Selecting Your Student Violin

SELECTING YOUR STUDENT’S VIOLIN

BY JUDITH C. KISER PROPRIETOR OF JUDY’S CORNER

Judy's Corner

BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................ 3 My Background -- not important, unless you just feel like reading it -- otherwise, scroll right down to Tip 1............................................................................................ 3 TIPS FOR PURCHASING THE STUDENT VIOLIN ...................................................... 5 What are you looking for? .............................................................................................. 5 Tip Number 1: Understand what you are looking for:................................................ 5 What is your budget? ...................................................................................................... 5 Tip Number 2: Know your budget:............................................................................. 5 Tip Number 3: Know what is available ...................................................................... 5 Sound and fit? ................................................................................................................. 5 Tip Number 4: Look, Feel, Listen ... examine the instrument.................................... 5 Cosmetics? ...................................................................................................................... 8 Tip Number 5: Cosmetics are just that! ..................................................................... 8 Did you forget the bow? ................................................................................................. 8 Tip Number 6: Don't forget the bow! ........................................................................ 8 Online purchase ............................................................................................................ 10 Tip Number 7: If you cannot touch it and hear it, make sure: ................................. 10 So I need a case, too?.................................................................................................... 10 Tip Number 8: How to carry your violin:................................................................ 10 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................. 11

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Buying a first violin for your student can present a daunting task. I have written this guide, including my own personal story, with the intent of helping you make your choice, while not breaking your budget.

BACKGROUND My Background -- not important, unless you just feel like reading it -otherwise, scroll right down to Tip 1 When I was a little girl of nine, I came home from school, all fired up about an "offer" my teacher extended to all of the little fourth graders.....I was going to PLAY THE VIOLIN!!!! I was so excited, I could hardly contain myself. Did I concern myself with the reality that we were a single income family with six kids? No, of course I didn't. I announced with pride to my parents that I had decided I was going to PLAY THE VIOLIN!!! As number two child, I was supposed to "follow my older sister", not lead the way. My announcement immediately prompted the questions to my sister, "don't you want to play the violin?", and "didn't you get the offer to play a musical instrument?" My poor sister had received the same invitation a year earlier, but had no interest at all. So, like the intelligent kid she was, she never mentioned it to our parents. Now, here I was, bubbling over with excitement to PLAY THE VIOLIN and she had to explain why she wasn't interested. In answer to my Dad's inquiry, she declared that she had wanted to wait until she was in the fifth grade, because fifth graders could elect to learn to play WIND INSTRUMENTS. Well, that satisfied Dad. My sister would play the flute and I would play the violin. In keeping with the normal way of things, my parents purchased a flute for my sister, and rented a violin for me. I was told that if I "showed promise" after the first year, they would buy me a violin. The expectation was that my sister would excel at the flute, but I had to prove myself. No problem, I was going to PLAY THE VIOLIN!!! As that first year drew to an end, I had really shown the promise Dad had required and I was ready to get my own violin. Dad took me to a shop in Washington D.C. where a man rehaired violin bows (mine was pretty shabby and Dad wanted it in good order before we returned the rental.) When we entered the shop, we found 5 or 6 people all sitting in a circle, working on violins...making them. One older guy was sitting closest to the phone and asked if he could help us when we entered. He was, apparently, the owner. While he rehaired the bow for us, my Dad engaged him in conversation. How much would he charge to make a violin for us? OK, that was a long time ago (1968), but I am still amazed at the answer. For $100 this man would supply the wood and teach my Dad how to make the violin! Dad was sold. For the next 3

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months, every Saturday Dad and I went to D.C. and spent the day working on the violin. All the scraping, measuring, planing, sanding, purfling, carving, steaming, bending, gluing, varnishing, polishing...and more, was labor intensive, but served to teach me a lot more about the instrument I was playing than I could have ever learned had Dad simply purchased an instrument for me. We finished the violin just before my 10th birthday, and, though I helped make it, it still ranks as the best birthday present I ever received. I continued to play and made my very own violin (again under the direction of the same craftsman) when I was 13 years old, and was very proud when my violin won the highest awards in the East Coast Violin Makers' Convention that year. What I learned in this process has helped me help friends determine whether a violin is worth buying. I hope these tips will help you make some good decisions.

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TIPS FOR PURCHASING THE STUDENT VIOLIN What are you looking for? Tip Number 1: Understand what you are looking for: • • • •

Is this for a beginning student? If so, size is important: Violins come in four basic sizes, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and Full size (at 9 I started with a 3/4) Take your young student to a credible instrument dealer and let him try the various sizes He should be able to hold the violin with his hand at the top of the finger board and his elbow bent at 90 degrees

What is your budget? Tip Number 2: Know your budget: • •

While we all want the best for our student, it makes little sense to spend $10,000 on a violin for a beginner Renting might be the best option for the first year (see whether your student "SHOWS PROMISE")

Tip Number 3: Know what is available • • • •

Violins are mass produced today, and have been for years Those that are mass produced today are actually often better than those mass produced 20 years ago Mass produced violins often lack the features that give the violin a beautiful sound Older, often antique, violins will generally look a lot worse, but sound a lot better, but these are not generally available for sale in the local musical instrument store

Sound and fit? Tip Number 4: Look, Feel, Listen ... examine the instrument •

The older mass produced instruments generally have "printed" purfling. Purfling, while decorative, actually serves a purpose. The tops of violins are typically made of spruce, a soft, wide grained wood, which has a natural propensity to split. Purfling, which is actually three pieces of wood (ebony, willow and ebony) is inlaid approximately 1/4" in from the edge of the top, and serves to stop any splits which start at the edge of the top. This is similar to the purpose served by the hem in your pants, which is to keep the fabric in you pants from fraying.

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If at all possible, get a violin with inlaid purfling, even if the purfling is not real wood. It will still serve the purpose. You can usually see tiny knife marks where the top was prepared for the purfling. Printed purfling, of course, will have no cut marks. (Purfling is also used on the backs of violins, but since they are generally made of a harder wood, maple, if there is no purfling on the back, it in no way detracts from the violin.)

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Look inside the violin, through the F holes. There should be a label that tells where and when it was made, and usually, by whom. If the label is of a mass producer of violins, you can research the reasonable prices online, before making a purchase.

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If there is no label, and the instrument looks handmade, presume it is not a "valuable" instrument. There just aren't that many of those out there.

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While looking inside the instrument, look at the workmanship. There should be a soundpost positioned under the bridge which supports the top and is essential to the sound. If the sound post is missing, do not string the violin up until a sound post has been properly inserted. Listen to the violin. Ask the person selling it to play it for you. If he doesn't play, take someone with you who does. Your student's playing will probably not demonstrate the true quality of sound the instrument is capable of producing, so it is best to get a more experienced violinist to help you decide. Look at the neck, fingerboard and scroll. These should be straight, with no warping.

If the instrument is strung, let your student try it out. Check to see that curve of the fingerboard and bridge position the strings to allow the movement of the bow to play a single string at a time. If the curve is too small, your student will become frustrated when he constantly plays two or more strings at a time.

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Cosmetics? Tip Number 5: Cosmetics are just that! •

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If the instrument is well priced for your budget, sounds good, and is well made for the price, don't be alarmed if the finish isn't that pretty. A little olive oil and jeweler's rouge applied and buffed with cheese cloth will typically make the instrument look pretty. A dark varnished violin plays no differently from a "blonde" violin, so don't get caught up in the color and cosmetic appearance, if it makes a huge difference in the price.

Did you forget the bow? Tip Number 6: Don't forget the bow! •

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Most of the time, in the instrument shop you will be able to purchase a bow at the same time as the violin. Bows can cost more than a starter violin! Make sure your student can manipulate the bow, and that it isn't too heavy or too light. Over the years, your student will get better and better bows, but today's affordable bows are typically pretty good for the beginner. Hold the bow at eye level with the tip away from you and the "frog" down. Make sure the bow is straight, not warped. The bow on the left is the better choice. The bow in the right is warped.

Ensure that when the bow has been tightened up for playing, it still hold a nice arch. This is where the spring and nimbleness of the bow is realized.

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Online purchase Tip Number 7: If you cannot touch it and hear it, make sure: •

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If you are purchasing an instrument on eBay or through any other method that requires you to rely on the seller's description, ask for LOTS of photos. Ask lots of questions. Make certain the seller has good feedback and a good return policy.

So I need a case, too? Tip Number 8: How to carry your violin: •

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My first violin, the one I helped my Dad make for my 10th birthday, had the dubious honor of being carried in an old, beaten up case, donated by my Dad's friend - a great violinist. I dreamed of the day when I would have a nice sleek case like the other kids. Of course, their sleek cases housed mass produced violins worth less than the cases protecting them. When I completed my first solo made violin at 13, I received a lovely, sleek case to house my new instrument....I still carry the old case, with the first violin for regular use. My fancy case houses my "back-up"! Cases today are expensive, but are built to protect the violin (in case the instrument falls while in transit.) From experience, let me note here, that, if, when your student is loading all of his gear into the car, he sets his violin in its case down, and forgets to actually load it into the car, the case is VERY unlikely to withstand the weight of your car as you back out over it. This is certainly true of my daughter's oboe case, though I can't honestly say I have had the violin case put to the same test. In short, I recommend getting a sturdy, fiberglass case, but if you can find a used one, being beaten up is not a bad thing for a case and it can save you money. Make certain you buy a case to fit the violin. If you buy a full sized case for a 1/2 sized violin, it will not fit any better than a full sized violin will fit into a 1/2 sized case.

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CONCLUSION I hope, in the fall, when your young prodigy sails in the front door, armed with her "OFFER" and confident in her assertion that she is going to PLAY THE VIOLIN, you will be able to use some of the information contained in this guide to find the right violin to suit your budget and fulfill her dreams!

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