A Guarneri-type chinrest.

A chinrest is a shaped piece of wood (or plastic) attached to the body of a violin or a viola to aid in the positioning of the player's jaw or chin on the instrument. The chinrest may be made of ebony, rosewood, boxwood, or plastic. It was invented by Louis Spohr in the early 1800's in response to increasingly difficult repertoire which demanded freer left hand techniques than had previously been used. After being promoted by prominent violinists of the day, such as Pierre Baillot and Giovanni Battista Viotti, it gained quick acceptance among most violists & violinists and is today considered a standard part of the viola and violin.^[1] Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... The viola (in French, alto; in German Bratsche) is a string instrument played with a bow. ... Human jaw front view Human jaw left view Human jaw top view The jaw is either of the two opposable structures forming, or near the entrance to, the mouth. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... Binomial name Diospyros ebenum Koenig ex Retz. ... Rosewood refers to a number of richly hued timbers, brownish with darker veining. ... This article is about the box tree. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Self-portrait of Spohr as a young man. ... Events and Trends Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). ... Pierre Marie François de Sales Baillot was a French violinist and composer. ... Giovanni Battista Viotti (May 12, 1755 - March 3, 1824) was an Italian violinist and composer. ...

Chinrest attachment

Chinrest clamp wrench

The attachment consists of a metal bracket that hooks over the edge of the back, clamped onto the instrument by means of two threaded barrels connecting it to screws on the chinrest. Both the lower bracket and chinrest are usually padded with cork to minimize damage to the wood.^[2] The wrench shown makes it easy to adjust the clamp tension without damaging the rib of the violin. "Hill-style" clamps have a separate foot for each screw rather than a bar between them. (Some modern composite chinrests have clamps adjusted with a small Phillips screwdriver or with a hex key.) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 298 pixel Image in higher resolution (841 × 313 pixel, file size: 18 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Violin chinrest wrench File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 298 pixel Image in higher resolution (841 × 313 pixel, file size: 18 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Violin chinrest wrench File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed... Screws come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different purposes. ... A cork stopper for a wine bottle Champagne corks Varnished cork tiles can be used for flooring, as a substitute for linoleum or tiles. ... This article covers the anatomy of a violin and some of its accessories. ... Screws come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different purposes. ... A basic screwdriver (slotted tip shown) The screwdriver is a device specifically designed to insert and tighten, or to loosen and remove, screws. ... Hex keys of various sizes. ...

Types and options

Spohr's original design called for a small block of wood to be centered over the tailpiece, but soon evolved. Today, there are at least 50 different types of chinrests available^[1], one of the most popular being a "Guarneri" type, which attaches centered over the tailpiece with a "cup" to the left, and a sort of "hump" covering the tailpiece. Other types attach to the left, usually without the aforementioned hump. Either type must be placed so it does not touch or buzz against the tailpiece or belly of the instrument.^[2] Some players prefer the chinrest cup in the center, rather than to the left, including the "Flesch" type, which may be had with or without a hump in the middle. Some chinrests are available in different heights as well as shapes. Guarneri is the family name of a group of highly acclaimed violin makers (luthiers) from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries, whose standing is considered comparable to those of the Amati and Stradivari families. ... The tailpiece is an element found in all musical instruments of the violin family. ... Carl Flesch (October 9, 1873 - November 14, 1944) was a violinist and teacher. ...

Many other products have been created to avoid giving the player a violin "hickey", a red spot on the player's neck developing from contact with the chinrest. This skin irritation, although usually caused by constant pressure, (and somewhat dependent on how dry or oily the violinist's skin is), can also be caused by bacteria or fungus living on the wood or by an allergic reaction to the metals used in the chinrest. Some players prefer to use a cloth, such as a handkerchief, to cover the chinrest to avoid this mark and make it more comfortable. Several types of padded fabric slipcovers are commercially available, which may not only cover the chinrest cup, but also extend to provide a barrier between the metal clamp hardware and the skin, beneficial if the hardware is plated with nickel and the player is allergic to the metal. Hypo-allergenic chinrests (with plastic or titanium fittings) are also available. It has been suggested that Textile be merged into this article or section. ... Raymond W. Kelly is seen here wearing a handkerchief in his left-breast pocket. ... General Name, Symbol, Number nickel, Ni, 28 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 10, 4, d Appearance lustrous, metallic and silvery with a gold tinge Atomic mass 58. ... This article deals specifically with IgE-mediated hypersensitivity. ...

A few violin and viola pedagogues (such as Susan Kempter) advocate customising chinrests by sanding them to a shape that fits the player's jaw properly, and by having a luthier add height with extra wood underneath, or reduce the height by trimming the bottom, until it fits the player's neck height as well.^[3] The viola (in French, alto; in German Bratsche) is a string instrument played with a bow. ... Susan Kempter is an American violin teacher and prominent Suzuki teacher trainer who specializes in applying interdisciplinary research to music pedagogy. ... An engravers impression of Antonio Stradivari examining an instrument. ...

Vociferous debate may be elicited in some circles by suggesting that a violin sounds better without a chinrest. Rumor has it that Paganini played without a chinrest, although strong evidence has yet to be found. A few professionals today (notably Regina Carter) do not use a chinrest on their modern instruments; many who play Baroque instruments also avoid one. Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840) was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist and composer. ... Regina Carter Regina Carter (born in Detroit, Michigan in 1966) is an American jazz violinist. ... Block quote For other uses, see Baroque (disambiguation). ...

See also

• Violin
• Shoulder rest

The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... This is a tailpiece on a violin (in the center of the picture) with one fine-tuner on the right, for the E string. ...

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Nemet, Mary (August/September), "Choosing a chinrest", Strings (no. 121)
2. ^ ^{a b} Ford, Charles (1979). Making Musical Instruments: Strings and Keyboard. New York: Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 97. ISBN 0-394-73561-7. 
3. ^ Kempter, Susan (2003). How Muscles Learn: Teaching the Violin with the Body in Mind. 15800 N.W. 48th Avenue, Miami, FL, 33014: Summy-Birchard, Inc., distributed by Warner Bros. Publications, 23.