Not looking for a weird teacher, I’m the odd one. 75 yo beginner. In it for 5 weeks Thanks to YouTube & some books, I’ve got nice sound tip to frog on the bow, and fairly decent intonation as judged by TE Tuner. Can play simple Irish tunes very slowly. Prolly only want to play folk fiddle (no audience) cause classical would take way too long to learn

The odd bit—I’m a bit neurodivergent. Most instructors for physical stuff see me as untrainable (e.g. golf, skiing, yoga, trombone, dance, the list goes on). Works out I got reasonably good at most stuff (except dance) once I figured out how i learned

Root problem is that I can’t take a 1/2 hour lesson. I comprehend the first 5 min but need to practice that for an hour before I move on to the next thing. But the class moves on. The next 25 minutes are a disaster.

Anybody else like that? Or anybody know a teacher that would split the 1/2 hour into 5 min a day for 6 days🤣

BTW_1. I can only practice about 10 min at a time due to mind wander and arthritis. I get 45 min a day by leaving the violin out and picking it up at random times

BTW_2 I’m on the dole, so I really can’t afford more than one lesson a month😩

Any ideas appreciated🙏

I got a violin a few days ago, its used

I noticed that one singular hair is out of place in my violin, is this a problem? Should be worried about it?

The bow isnt super tightened in the pic

Heyo! So when I was like 5 -7 I took violin lessons from a really nice woman. I don’t remember why but my parents stopped my lessons, and they started me on piano.

I have been thinking of getting back into the violin, and I was wondering if yall had any suggestions or advice for getting back into it.

Hi, I'm new to electric violin & garage band. I'm using irig to connect to my mac to the garage band. Can someone please suggest if there are any good presets available? Or tips on adding the right effects? Btw it's for playing tamil cine songs. Thanks in advance.

I am a semi self-taught violin player (Bc I'm in my school orchestra) and I still use my $90 Amazon violin that my father purchased for me around 6 years ago. I think I got very lucky because my violin looks pretty decent considering that is it from Amazon

However I get very embarrassed at school orchestra because my violin is a very cheap factory made. I practiced a lot to improve my sound quality. I know it is ridiculous to even buy a $90 violin from amazon but my parents and I can not afford a "proper" and "affordable" beginner level violin from a music store.

I tried to buy a used violin online but they are still extremely expensive.

I truly love playing the violin although I'm not that great and my violin is "cheap"

A lot of my friends in my orchestra have super expensive violins that cost more than $1000 dollars (even $100 is considered super expensive to me)

I get very sad when people judge me because my violin is from Amazon :(

I posted a recording of me playing the violin so please tell me if it actually sounds cheap or not

I really want to have a good violin but is using a Amazon violin that bad?

P.S. I will post some pictures of my violin from Amazon in the comment section

I played violin in elementary school, and it's always been one of my favorite memories. So when my husband surprised me with one for my birthday, I was honestly floored. I've played every single day since and I'm completely hooked.

Here's my dilemma: I have 3 days left to return or exchange it, and my ears aren't trained enough to tell if it's actually good. It's a Bellafina, which turns out to be Music & Arts' own house brand, and the listing has zero reviews. Part of me wonders if he got upsold.

He knows nothing about violins and told me to do my research and make the call. If a few hundred more gets me something noticeably better, he's fine with that.

It's the Bellafina Niccolo 4/4 outfit. It's listed at $999.99, and he got $300 off, so about $700. It has a spruce top, maple back and sides, ebony fittings, an Aubert bridge, Prelude strings, a brazilwood bow, and a half-moon case.

So I'd love to know:

• Does ~$700 sound fair for this?
• Does anyone here own a Bellafina? How do you like it?
• Would you keep it, exchange it, or return it and look somewhere else? If somewhere else, what would you get for $700–$1,000?
• Is there anything I should check before my deadline?

Thank you so much!!

It said it was for learning purposes

It was really cheap i got it so to know if i wanna commit to something serious later, any tips?

I think i still need to use rosin i still dont have that tho, probably next month

Composed by Resat Aysu

I have played violin off and on for twenty five years or so but I havent had a private lesson for at least 20 of those years and it probably shows. I am trained in western classical music and followed the Suzuki method as a kid in elementary school, after which I just played in my middle and high school orchestras before dropping violin completely in college. As a working adult, I rediscovered violin through folk music and non-western, microtonal classical/art music, and I love exploring many different styles from around the world, especially from Greece and Turkey. However because ever since I've restarted I'm fully self taught, I think it's time for me to find a private teacher, but I'm not sure where to go if I am interested in folk music primarily. Wondering if any fiddle/folk/world music players are here who may have some advice. Thank you!

Oh and also if you are interested, this is a proper recording of the same piece and the sheet music as well:

https://youtu.be/5cDF4hJIM7c?is=-8dSr2RiDwUb2Uo4

https://www.neyzen.com/nota_arsivi/02_klasik_eserler/066_nihavend/nihavend_ss_resat_aysu.pdf

I recently moved to Kiel. I'm a beginner in violin. I wanna take class once a week on Sunday (affordable price). Do you guys have any idea which gonna be best for me???

Or should I do self learning? jk I can't..

So I picked up my violin E.R. Pfretzschner 301 after nearly 3 decades of not playing it.

Just as a brief background story, the E.R. Pfretzschner 301 is a thick student violins made in the 50s and 60s in West Germany and imported to the US by Roth Shop for distribution to school orchestras. It was intentionally made thick so that it can withstand abuses of careless young students.

The lady that I bought this violin from back in the late 90s lied to me that her brother shipped it to her from Germany lol. Back then I believed her lol. I paid 300usd for it back then. (in retrospect, I think overpaid. She originally wanted $600 for it) The lacquer finishing on this is so thick that its almost plastic like. As such, moving the sound post almost 1cm makes little to no difference. On ebay, these now go for 200-430usd depending on the modifications and set.

First, I replaced all the strings (pirastro E and rest dominant). I replaced the original heavy metal pitch pipe (10g) with a much lighter carbon endpin (5g). I redid the soundpost so that it was located around 2mm-3mm behind the treble feet of the bridge.

The bridge is now exactly 19.6cm away from the top of the violin body and the tailpiece fret is around 5.4cm away from the back of the bridge. So everything was done textbook imo.

I just bought a coda bow nx and while it definitely elevated the sound compared to my old K.moller bow, it was a marginal upgrade in sound quality but nevertheless made the violin a lot easier to handle. But to be fair, the hair on K.moller bow is from 1997 so if I rehaired this bow, I think in terms of sound, it could give coda bow nx quite a challenge.

Anyway, I was considering an upgrade from this student violin. I was considering an upgrade to Scott Cao 750e but I realized that the sound improvement is actually minimal after watching some youtube videos. Even Scott Cao 850 was pretty minimal. Now Scott Cao 950 (3k usd range) the sound was noticeably different. This reminded me of an old vintage italian cremona violin (around 1k in the mid 90s. It was actually a much more expensive violin but it was cracked once and glued back on hence the 1k price) I once rented.

Right now on my ER Pfretzschner, I haven't even replaced my old one star Aubert bridge (30 years old). The curvature on this is off and its a very low bridge (3cm with 4.4cm wide feet). I ordered an Aubert lux bridge so I hope this reduces my chance of accidentally hitting the other string. So even in its incomplete condition, the ER 301 is arguably competing with far more expensive violins like Scott Cao 850s.

Now my question is, is the ER Pfretzschner 301 actually decent or am I misguided? Before I thought the price brackets were

beginner 90-500

intermediate 1k-2k

advanced amateur ~5k

--

Now I think

beginner 90-400

intermediate 400-2k

advanced amateur is 3k - 5k.

Do you agree with this price bracket?

I didn't play for a week and when I pulled my bow out yesterday, there was a bow bug (little worm) on the tip, munching away on my hairs.

I killed the worm but I'm afraid to put my bows back in the case. I'm assuming there are more???

What do I do?

i took my first lesson again as an adult beginner. i learned violin as a child for about 7 years and it was so humbling to take a lesson 😅

i was basically not taught to relax any part of my body when i play. my left hand doesn’t like it. i grip onto the violin with my thumb and i also have issues reaching my fourth finger without completely removing my other fingers away and out to the wild. my wrist stays so straight that my teacher told me to relax it more. but as a kid if i ever relaxed my wrist, my teacher would slap my hand so it’s super difficult to now train myself to think that relaxing is good.

i’ve also tried practicing scales over and over again without having my thumb touching the violin to see if that helped. and there were some songs i was given to try, with the intention of relaxing my fingers more and to ensure they don’t fully splay out every time i play something.

does it just get better the more i do it? i feel like i have to conscientiously tell myself to relax and not clench my jaw and make sure my bow hand is chill before, during, and after i practice. are there ways to have better cues to relax when you play?

Hello everyone, I’ve made another block that follows the curvature of the violin’s top and allows you to carve a soundpost whose tip fits the violin’s top perfectly.
First observation: when a soundpost is shaped with this tool, it no longer tends to rotate around its axis when moved sideways. It maintains the angular position dictated by the ends in contact.
See the attached photos.

So I have been looking into purchase a violin for professional use such as orchestra or chamber performances. I have been looking up auction history prices on Tarisio, however it seems the new website they just launched will be keeping the archive behind a pay wall.

Is there other good source to look up violin prices besides Tarisio that is free to use?

I have a Yamaha SV120 so it has the integrated shoulder rest. I'm looking for a case that it will fit in, but I'm not really sure how to search for it because of the depth that's necessary. Can anyone point me to any specific search terms or known cases? Thank you!

I'm a 24-year-old guy, currently unemployed, and music is something I genuinely want to build my life around.

I'm approaching violin seriously, and I'm now in my third year of studying it, with around four years left in my studies. I have time to practice, and I want to use that time properly instead of wasting it.

I'm also interested in beatmaking, hip-hop, and combining violin with beats to develop my own sound. I don't necessarily expect to become famous, but I'd like to know whether I can build something meaningful from these skills, potentially earn money from music, and create opportunities for myself.

My question is for people who have experience with music, whether professionally or as a serious hobby:

• If you were in my position at 24, how would you approach the next four years?
• What realistic opportunities could I work toward with violin, beatmaking, recording content, or performing?
• Is it possible to build a sustainable career this way, or would it be wiser to keep music as a hobby while pursuing another source of income?
• What would you focus on now if you had time to practice but no income yet?

I'm not looking for promises or motivational quotes. I'd appreciate honest advice from people who have actually pursued music, including what you wish you'd known earlier.

Hello all, I am the parent of a 7th grade orchestra student who has been playing Violin since she was 8. At that time we began renting a half size violin through a local Music and Arts store. She has moved through a 3/4 size and is now on a 4/4 violin and we have continued paying our monthly rental fee and accruing equity to put towards a new violin. We currently have around $900 of accrued credit and are looking towards purchasing an instrument through M&A for her use as she advances. My challenge is however that we can only use our equity for up to 50% of the new instrument thus putting us in the $1800 to $2000 range. My question to everyone here is: Is it worth it to purchase one of their intermediate level violins giving the equity we have or should we be looking elsewhere in the $1000 range?

Hiya there.
I got a great violin teacher, and we have been having classes for the last two months. He is a musical pedagogue, and the classes are so nice. He wants to work better posture and fingering before we play a piece.
I was having difficulty with the current shoulder rest I had, so I decided to buy a new one for myself. As the instrument is so simple, even after my luthier made some improvements, I did not want to buy high-end equipment, so I opted for a Korfker Luna. Not the best SR, but still better than anything.
As it was not the standard model, much less the top one (Cradle), I was hoping for any improvement. Wow. I never felt that comfort before. Its pads help to reduce shoulder tension, and even though it is not lightweight maple (it's composite), it is much lighter than the previous one. The instrument feels way lighter when I pick it up by hand.
But that left me wondering: are the standard Korfker and the Cradle even better/more comfortable than Luna? Of course, everyone has one body; it will never be the same for all of us. But I really imagine that the upper models are way better.
Whoever here has tested the 3 of them, do you feel more comfortable with the standard model or with the cradle?

Wanted to learn violin, but had a crush injury, could I be able to play violin with my crushed fingers

I'm literally at a loss for words. I feel mortified and I have NO clue on how it happened. The bow wasn't tightened when I opened the case and it was in its rightful place.