Favorite Holiday Moments
I love, as I’m sure many of you do, the holidays! I thought it might be fun to share our favorite moments and traditions that come around the holidays.
I’ll go first: I love having a day like Christmas to help everyone rearrange their priorities, and put another’s happiness before their own. It is a day to show someone you may not typically share things with, how happy they make you.
Okay, now it’s your turn! Leave a comment with one of your favorite holiday moments or memories…maybe we will find new things to appreciate that we hadn’t thought of already!
Happy Holidays everyone
Formspring Question – Hello sir! I just want to ask, what violin should a beginner buy? I want to learn violin and i would like to buy one. What brand should I buy? The cheapest one sir. :)
My suggestion is don’t buy an instrument off of craigslist. You might find something nice 1/10 times, but do you really want to take that risk? Most of the time what you find on there sounds literally like a tin can. You can get decent instruments on Amazon, and I actually purchase violins on there from a few different vendors.
Cecilio Violins are great, and these are really good for beginners just starting out. A good beginner outfit is the Cecilio CVN-500, which costs anywhere from $175-$350.
Once you have played for a while though, you will want an upgrade to this. It isn’t long before you will be able to tell the difference between the quality of different violins. But the Cecilio is a great place to start if you don’t want to spend too much.
Hope this helps!
Michael
What brand of strings do you prefer? I use Dominant, but was considering changing to a string with a brighter sound. Any suggestions? Joc
Great Question! Dominants are actually one of my personal favorites if you are looking for a synthetic string. A similar string that you might find a little brighter would be Evah Pirrazi strings by Pirastro. They are a little more expensive, and don’t last as long as dominants, but you will like how bright they sound.
I wouldn’t suggest using the Evah Pirrazi E, and going with the Pirastro Gold E as it sounds much better.
Hope this helps!
Michael
Formspring Question – Is it too late for me to start learning violin by the age of 20?
I have found in my studio, that adults learn at a much faster pace. At least 2-3 times faster than a young child between 8-15 years old. They pick up on concepts much faster than children, and most importantly find it more important to work on certain techniques and fundamentals that they appreciate.
My studio ranges from 4 all the way to 88 years old! Some of my students in their later years, started with me, and after a short period of time, are playing very well, and capable of playing in many solo settings. Many of them enjoy it so much!
So in summary my answer to your question. Is it too late to start the violin at age 20? Are you kidding? Absolutely not! If you have the interest, you will be amazed at how far you can go 
- Michael
Beginner Violin Lessons – How to Play the Violin
Playing the violin is one of the most rewarding experiences you can encounter as a human being. Violin music can ease the mind and can turn into a great hobby for people of all ages. You are never too old to start learning the violin, and even if you aren’t interested in becoming a violin virtuoso, you can still have tons of fun learning the basics as a hobby.
What you need to get Started
You will need certain materials to get started playing the violin. First you need a violin, bow of course which most people know that they need to have. You also will need a good case to carry the violin and bow in, and a shoulder rest to aid in holding the instrument. To use the bow correctly, you will need rosin, which makes the bow sticky enough to grip the strings. A basis book will do to get started and I recommend Essential Elements Book 1 as a good starting book for beginners.
How to Play the Violin
Playing the violin is not as hard as you might think. The key is having the right teacher to make sure you are doing everything correctly. Gripping the bow correctly is a key element to starting. Making sure your pinky is at the bottom of the bow, and having your thumb curved is quite important. Having a teacher watch this constantly is a huge help. Having the instrument level is important and is aided by a shoulder rest. Make sure your hand is placed at the nut of the violin, and doesn’t creep up. This causes your notes to start to go sharp (out of tune). The most important thing to play the violin correctly is playing straight across the strings. Many beginners like to use too much arm and move the arm backwards instead of extending out with the forarm. Having a teacher watch this really helps, but you can also help yourself by watching your playing in the mirror.
Once you have all these fundamentals in place you can start learning from the book! Take things slowly and don’t try to play too fast. Focus in on playing in tempo, and getting to the tip of the bow with full bow strokes. Having a teacher to watch this really helps. Start off by learning basis open strings and then going into putting fingers down while stroking the bow. The Essential Elements Book starts off in the key of D which means your second finger should be a space apart from one. To put your third finger down, use the second finger as an anchor which you put this finger right next to it. This really helps when you are first starting out. Keep progressing through the book slowly and I can promise you learning the violin as an adult beginner is really a lot of fun!
First, congrats on making your twitter so popular. You are Worldwide (Poland). There is a funny coincidence because today I got the idea of buying myself an electric violin! And here you are, following me on tw ( : My request is for you to tell me everything bout it!
I personally don’t have any electric violins, or have never purchased any. I do have some friends that play in various bands, and they seem to lean most toward Yamaha fiddles. The ones with the cool halo bodies. Here is one on Amazon that I have seen other fiddle players use. Yamaha Silent Electric Violin.
I have always used a pickup on a classical violin to play gigs. I prefer this because I have played classical all my life. It makes me feel like I have more control over the instrument . If you want a recommendation of a pickup, I would suggest going with a Yamaha VNP-2. They hook right into the bridge, and really produce a great warm sound.
Hope this somewhat helps!
Michael Sanchez
Updating The Face Of Violin Tutor Pro And RivertownMS
I did a photo shoot to update the photos featured on Violin Tutor Pro and Rivertown Music Studio.
Are there different "brands" of the violin? If there are, what kind of violin is the best to get?
This is a great question thank you for asking!
Unfortunately violins are not like cars, in that one brand operates a certain way compared to other brands. Each any every violin is unique, and can sound/play differently from one instrument to another. The more advanced player you are, the more you will notice this difference.
Opposite of cars, violins actually appreciate in value. This means that the older they get, the better they sound, and more expensive they are. Although you can find good new instruments, typically the older they are the better they will sound.
Most of the time if you see a violin label with an individuals name on it, this means that the instrument was hand crafted by this person. A hand crafted instrument will sound much better than one that was made through a machine! The next thing you will look for is when the instrument was made, which will tell you a lot about what you might be dealing with.
The best thing you can do is go to a trusted violin shop and play violins in an affordable price range, and pick the one that sounds best to you. This may not be the one that sounds the best to another violin player because of your different playing styles.
Hope this helps!
Violin Buying Tips For Beginners – Should I Buy Online?
Many people ask the question if they should buy a violin online as a beginner. I consider buying a violin online a risky way to pick out an instrument because you never know what you are getting. Don’t get me wrong, I am far against buying products online being that there is a huge selection and you can find pretty good deals if you look in the right places. But it is hard to find a good deal on a violin because you don’t really know how good the violin is until you get the opportunity to play it.
Problems from Buying Online
There are many problems that can arise from instrument to instrument that it is impossible to tell until you get the violin in front of you. Even then a beginner player wouldn’t in some cases be able to tell what the problems are until they bring the violin in for a checkup. Problems include small cracks or open seems on the instrument which can harm the playability and sound of the violin. Another problem is different pieces being warped or not in their right spots. Many times violins come with warped fingerboards which can really harm the playability of the instrument.
Is it Worth taking the Risk?
Many times people buy violins Online because of the affordability. They can get a violin, case and bow for sometimes under a hundred dollars. To them this is worth the risk especially if they aren’t really sure that they that serious about playing the violin. My opinion is that any violin under a hundred dollars online is pretty much junk no matter what kind of violin it is. The bow and case are also going to be junk and I would stay away from buying any violin in this price range. Some violins online that are in the 200-500 range can actually be good instruments. If you get a good background of the instrument and there is a return policy I would possibly try buying a violin in this price range. Make sure you bring the violin into a local shop to make sure the violin is in working order.
What are my other Options?
If you don’t want to take the risk of buying a violin online you do have some other options. There are many local violin shops that give you the opportunity to actually play on the violin before you buy it. You could bring your teacher with you to make sure the instrument is right for you also. Many times violin shops have rental programs that are really nice for beginners that are just starting out. I would look for a rent to own program that actually allows you to pay a monthly fee but all your payments go towards the ownership of the instrument. These work very nice because you can return the instrument if you are not interested in playing violin after a short period of time. On the other side, if you build interest in playing violin, you will eventually own the instrument which is great. I suggest going to a store that specializes primarily in stringed instruments and nothing else. They are the ones typically with the good inventory. You want to find stores that will trade-in the rental instruments for a better instrument in the future.
