starter violin for a 10 yr old ?

[bensmum3]

Hi, My daughter would like to learn to play the violin, wer'e going to have a go at self teaching at home (as we dont have access to lessons), but I'm not sure where to start looking for a reasonably priced starter instrument for her, they have some on ebay for £38, does anyone know if these are any good ?
any help greatly appreciated,
thankyou.

Are they Chinese, bensmum? (Does it say?) That's what you get from most music shops these days and they are fine for starting on; if not brand new then you take a slight chance on their general condition but otherwise they seem fine (IME - which admittedly is somewhat limited!)

Do you have a piano? Will you be OK to tune the fiddle for her? (They need tuning every 5 minutes.)

Take a look at this website:
Elida Trading
I have never used these people, but have heard good reports of them from music forums. Apparently they give good advise and you can also return their instruments for a refund if you don't like them.

Definitely read their section on 'buying a musical instrument a few things to remember'. It has info on e-bay pitfalls and Chinese violins.

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I think the one she's looking at is from a dealer, YG - a Buy Now in different sizes - Chinese but looks good in the pics(!) Here

Barbaloot's link has loads of useful information (bit wordy though - takes some wading through).

Sympathies bensmum3. Hope your daughter has a knack for it- there're few instruments that sound so dreadful as a badly played violin, IMO! Have you got a nice soundproof room for her to practice in so you can just pop in every now and then and say "Lovely, darling!"?

Hi all,
Thankyou for your help, No I don't play violin, I play guitar, I know I'm mad thinking I might be able to help her,But she's so keen, I don't want where we live to stop her trying it!.
She can play recorder, whistle and chanter,
This is me just starting to look into the possibility of doing it.
She does have the opportunity to practice with fiddle players a couple times a year at feis, She was using a 1/2 size last summer, so I guess probably a 3/4 would be fine now, shes a very petite 10.
Yorkiegirl, are there any books/cd's we could use to learn from ? A local group do a book/cd combination to learn the fiddle, but I'm quite keen that she learns violin first, I've heard of a method called suzuki,?

does her school not do lessons? Do u have a local music shop? possibly use that? I will see if I still have my old violin music if you like? can she read music? I found it helped to put a bit of tape on the bottom of the violin to start with to get used to where all of the notes were.

Most musis shops will do a starter package with everything in including case etc at a pretty reasonable price,they also often do a hire scheme where you haire an instrument by the mionth and if you decide to buy you get credited with the amount paid for hire.
I would contact yutr local county music school as they often lend instumenst and also do lessons,sometimes in a group which keeps the cost down.

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bensmum3 is on a remote scotish isladn i think.

Bensmum3 - does no-one on the island play?

Personally I prefer Highlands/Islands fiddle-style playing than formal classical violin playing; and it is very different in many ways ... not least the way you hold the thing in the first place.

Good Luck!

Hi, Yorkigirl, I will do that in the morning, ds2 is not very well today, so I've only just turned on the computer again and dd is already asleep,
roisin, I agree I love the local way of playing fiddle, but in my research I have found that it's easier to learn classic violin first, then she can easily do her own thing with fiddle playing. She is learning to read music , and I'm keen to encourage this, whereas a lot of fiddle players play by ear,
hope that makes sense, I'm really excited about this now!

Sorry, forgot to say, you're right AuntyQuated, that's why normal lessons are'nt possible, and we have piano and pipe players on the island , but no violin experts unfortunately.

HI, I hope you see this Yorkiegirl, I've measured dd's shoulder to wrist and it measures 46cm.

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Thankyou Yorkiegirl, Any ideas on the book/CD combo ? I'm on a course on the mainland next weekend, I will look in the music shop for a 1/2 size.(or at least compare prices with the ones on ebay).

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DS2 had Cello Time Joggers when he started, it's lovely.

Grrrr.

(He gave up!)

fiddle one .

You can listen to all the tunes at the bottom and it has other suggestions too.

Another vote for Fiddle Time ... and not just because I used to work for OUP Music

when i learned the violin, my teacher put coloured sticky dots on the fingerboard so i'd know where to put my fingers - v helpful

i would say though - one of the trickiest things about playing the violin is holding it right - and it's really hard to judge by looking at it. i tried to help a friend who was learning to improve her position - and i had to keep picking up my own violin to work out what she was doing wrong. not sure how easy it would be for a non-player to correct position...?