(Fr. chevalet; Ger. Steg; It. ponticello).
In string instruments, a species of wedge, bar or other shaped object inserted between the belly or soundboard and the strings. The material used varies widely, from hardwood (as is the case with the violin family) to bone, ivory, metal, plastic, vegetable pith or even hair (as is the case with some African fiddles). A bridge serves the purpose of raising strings to the required distance above the soundtable or fingerboard and transmitts vibrations to the body of the instrument. The bridge often serves also as one of two terminal points of the vibrating length of the string, the other being either another bridge or a raised ridge next to the pegbox (this ridge is generally called the ‘nut’ in the case of European bowed instruments). The bridge may be solid, as in the lute bridge (fig.1a), or it may be open in design with cut-out portions for reasons of flexibility or resonance, or to fit a curved belly. The violin bridge, for instance, is cut away leaving ‘feet’ that are fitted to the arched belly (fig.1b). The strings are often kept in place, and a fixed distance apart from each other, by notches along the edge of the bridge.
Bridges differ in form, function and manner of fixing in place, and these factors depend on the character of the particular instrument. In lutes and guitars, for example, where the belly is flat, the strings are in the same plane and uniformly low above the belly, and the longitudinal tension on the strings is relatively slight. Consequently, the bridge is a low, solid bar of wood (or sometimes ivory), flat on top (fig.1a). This type of bridge may serve also to attach the strings at the lower end because the bridge can be glued to the body strongly enough (sometimes fixed with pins as well) to bear the relatively small longitudinal tension of the strings. This type of bridge is sometimes called a ‘tension bridge’.
In viols and violins, on the other hand, a thin, wedge-type bridge is used, and it must be fairly high to meet the high point of the strings, as determined by the angle of the fingerboard, above the centre of the soundholes where the bridge is customarily placed. Moreover, the top of the bridge must be arched since the player bows each string in a different plane. This type of bridge, sometimes called a ‘pressure bridge’, is kept in position by the considerable tension from the strings which, unlike those of the lute and guitar, pass over the bridge and are fastened to the lower end of the instrument by a tailpiece or other device. In this arrangement, the bridge bears the considerable downward pressure of the strings, transmitting the pressure to the belly. The latter is vaulted for extra strength and, in the case of instruments of the viol and violin family, may be supported additionally by the soundpost and the bass-bar. Some Asian and African instruments with soundtables of skin may be given instead the extra support of platforms under the bridge to spread the downward pressure, or, as in the case of the sārangī, a leather strap fitted around the belly.
There are obvious difficulties in tracing the development in violin bridge design before the 19th century. Very few old bridges survive, and it is often not possible to give a precise date for those that do. In 1786 G.A. Marchi observed somewhat ruefully that he could not comment on the old masters approach to bridges because he had not seen any (he nevertheless provided some quite interesting notes on his own priorities as a maker). The late 17th-century Talbot and early 18th-century Brossard manuscripts give a few (slightly puzzling) dimensions for bridges. There are a few bridges attributed to Stradivari, including a beautiful ink-decorated viola bridge (see Violin, fig.5). Moreover, there are numerous drawings for bridge designs among the Stradivari relics which Count Cozio di Salabue acquired. Also, a number of paintings depicting apparently carefully-observed violins show the design of the bridge. On the basis of this kind of evidence, it can be said that 17th- and 18th-century bridges were decoratively cut (with a more sculpted waist and an arch between the feet) in a way which left less wood than was later to become standard. They were also fractionally lower than modern bridges (inevitable given the alignment of the neck on early violins). These features contribute to the characteristic (less penetrating) sound of ‘Baroque’ and ‘Classical’ violins. Bridges may also have been a little thinner than the modern standard. There has been some speculation that in the early history of the violin, bridges were less curved, but this seems improbable.
Differing aesthetic preferences throughout the world have lead to a variety of modifications to the basic functions of bridges. Certain Indian instruments (notably the sitār, vīnā and classical sārangī) are given bridges with a wide, flat upper surface, gently curved so that the strings leave the bridge at a fine angle and remain in grazing contact when they are activated, producing a shimmering, slightly buzzing timbre rich in high harmonics. In the case of instruments such as the Viola d'amore, hardanger fiddle and some oriental instruments including the sārangī and the Afghan rabāb, which are fitted with sympathetic strings, a bridge may be pierced with small holes so as to lead them in a rank below the melody strings (fig.1c). Some instruments with drone strings which are unfingered may be given extra bridges on either side of the main bridge (e.g. the hurdy-gurdy). The bridge of the West African kora is notched on both sides so as to carry two ranks of strings in a plane perpendicular to the sound table thus dividing out the scale between the two hands (see Kora, esp. fig.4). The bridges of the Polish mazanki (fiddle) and some Bulgarian gadulkas have one foot extended to pass through a soundhole and rest on the inner back of the soundbox (fig.1f): this is an attempt to increase sound volume while making a soundpost unnecessary. In the trumpet marine the bridge is shaped like an inverted U, and its left foot, shorter than the right, remains free to vibrate against the soundboard, from which a drumming sound results (fig.1d).
Bridges of densely strung zithers (e.g. dulcimers) have to allow for other strings to be stretched past them in interlocking planes, so each string may often have its own narrow free-standing bridge. In some dulcimers the bridges may be long narrow bars, perforated to allow other strings to pass through without touching (seeDulcimer fig.4). An important advantage of using individual bridges for each string is that they can be moved for the purpose of fine tuning. The Japanese koto (fig.1e) exemplifies this.
G.A. Marchi: Opera che tratta del modo ed ordine per fabricare stromenti cive', violino, violoncello, e contrabasso (Bologna, 1786); trans. and ed. N. Sbarra and J. Guthrie (Bologna, 1986)
W.H. , A.F. and A.E. Hill: Antonio Stradivari: his Life and Work (1644–1737) (London, 1902/R, 2/1909)
I.A. Cozio di Salabue: Observations on the Construction of Stringed Instruments and their Adjustment, 1804, 1805, 1809, 1810, 1816, ed. and trans. A. Dipper and D. Woodrow (Taynton, 1987)
W.L. Monical: Shapes of the Baroque: the Historical Development of Bowed String Musical Instruments, Library & Museum of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, 22 March – 10 June 1989 (New York, 1989) [exhibition catalogue]
M. Flemming: ‘A Bridge to the Past’, EMc, xxvii (1999), 235–47
DAVID D. BOYDEN/PETER COOKE, PETER WALLS