<P> The tailpiece anchors the strings to the lower bout of the violin by means of the tailgut, which loops around an ebony button called the tailpin (sometimes confusingly called the endpin, like the cello's spike), which fits into a tapered hole in the bottom block . Very often the E string will have a fine tuning lever worked by a small screw turned by the fingers . Fine tuners may also be applied to the other strings, especially on a student instrument, and are sometimes built into the tailpiece . The fine tuners enable the performer to make small changes in the pitch of a string . At the scroll end, the strings wind around the wooden tuning pegs in the pegbox . The tuning pegs are tapered and fit into holes in the peg box . The tuning pegs are held in place by the friction of wood on wood . Strings may be made of metal or less commonly gut or gut wrapped in metal . Strings usually have a colored silk wrapping at both ends, for identification of the string (e.g., G string, D string, A string or E string) and to provide friction against the pegs . The tapered pegs allow friction to be increased or decreased by the player applying appropriate pressure along the axis of the peg while turning it . </P> <P> Strings were first made of sheep gut (commonly known as catgut, which despite the name, did not come from cats), or simply gut, which was stretched, dried, and twisted . In the early years of the 20th century, strings were made of either gut or steel . Modern strings may be gut, solid steel, stranded steel, or various synthetic materials such as perlon, wound with various metals, and sometimes plated with silver . Most E strings are unwound, either plain or plated steel . Gut strings are not as common as they once were, but many performers use them to achieve a specific sound especially in historically informed performance of Baroque music . Strings have a limited lifetime . Eventually, when oil, dirt, corrosion, and rosin accumulate, the mass of the string can become uneven along its length . Apart from obvious things, such as the winding of a string coming undone from wear, players generally change a string when it no longer plays "true" (with good intonation on the harmonics), losing the desired tone, brilliance and intonation . String longevity depends on string quality and playing intensity . </P> <P> A violin is tuned in fifths, in the notes G, D, A, E. The lowest note of a violin, tuned normally, is G, or G below middle C. (On rare occasions, the lowest string may be tuned down by as much as a fourth, to D .) The highest note is less well defined: E, the E two octaves above the open string (which is tuned to E) may be considered a practical limit for orchestral violin parts, but it is often possible to play higher, depending on the length of the fingerboard and the skill of the violinist . Yet higher notes (up to C) can be sounded by stopping the string, reaching the limit of the fingerboard, or by using artificial harmonics . </P> <P> The arched shape, the thickness of the wood, and its physical qualities govern the sound of a violin . Patterns of the node made by sand or glitter sprinkled on the plates with the plate vibrated at certain frequencies, called Chladni patterns, are occasionally used by luthiers to verify their work before assembling the instrument . </P>

What is the pitch range of the violin
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