Does anyone here play the violin?

[Caeser25]

I always had an interest in it but have yet to buy one and start looking for a local instructor. Just curious if anyone has any tips.

[Averageman]

Rent don't buy this time of year.
Wait until the end of the school year and check Craigs list for good buys on violins.

[MountainRaven]

[TriviaMonster]

Just rent while you try a few lessons. Buy when you get serious about it.

[murphman]

Rent and ask about any kind of credit system. I played through Jr high and High school and the shop I rented mine from gave you credits towards purchases. Of course I rented for 7 years but my senior year I had something like 1500$ worth of credit and used to purchase an $1800 violin.

[26 Inf]

You mentioned finding an instructor - find him/her first, they can give you some advice on what you want to look for. They may also have a loaner for you to use for the first several lessons. My youngest daughter plays drums, she uses the studio's trap for lessons.

My oldest daughter still takes lessons from her middle school orchestra teacher, she's in high school now and he gives lessons to people of all ages. I'd check and see if your local schools have orchestra programs and how well they do in competitions/how many kids they put on the state honors orchestra, etc. If they do okay, then get with the instructor and see who they recommend, it could be they give lessons.

I ought to mention that my daughter plays upright bass, and there are different sizes and of course quality.

I don't necessarily agree with murphman about rentals, I think it depends on the market. Our community only has one 'full service' music store. I checked into their rental program and it was pretty much as murphman described. The kicker was how much they had inflated the price of the instrument over what you could buy the same instrument for online. If you live in an area with multiple stores, they are probably going to be more competitive on price, but I'd check.

Good luck. I don't play myself, but have grown to love orchestra and, in particular Dvorak, because of my oldest daughter's involvement.

[6933]

Would love to learn. Keep us informed. Maybe I'll pursue this as well.

[Caeser25]

Thanks. I'll find the instinctive first.