Hello! My name is Dane, that was a toughie, and I have always been amazed by the violin, although always too afraid to try it, thinking it looked much too difficult for me. Well I'm 18 now, willing to give in and do some work, and I don't want to miss out on something wonderful, so I figured I'd give it a try, plus I can't seem to keep my mind off of it lately haha.

So I've been doing as much research as possible, trying to figure out my best approach. Of course lessons would be a wonderful idea, and I figured my best way to start would be to rent a violin, seeing as I really have never touched one. Although I am very tempted to buy my own, as I like the bond one gets when they have their own personal instrument, it adds a certain level to it, and helps to motivate I believe.

I do not have very much of a musical background, my parents never really tried to get me into anything musical, even though my own mother used to play the piano and flute quite well. And now I'm starting to feel a little put down by the fact that I never really learned anything. A few years back I took some guitar lessons, which I only really did because there was a free guitar available at that time, but since I've never been too interested in the guitar (I have a fancy for the more elegant and/or less-often used instruments) I have owned a ukulele for 2 and a half years now, excluding a certain unmotivated little section of my life where I did not play it (1 year). But I started it back up a few months ago, and am having alot of fun. The downside is that it's quite difficult to find uke lessons around, and I really would enjoy something more formal, and quicker. So recently I decided to start looking into the violin, seeing if I really did enjoy it as much as I thought I did. As I read on and on, looked at pictures and diagrams, learned sheet music and watched videos, I became more and more excited to play.

So tomorrow I'm going to make a more thorough search of the local area for any possible violin shops or lessons available, I live in a decently sized, and popular city, so I'm presuming this won't be a problem, knock on wood.

Even though I know I should rent and listen to/play different violins, I can't help but window shop. I've been looking around trying to find good starter outfits and try to get a general idea of what I might be interested in. I haven't gone so far as to look at warranty information and such, thinking that if I go that far, I might get too tempted and buy an outfit and possibly be disappointed. But I figure I might as well ask for your opinions(hopefully you read this far) and any other thoughts/tips/ideas that you maybe have for me.

Some of these I saw mentioned as specifically nice for a starter outfit.

(I had a particular fondness for this one)
http://www.wwbw.com/Florea-Persoana-Violin-Outfit-i143713.music?cm_sp=SearchResultsMid-_-Top%20Sellers-_-143713

(Was not too sure about this one)
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Doreli-Model-79-Violin-Outfit?sku=470291

(This one I just started trying to get information about today)
http://www.sharmusic.com/moreinfogroup.asp?t1=hv10044

So, I've probably been repeating myself, but I'm quite tired, so please forgive me.

Anything and everything is appreciated! So please don't hesitate to post!

Have a good one,
Dane

I'd definitely rent a violin before you buy one, just to make sure you are going to stick with it.

If you do decide to buy a violin, unless you absolutely cannot afford to spend any more, I'd save a bit more money and go for a little better quality than the violins you have picked out. They would probably work fine if all you want to do with playing is just for fun, but if theres at all a possibility you may want a nicer instrument than just a student one it might be better to wait and save a bit more money

If you had to get one of those three, I might go with the first one although its very hard to tell how you will like an instrument without trying it first.

http://www.wwbw.com/Ren-Wei-Shi-Concert-Model-Violin-i81429.music
This instrument will be a much, MUCH higher quality for a few hundred more dollars. You can see the flaming (the "stripes") on the back, and the grainier look on the front, and also the one piece back. All these can be indications of a better quality instrument.

http://www.wwbw.com/Strunal-Model-260-Violin-Outfit-i110718.music
This one too. Its $300, and you can see a bit of flaming on the sides. It looks like it would be a decent, although still student, instrument. As the review mentions, the type of strings and bow also make a big difference.

Yeah I really don't have much cash to spare at the moment, the most I was willing to part with was about 200-250. But I mentioned my idea to my parents the other day, and they seemed to like my idea, so they might support me in some way, plus I need to find out about what range lessons usually cost (A 30 minute to start with)

And yes, I agree that renting would be my best idea, I just get excited sometimes... haha

You're not the only one - I got a violin before I found lessons :D

Out of curiousity, what country are you from? I know a site that advertises music teachers, but it's for the UK.

Yeah I live in the US. Santa Barbara, California.

http://www.wwbw.com/Yamaha-Model-5-Violin-Outfit-i162327.music
This is the violin I recived for Christmas.
It is VERY nice.
It is a little over $250, but its worth your money!
The siite www.wwbw.com is very easy to work with.
When my mom frist bought the violin, she accidently ordered a 1/4 size!
They shipped her the 4/4 size and paided to ship the 1/4 size back!
Even better, they ship free from the start.
The violin came with a very nice case, bow, and rosin.

remember that violins have resale value, so you could buy a student model and most probably sell it for the same price or a little less then what you bought it for. i bought mine of trademe, like ebay and was lucky, for nz$250. some one had paid NZ$600 for it in america (300us). so if your a risk taker... also some stores will sell second hand violins that can be quite good, and sometimes of much better quality then modern ones of the same price. its about sound more then brand, if it sounds good then it should be ok