Violin Accessories
Like any musical instrument the violin has many accessories. Not all of them are essentials but are very useful anyway.
Essentials
Bow
The bow is not really considered an accessory but sometimes websites will class bows in their accessory sections. The bow is what is needed to produce a sound on the violin. It is made of wood and horse hair, the horse hair is dragged along the strings which then produces a sound. Some bows are made from fiber class and synthetic hair.
Shoulder Rest
A shoulder rest fits on the bottom of the violin, on the underside and its main purpose is to make it more comfortable for the violinist to hold the violin under their chin and on their shoulder for long periods of time. A shoulder rest is typically made of wood and foam with who arms that clip on to the side of the violin. Shoulder rests can be bought for a smaller violin and adjusted to be made bigger when you upgrade to a bigger violin. When younger violinists start off learning they are often told to use a sponge, attached to the violin with an elastic band.
Rosin
Rosin is a plant sap which is left to harden and is then shaped into a ‘cake’. This cake is then glued to a cloth and packaged. Rosin is needed to lubricate the hairs on the bow so that they slide easily along the strings of the violin. When a new string is placed on the violin it will need a bow will lots of rosin to ‘play it in’. It is thought by many violinists that a string plays better when it has rosin residue settling on it.
Non- essentials
Silk scarf
Many violinists wrap their violins in a silk scarf to protect them. A silk scarf doesn’t have any actual protective qualities but it seems to have grown into a tradition that many violinists use in their cases.
Tuning Fork
A tuning fork is made from metal and when hit on a hard surface vibrates to a certain note. There is a tuning fork for every note in the scale.
Electronic Tuners
An electronic tuner works in the same way as a tuning fork but covers all the notes in the scale. A note is played into the tuner and it will come up on the screen whether the note is sharp or flat and allows you to adjust it before letting you check again.
Mute
Ordinary mute
Practise mute
A violin mute is a small plastic circle with two holes so that it can fit through the strings and fit neatly on to the bridge of the violin. The mute then dampens the sound of the violin and is used during playing when the passage of music requires a softer dynamic. A practise mute is a bigger version of the original mute and was made for practise reasons only. The practise mute dampens the sound a lot so that a violinists can practise when other people are in the house and don’t disturb them too much.
And finally…
Pencil
You don’t need a pencil to play the violin but it is a very useful tool to have. All musicians carry a pencil and rubber to write on their music if they need to make a note on something or to highlight a direction in the music.