What is unique about the violin?

What should I know before buying a violin?

• I'm in high school already and I already play the piano. I want to learn how to play the violin as well. I've taught myself how to play the piano and I plan on doing the same with the violin. My only problem is that I have no one to go to ask questions for how to play the violin or what I should look for when buying a violin. My budget for buying a violin is about $100-$200. I can probably go a bit higher if I really need to. 1. What should I know before buying a violin? 2. What are some qualities I should look for in a violin? 3. Are there any good tutorial websites for violin beginners? 4. What are some things that can help me in my position? I know I'm in a pretty bad position right now and I have basically no hope to getting to where I'd like to be, but I'm pretty used to it. I did just start playing the piano 6 months ago. I'd be pretty thankful for any advice you can give me. Thanks. :)

• Answer:

  The best advice I can give you is to stay away from internet discount places, general music stores, and guitar dealers. Stick with string dealers. From what I've seen, the discount places almost universally stock nothing but cheap junk. Reputable dealers stand behind what they sell and therefore can't afford to sell the cheap stuff that starts to fall apart in a few months. It's best if you can actually see and hear the violin you're considering. We've had people come here who said they just bought a cheap violin off Ebay because they thought it couldn't be that bad, then once it arrived realized just how bad a cheap violin can be. Some of them arrive with pegs that don't fit so the violin can't be tuned, some have bow hair that is of different lengths so when half of it is tight the rest is just hanging there. Some arrive with strings that break the first time someone tries to tune them up. Some have big open seams, bridges that are so high you can't press the strings down, bows that are warped and can't be drawn across the string without contorting your arm, and cases with hardware that won't latch. Do yourself a huge favor and stay away from the cheap junk. You might be able to get a somewhat decent violin outfit for around $200 or a bit more, but that's the extreme low end of acceptable. Don't expect it to sound like much. No, there are no good tutorial websites for violin beginners. Violin is not something that can be taught that way. I've learned several instruments, some with instruction and some through self-teaching and violin is one instrument that you simply cannot effectively learn without help. You can learn to put your fingers down for the basic notes and saw back and forth with the bow, but learning what you need to know to get past the most basic beginner level requires instruction.