I got my first violin this weekend!!! I am so excited. I have a violin teacher and I have had my first two lessons. Did all of you practice with your bow in different directions in the beginning? I find that it has been very helpful.
I didn`t know that you should always clean your violin also to keep the rosin from your bow off of it. I feel very fortunate to have a friend that is a very good violinist and willing to teach me.
Have a good evening Michele

thats wonderful!!!!! Enjoy your new violin!

Thank you Rebecca, I am very excited. I bought a new case for it plus a new tail and chin rest from International Violin company on line. I hope I did alright.
Take Care,
Michele

sounds good to me! Let me know what you think of it! I would love to see pictures if you have any.

i found a lovley maggini copy do
you think i should buy it?
it is $1,950

I got a copy of Antonius Stadivarius off my great grandpa who brought it over from Germany in 1945.
I don`t know much about famos violins but i here its a good one. Does any one have any idea how much it would sell for if i wanted to sell it. Not that i ever would.

Elizabeth said,
"There are presumably laws in the US about child labor"

Rebecca
What she said is correct, and if what you say is true about working rebecca, then the people who are paying you could easily go to jail. That is if anybody told on you.

You would have to be filthy rich to actually have the capability of keeping that violin if it really was worth that much ($150,000 and over). I love playing the cello and I can play anything on it and am planning to be in an professional symphony orchestra as a soloist, but if I had a Stradivarious cello, I would be to AFRAID to even keep it. Most to all professionals borrow expensive instruments like that from the symphony orchestras. When they go over seas to play, they leave there expensive instruments behind and rent cheapies.

I heard that from two ladies from the Atlanta Symphony Orcherstra and there $150,000 violin and $500,000 cello that they brought and played.

At high school, oops

Hi, I am a celist out of Dallas, and I certainly believe that she could be a pro. When I was 15, I played the Haydn Cello Concerto No. 1 For an audiance of 12,000 people. I have a Master`s degree in Buisness, and a Doctorate in performance, of corse on the cello. If I did it at 15, why couldn`t she do it at 14? My first performance only rewarded me with $50, but it was still the first actual job I ever had! Notice I said job? Yes, because it was. Most minor orchestras only pay 100-200 dollars for a performance, but the musicians are still professionals.
Oh, bye the way: I have played 2 Gofrillers, 1 Montagnana, The Davidoff strad (owned and played bye Yo-Yo ma) A Testore, A Vuillame, and several other fine instruments worth more than $100,000, and I have to say that at least 2 of them were found at garage sales! My own personel cello (a Cremonese, ealry 1800`s) was bought at a old music store for only $3000, when it was worth $75,000. Things like what happened with rebbeca do happen, and I can prove it!!

Hi David,
That`s great! It seems a lot of people on here play in an orchestra of some sort, but most of us wouldn`t call ourselves professionals unless we make a living off of it (pay rent, buy food, gas, ect). We`re just a little skeptical of Rebecca because she makes a fantastic claim (the Maggini) and can`t seem to back it up with any proof - who she got it from, a certificate, pictures, and so on. Add that to her assertion that she`s a professional musician, and we just worry that she may be deluding herself.

Of course it is possible to pick up the violin after a 14 year `break`. I teach a lady who has recently retired and who stopped playing when she was 18. She finds things like moving the fingers on the bow hand difficult as she hasn`t done any of that type of movement for so long but she is thoroughly enjoying it again.

Go for it I say!
Take care,
Amy

P.S. This forum has been great fun to read! Happy violining!

Where was your performance for an audience of 12000 people? I assume this must mean a radio or tv audience - were you in a big competition? if so, how did you get on?

Liz

Liz,

There are a lot of people in the USA. It is not difficult to find yourself with a 12,000 person audience here.

My brother has played hockey in front of that many. I have played in front of 6,000. Both of us did this as children. Not really that hard to do. I have raced bicycles in front of over 10,000 people; my brother and friends as well. I was not an exceptional racer--not even elite level.

I have even been on ESPN in a rollerblade race. No Big Deal--this is America--land of Mass Media.

There are churches in this country that draw 50,000 or more people to a service. Some of them have music.

There are sports events where a young talent is showcased at half-time etc.

Every symphony hall in the top ten largest metro areas routinely put that many people into their houses---Houston, L.A., Philadelphia, N.Y. etc. Sometimes they have children playing at events.

What is your problem with this?

Come on Liz, you are giving us English musicians a bad rep! Let it go already!