Q 01/05

From lowest to highest, what are the standard notes of a violin's four strings?

A) G, D, A, E

B) C, G, D, A

C) E, A, D, G

D) D, G, B, E

Answer · why

A) G, D, A, E

G, D, A, E. The thin top E is usually the only string given its own fine-tuning screw at the tailpiece, because the wooden pegs alone are too coarse t...

Q 02/05

Adjacent strings on a violin are tuned what interval apart?

A) A perfect fourth

B) A major third

C) An octave

D) A perfect fifth

Answer · why

D) A perfect fifth

A perfect fifth. The older viols were tuned mostly in fourths, and so is the double bass, the one orchestral string instrument that breaks the violin ...

Q 03/05

The violin in its present form first emerged in the early 16th century in which region?

A) Southern Germany

B) Flanders

C) Northern Italy

D) Andalusia

Answer · why

C) Northern Italy

Brescia and Cremona became the first great centres, and the word itself is Italian: violino, the little viola.

Q 04/05

Andrea Amati supplied a set of 38 string instruments to which 16th-century French king?

A) Francis I

B) Charles IX

C) Henry IV

D) Louis XIII

Answer · why

B) Charles IX

Charles IX. The instruments were painted and gilded with the king's emblems, but the set did not outlast the French Revolution, and only a few of them...

Q 05/05

Which wood is traditionally used for the top plate (soundboard) of a violin?

A) Spruce

B) Maple

C) Ebony

D) Rosewood

Answer · why

A) Spruce

Spruce. Makers pick it because it is light yet strong, which suits a plate that has to vibrate under the strings, while the back, ribs and neck are us...