Teach Yourself Violin

Buying Your First Instrument

Thanks in part to musicians such as Nigel Kennedy and Vanessa Mae the violin has quickly become one of the most popular instruments of our time. There are more and more people who are interested in either  violin lessons for beginners or teaching themselves to play the violin. Anyone in this situation will be excited to learn a new skill and keen to buy their first instrument but at the same time there are a few things that they should be aware.

There are always a few important rules to stick to when buying a violin. Fortunately with a few helpful tips it will be much easier to be sure that you are making the right choice so you can feel confident when you start to teach yourself violin. The first consideration – and you may not have thought of this – is whether to rent or buy the instrument. This will obviously make a big difference to your initial layout. Unless you are 100% sure that you are going to enjoy playing and want to stick with it then renting is a good option to begin with and one that I would recommend you consider. On the other hand if there is a person who is really taking this seriously and who wants to make learning the violin a large part of their life then they are going to want to buy a violin and save themselves the cost of renting the instrument over and over again. Also, people can grow attached to an instrument when they start to learn how to play it so at least if you have bought it already it is actually yours to become attached to.

It is possible to get yourself a reasonably priced violin but don’t forget there are also strings and other accessories that need to be purchased. Buying the highest quality instrument is really important here or at least as high quality as you can afford. Violins can range in price from about $100 up to about $3.5 million which was the record price paid for a Stradivarius in 2006. Now obviously you don’t need to go that far but it is always worth it to buy a better quality instrument than a cheap one because it is going to sound better. Also violins improve with age as the wood matures so it could end up being an investment that increases in value. Make sure to visit a reputable music shop where they will give you some advice about what to buy. Once you know what type of instrument you are looking for you can then shop around on the internet for a good price. I picked my first violin up on ebay. The modern instruments tend to be much more reasonably priced than those that are older but whatever kind you buy it needs to be maintained properly in order to last and keep its value.

Tags: Violin tips // Add Comment »