Is electric violin good for utter beginners who never played acoustic violin before?
Typically, you use an electric instrument due to potential advantages such as cost, ease of transportation, ease of maintenance, and ease of purchase (electric pianos).However, with an electric violin, you literally have none of the advantages, all the hurdles of learning the acoustic violin remains with the electric, and you gain some disadvantages, such as needing batteries, and needing additional audio equipment (head phones, pre-amp, speakers).You really don’t gain anything useful to a beginner when you go with an electric violin.
Beginner Violin Tips?
For fear of being repetitive... get a teacher please :) Teachers need to eat too, and they are a tremendous help. Now on to your questions: 1. Um... very carefully. There are so many components, I'd exceed the character limit... Here are some pictures, does that help? :/ http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/leungc... http://www.allthingsstrings.com/var/ezwe... On this one, ignore the fingers; it only demonstrates thumb placement. http://sdmaus.com/violinblog/wp-content/... Keep your thumb on the bump of the frog and bent, and your fingers relaxed. Your arm should be guiding the bow, not forcing it. Don't press too hard, either; you'll get the feel for it eventually. 2. 3 full frog-to-tip strokes with the cake and then a little extra rub at the tip. 3. Squeaking means that you're hitting other strings. Pay super-close attention to keeping the bow on one string at a time. 4. What kind of pain is it? If it's muscle fatigue, then yes, you'll get used to it; however, make sure that you're not shrugging! Bring your chin down to the violin, not your shoulder up. If it's bone-stabby-oh-dear-god joint pain, then you're probably doing something weird with your arms and it would be advisable to enlist the help of another violinist to correct your posture, because while it may not seem like it now, if you play with bad posture for a long time, you WILL injure yourself, and permanent bone injury is not a picnic. I need to go ice my wrists now... (For more information on this topic, I suggest contacting mamianka or this link http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20103/11026/) 5. Well, sir, that depends upon your practise regime! Don't practise too terribly much when you're first starting out or you'll hurt yourself. (Trust me.) For now, just play until you're tired, and don't force yourself. You'll get it soon, so don't give up! :)
How long does it take to become an average violin player?
Why the violin?! It's one of the hardest instruments to play! I practice for at least 2 hours a day, I've been playing it for over ten years, and I became average by my standards only about three years ago. And it sounds terrible in the beginning. My violin teacher refuses to tutor people who are starting the violin over the age of 13, because it'll take ages for them to learn. Go for it if you're still young and can stand the sound to begin with. Even though it's so frustrating, I'm so glad I chose it over any other instrument and I'm completely besotted with mine. You should definitely learn it for longer than six months, it takes years to get the tone right, but to "play" it adequately should demand all your free time of those 6 months. If you have had a lot of experience with another musical instrument however, particularly the piano, you'd find it a lot quicker. But it's so worth it in the end, and so as long as you're committed to playing an instrument then I don't see why you shouldn't take it up. Good luck with it :) EDIT: I meant by "if you're still young" as not geriatric, I think some people might have got the wrong end of the stick. My cousin started playing last year at 17 and is actually quite good for a beginner. It's still hard to learn - but the best instrument out there! I personally don't find age is an issue, it can sometimes help. Sorry if I mislead anyone...
What's an affordable violin for a beginner that doesn't sound horrible?
You can buy a perfectly functional, not horrible sounding beginner violin--new--for around $200USD from certain online retailers. Add $50–100USD if purchasing from a local brick and mortar.You can also get a non-functional, horrible sounding instrument for $300+USD if you don't do your research.I think promoting businesses is against Quora user policy. Do research and compare retailers and you'll be fine.Obviously these instruments will not have a gorgeous tone. Personally, I recommend starting in the $400-$600USD price range if you want an ideal instrument for a beginner, but that's not what was asked. A professional can make beautiful sound with a well-chosen $200USD instrument, but no one can take a $100 violin-shaped toy and convince anyone that it sounds good (if the pegs can even hold in tune).
Can you recommend a violin chinese brand?
I cannot think of any Chinese instrument I could recommend to you. I always tell my customers to buy the best instrument your budget will allow. Do not let the lowest price be the determining factor. Some of the Chinese violins are not playable, they look nice but were only meant to take your money. Try contacting a University Music Department and get some advice from a faculty member. They will give you some names of violins to research. The violin may be the most difficult instrument to learn, especially at the beginning, so don't make it even more difficult with a poor instrument.
Some Questions About Violins?
If you spend $85 on a violin you will not be happy with it. A "fairly good starter violin" will cost more like $200-300. $85 will get you a piece of junk not suitable for anything but hanging on the wall. There are several good brands and the best advice anyone can give you is to buy or rent a violin from a reputable string store that took the time to set it up for easy playability and installed strings and fittings that won't break right away. If you buy a cheap plywood box off Ebay or Amazon you won't get any of that and you'll probably have to spend a good chunk of change fixing the things that break in the first few months. Don't fall for a pretty paint job or shiny varnish. Both are used to dress up crappy violins. You use your left hand for fingering and your right for the bow no matter what your dominant hand is. It's possible to set up a violin for reverse playing but it's an expensive job that no one will do on a cheap, beginner instrument anyway. The only reason to play in reverse is if you're missing fingertips on your left hand. Dominance is irrelevant. Violin and fiddle are styles of music. The only difference is that sometimes violins sold as fiddles have flatter bridges and steel strings. Realistically, self-teaching violin does not work. There's nothing natural or intuitive about it and if you ever want to get past the earliest beginner stage you'll need instruction. Get a 4/4. The fractional sizes are for young children and they don't make larger ones. Make sure you know how to take care of a violin. It's fairly easy to accidentally ruin either the violin or bow.
Would buying a silent violin be a good idea considering that I'm a total beginner and live in a college dorm?
There are pros and cons to all of the options. I am classically trained you know Scales than arpeggios than schradiek then sevcik the kayser then krutzer. All the Russians really. What I have learned along with all the other things is that bow pressure and ability to use the bow to create emotion is essential. A famous violinist who I can’t remember said “ the violin, it’s the bow” you need a good bow technique and that is challenging to get in a electric. I have an electric violin and very nice one ( it’s a mark wood viper it’s like the greatest thing ever) but I would never dream of starting on it. There really is having nothing but organic natural tone coming into your ears and not running through headphones. Simply put unless you are getting some instruction you may struggle without noticing and end up with bad habits. However in your case it seems a good option. If your school has a music department I’m sure they Have a professor of violin. You could ask them for guidance or if you’d like you could message me and I could give you tips and good books to buy to develop a strong technical base.
How good is the Hola! HV1 Violin Student Outfit?
I am very interested in learning how to play the violin, and I am wondering whether I should purchase it or not! Here's the link on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MA8UB0Y/ref=s9_simh_gw_p267_d0_i1?&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0TD55WVC409MA2GGHHA1&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop I was wondering, if you happen to own one, all these questions: -Are the rosin and bow good quality? -How loud is it? -Is the sound nice/rich? Thank you!
What should I look for when buying a violin?
It's kind of hard to know what to look for on E-Bay because you aren't going to see it until it arrives. You may be able to return it, but that might cost you extra! I don't know where you are as far as how well you currently play, or approximately how old you are, but if you are talking about dealing directly with E-Bay, you must be at least old enough to know what you like. I put a few links on here to help you out. I personally use the Cremona VL-150 or VL-175 in my classroom, and no, I don't get any kind of royalty or discount for saying that. They are Chinese instruments made by the SAGA corporation. You can usually get them for 125 - 150 dollars with a case and a bow, and so far (I have bought four of these so far) the bows have all been worth playing with. There are many other brands that speak well and will last you five to ten years, which is the most time you will probably need one before you will want to move up to a more professional instrument anyway. I bought a violin with a grey case off of E-Bay, just because one of my students did it and the whole thing intrigued me. It ended up costing me about forty five dollars and it came with two bows. One of the bows was playable, but the other one was hopelessly warped. I use the violin in my classroom for when a student forgets their instrument, and have lent it to students until we could get them a school instrument several times, so the experiment was a complete success as far as I was concerned. I don't particularly care for the instrument myself, he grain on the soundboard is exceptionally wide (it's best to have about 12 - 16 straight grains per inch) but the darn thing plays and it speaks well. A couple of my students regularly tease me for it and one of the parents offered to buy it from me for more than I paid for it. I don't sell anything to students (conflict of interest) but I was pleased that someone found value in my little E-Bay special. I named the instrument after the student who originally got his from E-Bay and my students actually ask for it by name! Thought you might be amused by the story. Sorry if I bored you. Best of luck with your quest to find an instrument. If you are not sure about one when you find it, show it to your teacher or a student who plays, whom you respect.