I would love to start playing the violin! It`s seems like such a great instrument! I am currently playing the clarinet and sax along with a little bit of guitar and piano. Have any of you played the clarinet or sax along with the violin? How do they compare in means of difficulty?

Any advice on learning to play?

Where can I find a nice violin at a decent price? I mostly just want to learn for fun so I`m not needing a professional instrument. What brands are good? What to look for in a good beginner violin?

Also, where online can I find an easy to read violin fingering chart? I`d like to look and see what the fingerings are like compared to the guitar. Do you play using one finger on a string at a time or do you use more than one like on a guitar?

Any other important information that you could give I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks!!!

Hey Ash
I started learning violin at the start of this year, I currently play alto sax and used to play clarinet. I didnt find it too difficult to start playing violin after i learnt some key basics, I have a teacher so I dont know how hard it would be if you were learning to play by yourself.

You should just be able to search for some finguring charts on the internet (ww.google.com) and should be able to tell if you are playing in the correct place by ear depending on how long youve been playing your other instruments.

I`m not sure about where to buy a new violin. I would like to know myself though as I am currently borring an uncles.

borrowing* GAH!!

To do vibrato you pretty much have to use one finger at a time, but other than that it`s fine and you often play with more than one down.

Sorry I can`t really help with your other questions.

How much do you want to spend?

Liz

Violin is A LOT more difficult than clarinet or sax or chord guitar, though not as hard as classical guitar.

Liz

I don`t play anything that you play, but I do play the oboe and flute, which I think are both much easier than the violin, and I`ve been playing for 6 years.

Brands aren`t as important in stringed instruments as they are in wind instruments. I`ve never paid attention to them. Just go to a music shop, ask them to show you all their violins in your price range, and try them out. Never only go for certain brand. Look for a violin with a great sound and that you enjoy playing... that`s really all I can say.

You usually play with one finger at a time. There are some exceptions to this, like when you`ll have another finger down on another string to prepare you for another note, or when you come to double stops (playing more than one note at once).

Here`s a fingering chart: http://www.violinonline.com/fingeringchart.htm

Obviously, you`ll want to stay in first position for a long time. You might also want to put down tapes so you know where to put your fingers. Eventually you`ll memorize where your fingers go, and can take them off.

If there`s anything else you want to know, don`t hesitate to ask

Actually I disagree and (I think this is probably a major bone of contention amongst teachers. I would say, put all your fingers down up to the one you need (so if you`re playing D on the a string in first position, put all three fingers down). You will have to use one only when you are d0ing vibrato but using all of them to start with will establish finger patterns and is done in scales right the way up as far as you will ever go.

Liz

You can find a little violin fingering chart here: http://kayohmusic.com/

I have been playing violin for about 2 weeks, and this website was a great help:
www.violinonline.com

p.s. this is also a good site:
www.folkofthewood.com

Check out ebay. You can picked up some used or new violins pretty inexpensively.

well i wouldnt trust ebay.

there are a lot of student violins ranging from 200 cdn to maybe 800? you ahve to get a decent instrument to start off... ive been playing for 5 years and i still use a stentor students violin. you can go to a lot of music stores and find them.

the best thing to do is just to have fun with it, oh and learning guitar helps because in violin you also read in treble clef