Here’s to thinking outside of the (string peg) box. But from a 21st century perspective, covering the aluminum with faux wood was a poor aesthetic choice.

Perhaps one of the more curious aspects of musical expression is the unfettered creativity of instrument makers. It began with plucking strings stretched across the hard shell of gourds that, arguably, led to Stradivarius violins and electric guitars.

So it was a natural part of violin construction that in the…

While considered subservient to the violin, the bow rose to much greater importance in the confluence of Tourte, skilled violinists, and the French Revolution.

Frenchman Francois Tourte is widely credited with inventing the modern violin bow, in almost universal use today by violinists of all levels of ability. But given he worked about 200 years ago (he lived from 1747 till 1835) – while…