Hey. I was thinking about starting a new instrument, and I thought about the violin. I`ve seen a student violin outfit that looks ok for me, but I had a few questions that I hope someone can help me with!

What, apart from the violin, will I need? I`ve heard of rosin, but I`m not sure about the whole shoulder and neck rest thing.

If one of my strings break, is it possible to restring the instrument myself? Or do I have to get it done professionaly?

Thats all for now. Any help would be great!

Thanks

Most student outfits include resin of some sort. Shoulder rests are terrible personal things and many people manage perfectly well without. I would avoid buying a rest until you are sure you need it.

Restringing is not at all difficult.

Unless you have a teacher, I would make sure that you get a violin which is shipped ready to play, otherwise you are going to have to put the bridge up and tune it and that is enough to cause headaches to a beginner. I would also strongly recommend that you buy from someone who will check the violin over before they send it (if you`re buying by post or over the internet): if it`s faulty in any way (other than just a cosmetic fault) you will not know about it unless you have a teacher, and by the time you find out it could be too late to send it back and even then you would normally have to pay shipping both ways to send it back.

I may sound paranoid but we did find one of our student violins (new from wholesaler) to be untuneable a couple of days ago. There was damage to the pegbox (not economical to repair) which a non-specialist seller simply would not have noticed. Also if it arrives soundpost down you`re going to have to get someone to put it up, and the most likely time for the soundpost to come down is on the way from China to the wholesaler (six weeks at sea and in dock).

Liz

Thanks for that

What I will do (if I decide to go for one) is to go to my music shop, where we can inspect the violins before I make my decision. They are pretuned and ready to play too, so thats helpful.

Does anybody have a link I can go to for how to restring violins? Even though it`s easy (apparently) I would like to see it done!

Thanks again!

One thing about violin shops: Don`t let the salesperson mess with you. Lots of people like to demo the violin for you by playing really fancily so you can`t listen to the violin carefully. If they do, ask them to play a nice long G, and then A-flat, and then A, and so on (if they don`t then they`re morons and you should get out of there.) If you hear anything you don`t like---timbre, tone, feel, whatever---forget that violin and try another. If you like it, try it yourself.

Well, if you`re going to a music shop, same applies as on ebay really ie. make sure it`s a specialist one. General music shops are not usually staffed by people who know much about violins (though you could be lucky of course)

Restringing is dead easy, don`t know how to tell you really. You put the ball end in the adjuster and the other end in the tuning peg and tighten.

Liz

Hi Fateful,

In place of a shoulder rest, I used to just pad my shoulder with a bunch of yellow dusters. Cheap and guaranteed not to scratch the instrument, though possibly lacking in grip.

As Liz says, shoulder rests are a very personal choice, and finding the right one for you can take a while, if you need one at all. I`m in the process of trying various options out, and with rests costing anything up to £30 each, I don`t want to have to try too many. The Kun style rest (there are many copies & names) is most popular.

You say you want to start a new instrument, so I take it you already play something else. If you don`t already have one, I would suggest an electronic tuner is very useful when tuning your strings. It`s easy to be a lttle out if you`re not used to tuning by ear, and then you`re training your ear to the wrong pitch.

Instruments in the violin family are among the hardest to start learning on, but in my opinion the most expressive & adaptable to different styles of music. Have fun!

Thanks to everyone who has replied on this thread

I do play other instruments...guitar and piano, and I do have an electronic tuner. There is a guy who works at the shop who is a specialist in stringed instruments, but I will follow your advice and ask him to play long notes to get a good quality one!

Thanks again

I have another question, and this is beginning to raise doubts

I`ve just looked around and there is no-one that does violin lessons in my area. Not only that, but my school doesn`t even have one (they have one for everything else though )

Could I teach myself? I`ve seen all those "Teach yourself..." books, but do they really work? Is there anybody here that has actualy teached themselves and come up with a good result?

Thanks again

I`ve heard of a couple of people who seem to have got on OK learning with the help of videos.

Have you checked out the local university`s / F.E college`s adult education department?

Liz

As a music teacher - and violinist - I would suggest asking your music teacher at school. There is bound to be someone in the area, although you may need to travel up to 30 minutes. Are there any string teachers at all at your school? If so ask them.

Good luck. It is really great to see people with such enthusiasm!

Everytime I`ve bought a new string at the shop they have put it in for me free of charge. I know it`s easy to do it yourself but it`s even easier to get them to do it... Rosin is essential. I feel like I need a shoulder rest but you can get by with a sponge attached with rubber bands.