Everything You Need to Know About VIOLIN From A-Z - ROSIN

Rosin (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hello, today I am continuing with my series everything you need to know about violin from A-Z. Today we are on R for rosin. Rosin is the soft sticky reddish substance that you coat your violin bow with. The purpose of rosin is to allow your violin bow hair to grip the strings causing them to vibrate and produce sound. Without rosin we wouldn't be able to play the violin, the bow would just glide smoothly over the strings producing no sound.

Rosin is made from the resin of pine trees collected throughout the world. It is taken from the tree in the same way that maple is taken from maple trees. First, a hole is punched into the tree a drip channel and collection bucket is fitted. Several grooves are cut above this bucket and resin runs out of the tree and into the container.

Other tree saps will be added to this resin the mixture is then heated purified and poured into molds. After the rosin sets it is cut into blocks smoothed polished and packed into containers. Furthermore, there are two kinds of rosin. The first kind is the darker stickier rosin which is more suited to cooler climates the second is the lighter harder less sticky rosin. Both will work equally well on any violin and you should try out as many different brands as you can in order to find the one that best suits your needs. Be very careful when applying rosin to your violin if you use too much it will drip onto the violin and cause permanent staining.

By Eric B Hill Eric B. Hill is a professional violin player and teacher with over 20 years experience. Article Source: EzineArticles

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