Violin Making: A Practical Guide [Hardcover]

Juliet Barker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2001

From Stradivarius to the modern day, violins have been revered as much for the beauty of their design as for their music. Violin Making enables anyone, whether a beginner or a skilled woodworker, to follow in the tradition of the Italian masters and, literally, make their own music. The book includes a short history of violin making; an introduction to materials, design, and techniques; chapters on each stage of making a violin, from the rib structure to varnishing and stringing the instrument; tables of measurements, including violins, violas, and cellos from quarter to full size; and 200 clear color photos and diagrams. Juliet Barker trained at the Bavarian School of Violin Making; she is a professional violin maker, restorer, and teacher.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

From Stradivarius to the modern day, violins have been revered as much for the beauty of their design as for their music. Violin Making enables anyone, whether a beginner or a skilled woodworker, to follow in the tradition of the Italian masters and, literally, make their own music. The book includes: a short history of violin making; an introduction to materials, design, and techniques; chapters on each stage of making a violin, from the rib structure to varnishing and stringing the instrument; tables of measurements, including violins, violas, and cellos from quarter to full size; and 200 clear color photos and diagrams. Juliet Barker trained at the Bavarian School of Violin Making; she is a professional violin maker, restorer, and teacher.

About the Author

Juliet Barker went to the Bavarian State School of Violin Making at Mittenwald in 1954. She qualified as a journeyman and set up her own business in Cambridge making and repairing violas. In 1960 Cambridgeshire technical College asked her to start a violin making class - she has taught there ever since. Resident - Cambridge

Product Details

• Hardcover: 127 pages
• Publisher: Crowood Press (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1861264364
• ISBN-13: 978-1861264367
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,055 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #67 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Instrumentation > Violin

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars fine, if you already know what it offers to teach you . . ., May 22, 2004

By 

George H. Sutherland (Paradise Valley, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Violin Making: A Practical Guide (Hardcover)

I think that if a book cannot stand on its own, the reader deserves to be provided with that information. If a book cannot be deciphered by a novice, then the novice deserves that information up front, perhaps included in the title of the book. This book is so thoroughly filled, page after page, with undefined terms and assumptions of existing knowledge, that if you don't already know what it intends to teach you, you may as well give up on learning from it. It will certainly not teach a beginner to make a violin! I got through medical school, yet I can't read this book - I lacked the hidden prerequisites. This book needs a title like "Violin-making for people who know how to make violins." I was very disappointed.

Consider these instructions: "The top of the fingerboard should line up with the tail of the scroll, or the top of the hen's tail on cellos. Allow the width of the nut above this point and draw a line across square to the sides of the block." Nut? What nut? And silly me, I didn't even know that cellos had hens tails! Or this, from a section on rib structure: "The linings may be made from a similar wood to the blocks and a strip of wood can be planed, as the ribs were, to the correct thickness." I wish I knew what the correct thickness was, but since I didn't know that violins had linings, or what a lining is - and I certainly didn't find out here - I will likely have a beast of a time figuring it out.

If you don't know the component parts of a violin, inside and out, and if you don't have a pretty good idea of how to make a violin, I suggest you avoid this book. However, the color pictures are excellent; the descriptions of the maker's weight in stones, rather than pounds, is very charming, but I'm afraid the charm will come as a surprise to the author, who may not yet suspect that many of us have come to use pounds or even kilograms to measure our weight or mass.

I think I am familiar with ignorance, since I have so much of it, especially on this topic, but I had hoped and expected the book would help correct that, rather than simply emphasize its degree. The author looks like a very nice lady, however, and I doubt that she did this just to make her readers feel stupid, although that will be the effect on many, especially those who haven't learned that starting out not knowing anything is the usual situation.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A decent companion to the Strobel books, April 20, 2003

By 

Neal Williams "dravite" (Springdale, Arkansas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Violin Making: A Practical Guide (Hardcover)

If you've read some of the Strobel books and feel a bit puzzled or lost, this book may help you some, especially if you are a beginner. The photographs are plentiful and in color. There is some confusing language and glossing-over of points that may be mundane and obvious to an experienced luthier but are baffling yet critical to a beginner, just as in the Strobel books. So, my search continues for more complete and exhaustively illustrated books describing the violin-making process for a complete beginner.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good reference book for the advanced amateur, October 23, 2005

By 

C or E Kleinman "Ernie or Cathy Kleinman" (lees summit mo 64081) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Violin Making: A Practical Guide (Hardcover)

The author juliet Barker has spent more than 50 years as a violin maker. Her book is an excellent introduction to violin making using inexpensive , and available tools. I particularly like her english low tech approach to viiolin construction , as this can help aspiring luthiers to build hand tool skills, before moving on to larger power tools. I was highly amused at one remark about the sound of a rasp being too noisy for quiet work like violin making, she might be horrified at the plethora of industrial sized power tools in my shop.She also gently takes the reader step by step through the various processes of violin making. Cutting a scroll, back and top archings, and carving, varnishing, set ups, sound post setting,, a brief history on violin making. I particularly liked the section , on using alternative woods. Something not seen too often in violin books . Most authors chose maple and spruce, but there are a anumber of alternative woods that have been successfully used. I also liked the chapter on exploring other small instruments ,viola/s, violins and hardanger fiddles. This is an excellent informative book, that will help aspiring luthiers. I would recommend this book be read with roy courtnall/s book on violin making.