The violin is a wooden string instrument in the violin family.

It is the smallest and highest-pitched

instrument in the family in regular use.Smaller violin-type instruments are known, including
the violino piccolo and the kit violin, but these are virtually unused in the 2010s. The violin
typically has four strings tuned in perfect fifths, and is most commonly played by drawing
a bow across its strings, though it can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers
(pizzicato). Violins are important instruments in a wide variety of musical genres. They are most
prominent in the Western classical tradition and in many varieties of folk music. They are also
frequently used in genres of folk including country music and bluegrass music and in jazz. Electric
violins are used in some forms of rock music, Further, the violin has come to be played in many
non-Western music cultures, including Indian music and Iranian music. The violin is sometimes
informally called a fiddle, particularly in bluegrass, but this nickname is also used regardless of
the type of music played on it.
The violin was first known in 16th-century Italy, with some further modifications occurring in the
18th and 19th centuries. In Europe it served as the basis for stringed instruments used in western
classical music, the viola and the violin.[1][2][3] Violinists and collectors particularly prize the
instruments made by the Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati families from the 16th to the 18th century
in Bresciaand Cremona and by Jacob Stainer in Austria. According to their reputation, the quality
of their sound has defied attempts to explain or equal it, though this belief is disputed. [4][5] Great
numbers of instruments have come from the hands of less famous makers, as well as still greater
numbers of mass-produced commercial "trade violins" coming from cottage industries in places
such as Saxony, Bohemia, and Mirecourt. Many of these trade instruments were formerly sold
by Sears, Roebuck and Co. and other mass merchandisers.
A person who makes or repairs violins is called a luthier or violinmaker. The parts of a violin are
usually made from different types of wood (although electric violins may not be made of wood at
all, since their sound may not be dependent on specific acousticcharacteristics of the instrument's
construction) and on the use of a pickup and an [[guitar amplifier|amplifier and speaker). Violins
can be strung with gut, Perlon or other synthetic, or steel strings. Steel strings are most common
in modern Classical music; however in early music, violinists often use gut strings. In the 2010s,
many strings are made with two or more materials (e.g., a gut cite wrapped in steel).