the violin is important in european and arabian music. no other instrument has played such an important part in europe. the modern violin is about 400 years old. similar string instruments have been around for almost 1000 years. by the time the modern orchestras started to form in the 17th century, the violin was nearly fully developed. it became the most important orchestral instrument - in fact, nearly half of the instruments in the orchestra is made up of violins, which are divided into two parts: "first violins" and "second violins". nearly every composer wrote for the violin, whether as a solo instrument, in chamber music, in orchestral music, folk music, and even in jazz.