My brother and my violin?

Question

my brother was fiddling with my violin and he tightened it either to hard or to fast and the thingy that's holding up the string popped out of place..... is that suppose to happen? as you can probably tell i just got the violin last month i i don't know how angry i should be at him :P

Answer 1

You shouldn't be angry, you should be ENRAGED.

He actually popped out your bridge, if that is warped in any way....

Listen, go to the violin store or any other music store that sells instruments and ask for someone to repair it. No offence to you, but it dosn't seem like you should be tinkering around with your instrument and trying to do it yourself. Your bridge is one of the most vital parts of your violin, get it put back as soon as possible. The sound post might have been knocked out also, it's happened to me before. Just take it to the music store and ask for a tune up, it shouldn't cost too much and you need it anyway.

hope that helps

~racerxazn

Answer 2

The thingy holding up the strings is called the "bridge".  And no, of course that's not supposed to happen.

Its not glued into place or anything, its simply held in place by the tension of the strings.  Sometimes it falls down, but it can be very easily put back into place.

Loosen the strings a bit.  Slide the bridge under the strings  One side of the bridge has the maker's name stamped on it, that should be facing the tailpiece.  If you look at the F-holes, you'll see there are small notches, one on each side.  Line up the feet of the bridge so that the feet are parallel to the notches and the bridge is centered.  Carefully and slowly pull the bridge up to a vertical standing position.  

Retune the violin up to pitch.

BTW, if you hear something rattling around inside the fiddle, that's a bit more serious.  Sometimes if the bridge falls down, the soundpost inside the violin also falls.  The soundpost, which helps transmit sound between the top and back of the violin on the treble side of the instrument, isn't glued into place either, its wedged into place and held there by the string tension pressing down on the bridge.  If the soundpost has fallen down, you'll have to take the violin to a qualified repair person and have it re-set back into place before you can play it again. Its a simple adjustment for a qualified repair person but not something you can do yourself unless you have the correct tools and know what you're doing.