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OT: Violin
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Hi everyone,
My oldest daughter (age 11) will be starting violin lessons this fall. I am a pianist and know absolutely nothing about the violin! I was hoping that some violin moms here on the forum could give me some direction as I try to find an instrument for her.
I taught piano for many years and I know the importance of a beginning student having a good instrument starting out (rather than starting on an inexpensive, small keyboard, for example). In my experience, a good instrument can be the difference between a child continuing with lessons or quitting, if the child can’t get a good tone out of the instrument.
I’m having a hard time getting an unbiased opinion on which brand of violin would be best for her. The only people I’ve been able to get advice from are salespeople, and they seem to want to sell me the most expensive violin (as would be expected).
Can any of you “violin moms” give me some guidance on what you’ve learned about starter instruments? The instructor told us that Abigail will need a 1/2 size violin for less than a year and then she will be ready for a 3/4 size.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions/advice!
~Anna
We have this in both 1/16 and 1/4 sizes: http://www.fiddleheads.ca/shop/outfits/primo/fiddlestix.htm
and this in 7/8 size: http://www.fiddleheads.ca/shop/outfits/sun/vn-100.htm
My daughter’s teacher and orchestra director have both been amazed at the quality of the Fiddlestix instruments, relative to the price. The Sun VN-100 has received compliments from experienced players, and I enjoy playing on it (I’m a beginner too, just self taught) We went with the less expensive ones for sizes that would only last a year, but they are still quality.
I also loved the shopping experience, via email, through this site. The owner/operator is very knowledgeable and spent quite a bit of time answering my questions before I was ready to buy. She also said that most people are able to resell the Fiddlestix instruments for about what they paid for them, once the child outgrows them. We haven’t tried that yet, so I can’t verify that.
We had purchased a similiarly priced instrument from a shop here in town. It broke within a few weeks. When I took it in for repair, the repairman said it wasn’t really worth fixing and “You get what you pay for”. I told him that his shop had sold it to me, and he just shrugged. It was not a happy experience!
Good luck
Joanne
My son only took violin for one year, but I found Knapp Music to be very customer service friendly. I’ve met the owners and they handled all issues professionally and honestly: http://knappmusic.com/rental_rates.htm.
If you rent for one year, they allow you to apply that whole year’s rental to the purchase of a new violin. I don’t know if that’s what you’re looking for, but it was a great company to work with! Blessings, Gina
P.S. Oh, and zero pressure but if you happen to use Suzuki books I think I still have the 1st and 2nd books, plus a cd w/the first book in my ‘for sale’ pile. I wish ds would have kept it up…he did so well! But he wanted to move on to drums, and now decided to stick with piano…his first love:)
http://www.swstrings.com/product/instruments/violin/GP-110
Our violin teachers recommend this one as an excellent entry level violin. My youngest son is in the 4th one of these and they have all had excellent tone and resonance. When our boys get to Suzuki Book 4 we invest in a fine instrument (my 11yos is in his second, a 3/4 size that has glorious tone!) but we have been very pleased with the Klaus Mueller Étude. I was a piano major as well and tend to be an instrument snob and our teachers (master Suzuki violin teachers who studied with Dr. Suzuki) will not teach students who do not have good instruments. They get no commission from this company. This is just the best they’ve found for a quality instrument at an affordable price.
We have generally bought used violins. Most have been Suzuki brand, and not toooooo expensive….
One thing is we always bought subject to approval by our teacher – which gave us a period of 2 or 3 weeks where we could return for full amount. We have gotten some nice violins – occasionally we have taken a couple back…. one it was too large because sizes aren’t standard, and one was ok quality and the teacher did say it was ok, but she prefered one with a bit better tone. No problems.
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