The Book of Knowledge: Wonderful, Wonderful Music

(The music paper flower again, this time resting on peony shoots)

     I bet you knew this post was going to happen eventually. :) It just so happens that the Book of Knowledge has a section on music, too.
    Music, that glorious, enchanting, emotional string of sound that leads us into other worlds, so to speak. I can never get enough of music... just ask my sister. :) But really, what about music is so magical? Anyone can play the notes but it takes a musician to play the piece. And musicians often differ as to what the piece is suggesting, or what emotion it is conveying. I don't think I became, and it is something you become, a violinist until a few years ago. Of course, it happens differently for everyone.

    "The Secret of the Violin and its Strings" is a particular paragraph in the Book of Knowledge that caught my attention. As part of it goes, "We notice that it makes a difference to the violinist how tight his strings are when he tunes his instrument. He turns the pegs which decides how tight the strings become. The tighter the string, the more quickly it vibrates and the higher the note becomes. If we increase the tightness by 4, the string vibrates twice as often; if by 9, it vibrates three times as often --- 4 being 2 multiplied by itself and 9 being 3 multiplied by itself." Of course, I wouldn't recommend experimenting with this, because by the time you tighten your string 9 times, it will surely pop. And that is not fun, I assure you.
    Quality of the instruments is also a huge factor of making great music. My first violin was (and still is) basically a cardboard/wood combination. It was cheap, and at the time I picked the violin up, my parents understandably didn't want to spend a lot of money on something they didn't know I was going to stick to. But now, looking back at the early years, I half wish I had a decent violin to learn on. When I finally got my half size German violin that was over 100 years old, sweet, mellow, I realized that a good, basic, reliable violin is needed for the young beginner to learn on. The violin itself can teach you so much. Cheaper instruments (in particular violins) are usually not shaped correctly, although minor things, like the shape and height of the chin rest, can "injure" the student. They will learn bad habits from holding it wrong, getting used to it's problems. So please, get a good quality instrument for your first, second... etc. I went through four or five, I think. And bows also have a great deal to do with learning and the sound as well. The bow should be 1/3 the cost of the instrument. And please, please, please, be careful! I've seen so many beat up and scratched and chipped instruments. Of course, accidents happen. I will not disclose here what my violin and bow are worth.... but it is a great sum of money :) And I appreciate them. And I use them. And take care of them. Because together we serve God and bring Him glory through music. Carefully tuned, learned, played music. Music really is an art.
Whew, that's a long post! Would you like to see more music posts?
Cheerfully yours,
Olivia
P.S. There is a pun in this post, can you find it?