Violin
The modern violin contains over 70 separate pieces of wood.
If a violinist is placed into an MRI machine, we can see that a much larger area of the brain - the right primary motor cortex - is devoted to his or her left fingers when compared with a non-violinist. Two or three times as large, in fact. Violinists also have more connections between the two sides of the brain which accounts for the better coordination they have between each hand compared with a non-violin player. Yay us!
The violin can trace its history back several thousands of years ago to stringed instruments known as the ravanstron, the rebec, and the rabab. In the 16th century the Medici family of Italy commissioned the famous lute maker, Andrea Amati, to build a small wooden stringed instrument that was as melodious as a lyre but was easy to carry around.
The inventor of roller-skates, Joseph Merlin, first introduced his invention in 1759 by skating into a ballroom while playing violin. Unfortunately he did not know how to stop and crashed into a full-length mirror, breaking his violin.
The world's smallest violin measures in at just under 2 inches!
If a violinist is placed into an MRI machine, we can see that a much larger area of the brain - the right primary motor cortex - is devoted to his or her left fingers when compared with a non-violinist. Two or three times as large, in fact. Violinists also have more connections between the two sides of the brain which accounts for the better coordination they have between each hand compared with a non-violin player. Yay us!
The violin can trace its history back several thousands of years ago to stringed instruments known as the ravanstron, the rebec, and the rabab. In the 16th century the Medici family of Italy commissioned the famous lute maker, Andrea Amati, to build a small wooden stringed instrument that was as melodious as a lyre but was easy to carry around.
The inventor of roller-skates, Joseph Merlin, first introduced his invention in 1759 by skating into a ballroom while playing violin. Unfortunately he did not know how to stop and crashed into a full-length mirror, breaking his violin.
The world's smallest violin measures in at just under 2 inches!