National Violin Day 2020: 7 Surprising Facts About The Fiddle

There is a day dedicated to honoring the violin and that is on Dec. 13. If that amuses you, prepare to be surprised all the more with these seven facts about the famous musical instrument.

• The violin and fiddle are the same. People refer to it as a violin when listening to classical music and the fiddle when listening to Irish or folk music.
• In February, Dagmar Turner, 53, played the violin while undergoing brain surgery. She played the fiddle so surgeons won't damage the parts of the brain responsible for hand movements, thus preserving her ability to play the violin. Her tumor was located in the right frontal lobe of the brain. The location is close to the region that controls fine motor skills of the left hand.
• In November, a 70-year-old COVID-19 patient, Grover Wilhelmsen, played the violin even while being intubated. He played the bowed instrument for the health care workers at McKay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, Utah. He managed to play a few times before he became too sick.
• If you're looking for a fast but enjoyable way to burn calories, play the violin! Playing the fiddle can burn approximately 170 calories per hour. It's like burning calories after drinking one can of soda.
• Violin strings are made up of different materials. Apart from nylon and metals, they reportedly contain 150 to 200 hairs, including horsehair. Also, violin strings were originally made of dried intestines of cats and other animals.
• A German man holds a world record in cycling backward while playing violin. Christian Adam cycled backward and covered a distance of 60.45 kilometers (37.56 miles) in 5.08 hours. A previous study found that those who played violin develop faster processing speeds compared to average people.
• People may have known Mozart as the greatest pianist and composer but little is known about him playing the violin. His father actually trained him to play the violin as a child.