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You can learn Indian classical violin with KalaSudha online and in workshops, and beginners start at Foundation level. Foundation teaches the seated Indian hold, with the scroll resting on the right ankle so the left hand moves freely. Children learn with us too. Ask us about a starting age and a violin size for a younger learner.

Violinists coming back after a long break start again where they left off, because our courses run in levels; your teacher reviews where you stand first.

In the popular account, Baluswami Dikshitar (1786 to 1858), younger brother of the composer Muthuswami Dikshitar, brought the violin into Carnatic music after about three years of lessons. The music he heard from British bands in Madras was mostly Irish and Scottish fiddle tunes, and Muthuswami's nottuswara songs on Western melodies are linked to his brother's violin. R. Sathyanarayana of Mysore argued that the violin reached Carnatic music in the Mysore region earlier.

In Carnatic music the violin's four strings are tuned to the tonic and the fifth, Pa-Sa-pa-sa. The tonic follows the soloist, so the violinist tunes to the singer or lead player. That tuning suits the violin's main Carnatic role as the melodic accompanist of the voice, whose tone it blends with.

Carnatic violinists play the violin seated cross-legged on the floor, with the right foot pointing outward and the scroll resting on that ankle. The back of the instrument sits against the left collarbone or shoulder. Jameela Siddiqi of Darbar explains that the position lets the left hand move freely along the fingerboard while the violin stays steady for fast ornamentation.

The soundpost is a small cylinder of spruce wedged inside a violin between the top and back plates, under the treble foot of the bridge. It is fitted under tension so it stands without glue. It carries string vibration from the top to the back and supports the top against string tension, and UNSW research shows its position changes the stiffness at the bridge feet.

Andrea Amati was making the violin in Cremona, northern Italy, by about 1560, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art holds one of his violins from then. The Victoria and Albert Museum notes that from about 1660 the violin began to replace the higher-pitched viols, because it gave the brisk sound then in fashion. Antonio Stradivari (1644 to 1737), also of Cremona, is widely regarded as the greatest violin maker of all time.

Both the violin and the sarangi are bowed instruments used in Indian classical music. The sarangi has a skin table where the violin has a wooden top, and its player stops the strings with the side of the nail rather than the fingertip. Jameela Siddiqi of Darbar notes that in North India the sarangi remains the preferred bowed instrument.

Korinthia Klein, writing in The Strad, advises checking how the string is wound before blaming a slipping violin peg. Peg dope helps a peg that sticks, applied only where the peg touches the pegbox. Humidity can seize a peg, and in most cases you should ask us to free it. If the string hole sits too near one edge of the peg, we can drill a new hole. We service and repair any violin, wherever you bought it.

You can buy a violin set up for Indian classical music from KalaSudha, by quote or made to order, and we deliver worldwide. An Indian set-up has a flatter bridge curve and low action for continuous gamaka, the ornamental movement around a note. We pack every instrument for international shipping; ask us about cases and insurance.

We service and repair any violin worldwide, wherever you bought it. We also supply strings and spare parts. For help after the sale, use the chat on any page or email [email protected]. Ask us as well about gift vouchers, class sets for schools or a flight case for travel.

In a Carnatic concert the violin is the main melodic accompanist of the voice, and its tone and volume let it blend with the singer. It is tuned to the soloist's tonic, Pa-Sa-pa-sa. It also works as a solo instrument, and Baluswami Dikshitar and Vadivelu are among the musicians credited with bringing it into Carnatic music.

You can book an Indian classical violinist through KalaSudha for a concert, event or recording. A violinist can accompany a singer, the violin's main role in a Carnatic concert, or play solo. Ask us through our page to book Indian classical musicians, and hear our artists first in KalaSudha's recordings and concert videos.