have been linked to the modern violin. Although no one knows exactly how the instrument came to be, there have been several theories. Some believe the violin is traced back to the ravanastron and Persian instruments because of the bow. Others speculate ancient Greek origins because the structure of the violin—flat back and soundboard (with holes), joined by ribs of equal width.

Here is my take on the violin family tree...

Monochord – It consisted of a single metal string stretched over a sound box with a movable bridge. It was invented by the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras in 6th century BC and used as a scientific instrument for measuring musical intervals.

Kithara – The kithara, commonly known as a lyre, consisted of a deep, wooden sounding box composed of two resonating tables. It usually had 7 strings that were knotted around a yoke at the top, pulled over a flat bridge and secured to a tail piece. It was played by strumming the strings with a plectrum. Hermes is said to have invented the kithara and given it to Apollo.

Ravanastron – An ancient bowed string instrument that originated in Sri Lanka during the time of the Hela civilisation and King Ravana. It was later brought to India. It is made up of a hollowed cylindrical piece of sycamore wood as the body, a wooden neck and two strings attached to pegs. The bow was made of cane.

Pandura – The ancient Greek pandura was a long-necked lute with a small resonating chamber. It had three strings so it was also known as a trichordon. The player would hold the pandura horizontally with the neck of the instrument to the left. The left hand pressed down on the strings while the right hand plucked the strings.

Rebab – The rebab (also known as rabab, rebap, rubob, rebeb, etc) is the name of several related bowed string instruments. It was the pear-shaped variant that was known to have travelled to Europe during the Byzantine Empire and evolved into the lyra and rebec, ancestors to the violin. The rebab had two to three strings and no fingerboard so the strings had to be stopped by the player’s fingers. The body was made out of a scooped out solid piece of wood and a flat sound-board of thin wood glued on top.

Byzantine Lyra – The lyra was a pear-shaped bowed string instrument with three to five strings. It was held upright on the player’s lap. The right hand holds the bow and the left hand pressed against the side of the string rather than against a fingerboard. Popular in the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire.

Rebec – It was a bowed string instrument used in the European medieval and early Renaissance music. It had a narrow boat-shaped body and usually 3 strings above a fingerboard. It was played on the arm or under the chin.

Vielle – A bowed string instrument used in European medieval period. It is similar to the modern violin but with a longer and deeper body and has three to five strings. Played on the shoulder or on the knee.

Viola da Braccio – The term is in Italian, meaning ‘arm viola’ and applied to all instruments of the violin family. These instruments were all held against the shoulder and had different sizes and tunings. The alto instrument had the same tunings as the modern viola and the soprano instrument was the predecessor of the modern violin.

Lira da Braccio – European bowed string instrument of the Renaissance period. Used by Italian poet-musicians in court accompany lyric and narrative poetry. The instrument was shaped like the modern violin, but had a wider fingerboard, flatter bridge and frontal pegs. It had seven strings, five over the fingerboard and two off to the side which were tuned in octaves.

Baroque Violin –Differences between the Baroque violin and a modern instrument includes the size and nature of the neck, fingerboard, bridge, bass bar and tailpiece. Gut strings were fitted on these violins instead of today’s metal and synthetic strings. They did not have chin rests and were played without shoulder rests. The bows were made of snakewood and had a ‘swan-bill’ pointed head. Modern bows are made from pernambuco and have ‘hatchet’ heads. The earliest violin-makers were Andre Amati from Cremona and Gaparo di Bertolotti from Salon.

Sources: Wikipedia, Britannica, whipplemuseum.cam.ac.uk, metmuseum.org, musictales.club, Wikisource, benningviolins.com, 1911 Encylcopedia Britannica, Britannica.com, yamaha.com, Finley, Janelle R. (2016) "From Bows to Sound-Chests: Tracing the Ancestry of the Violin," Musical Offerings: Vol. 7 : No. 1 , Article 3.