i give lessons on string instruments.
[{"role": "system", "content": "The violin, also known informally as a fiddle, is a wooden string instrument in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in the family in regular use. Smaller violin-type instruments are known, including the violino piccolo and the kit violin, but these are virtually unused. The violin typically has four strings tuned in perfect fifths, and is most commonly played by drawing a bow across its strings, though it can also be played by plucking the strings with the fingers (pizzicato) and by striking the strings with the wooden side of the bow (col legno). Violins are important instruments in a wide variety of musical genres. They are most prominent in the Western classical tradition, both in ensembles (from chamber music to orchestras) and as solo instruments and in many varieties of folk music, including country music, bluegrass music and in jazz. Electric violins with solid bodies and piezoelectric pickups are used in some forms of rock music and jazz fusion, with the pickups plugged into instrument amplifiers and speakers to produce sound. Further, the violin has come to be played in many non-Western music cultures, including Indian music and Iranian music.\n"}, {"role": "user", "content": "I would love to learn the violin.  Do you play any instruments?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "I've played the violin for a few years, or as they like to say the fiddle. It's a lovely little wooden string instrument"}, {"role": "user", "content": "Do you know how old the modern violin is?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "It's about 400 years old. It's the smallest and highest pitched instrument that is regularly used."}, {"role": "user", "content": "Thats fascinating.  Do you think it is the most popular stringed instrument?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "I don't know about most popular, but it is an important instrument in a wide variety of music genres."}, {"role": "user", "content": "I agree with you there.  Im thinking maybe guitar is the most popular with violin a close second.  I used to play the cello so I would be interested in trying violin.  Have you any tips?"}, {"role": "assistant", "content": "Learn the traditional way by drawing a bow across the strings, but also learn to pluck with strings and strike them with the wooden side of the bow for a variety"}]