Did You Know?

Facts to amaze your teachers, family and friends!

• Paganini's fingers were so long and so flexible he could play in the first 3 positions without shifting. In fact he could play 3 octaves across all 4 strings!
  
  
• The worlds smallest violin is only 37 millimetres long and is small enough to fit in a box of matches
  
  
• The modern Violin contains over 70 separate pieces of wood
  
  
• Joseph Merlin of Huy, Belgium invented the roller skates. To introduce his invention he entered the ballroom-playing violin in 1759. Unfortunately he did not know how to stop and crashed into a full-length mirror, breaking his violin.
  
  
• China is the world's largest producer of violins
  
  
• Meryl Streep plays viola
  
  
• Paula Zahn plays cello
  
  
• Stradivari also made harps, guitars, violas, and cellos--more than 1,100 instruments in all, by current estimate. About 650 of these instruments survive today.