Quattro corde, mille segreti: un viaggio sonoro dentro il violino (Four Strings, a Thousand Secrets: A Sonic Journey Inside the Violin)

On Saturday, March 14, 2026 at 5:30 PM, as part of the series 4 Dummies, the Museo della Musica di Bologna hosts Erica Scherl for a musical storytelling performance featuring vielle, Baroque violin, and modern violin.

Vielle and violin player Erica Scherl leads us on a unique musical adventure, designed for those who love music but cannot read a score: Four Strings, a Thousand Secrets: A Sonic Journey Inside the Violin is a “for dummies” lecture-concert where no question is too simple or naïve.

From the ancient sound of the vielle to the virtuosity of the Baroque violin and finally the modern violin, Scherl guides us “inside” the instrument, revealing its secrets and curiosities. The museum’s bowed string instruments thus take center stage: audiences can observe how the vielle, traveling across the Mediterranean, accompanied dances and songs and gradually evolved through the viola da braccio family into the Baroque violin, a training ground for technique and virtuosity. But that’s not all: many Baroque instruments retain ties to folk traditions, such as the viola d’amore, which survives in Northern Europe as the hardingfele.

During this second event in the 4 Dummies series, audiences will discover live how sound is produced, how the bow vibrates on the stretched string, what (so-called) rosin is used for, why the bow is not necessarily straight, how a bowed instrument is held (and no… it was not always held under the chin), and what a drone is — that long, continuous sound that supports and accompanies a melody — found not only in the vielle and violin but also in fascinating instruments such as the symphonia and the hurdy-gurdy.

An opportunity to listen, observe, and ask the questions no one dares to ask, truly stepping “inside” the violin and its history, among hypnotic sonorities, dancing melodies, and the charm of four strings that can speak on their own… but even better when well accompanied!