Violin?

[emelsha]

Okay, I am really excited. Tomorrow I am taking my dd to meet with a violin instructor. She is going to get measured for a violin. Problem is, I don't have a violin and don't know the first thing about them. :chillpill: There is a place in town where you can rent or buy one. I think I am going to rent one to see if this is something my dd takes to. The private lessons are $15/ half hour. Is that about average? I have no clue.

 

Also, is there any advice that you can give to such a novice?????

[Vanna]

... I don't know how long her lessons are, but I think she charges $25 and that's supposed to be a bargain. Guess it depends on where you're located. Hope your dd visit and lessons go well.

[Sorbie]

We pay $85 a month for one 30 minute lesson a week. That works out to either $17 or $21 a lesson depending on how many lessons there are that month. That seems to be the going rate here.

 

-Amber

[Basketmaker Amy]

We pay $25 for a 30 minute lesson...you're getting a deal! Have fun.

[Testimony]

You are getting a good price at $15 per half hour.

 

Let's see any advice. Is the violin lessons traditional or Suzuki method? My boys are doing Suzuki method which is more intense (if you follow the program) than traditional. I know because I did traditional as a child. Suzuki method is parent intensive. You have to practically learn the violin along with the child because it is really "by ear" method. The teacher shows the child how to properly position themselves and how to place their fingers on the strings. Then, you as the parent go home and go over the lesson with the child. Many times I have to do the position in order to understand how to do it.

 

Traditional, I remember getting my lessons and going home and practicing. My mom knew nothing about the violin.

 

Oh! I went to a parents clinic for helping the child to practice. It was so rich. I felt like I learned gold from that class. If you want, let me know I will tell you about it. I am planning to write more about it on my blog.

 

Blessing to you and your family,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Donna]

My dd takes Suzuki violin and it costs $55 a week for 45 minutes of lessons and she has group class 3X a month. We pay an extra yearly fee for performances to cover the accompanist and use of the location.

 

As for buying a violin, I went with a less expensive but good sounding violin for the first one. We put on Dominant strings to get a better sound out of the tiny 1/32nd violin. As my dd became more serious and I knew it was a long term commitment, I bought from a violin maker in the city the best violin I could afford. If taking Suzuki lessons, I would recommend the best sounding instrument you can afford because they learn by ear and need to hear a good sound while playing to develop their ears.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I have 3 taking violin. If you rent you can send back the instrument until you get one the teacher thinks sounds good. Violin is a lot of work. My kids do a combo of Suzuki/traditional, but I am still involved the whole time. If you want a child to progress in it you have to coach them. The violin has so many technical points. It is not like sitting down at a piano and hitting the right key (I am not saying the piano is super easy, I have 1 who plays).

 

Our teacher always recommends renting. Kids grow quickly and can change a size in a year. (often it is 2 years).

 

Kim

[langfam]

http://www.sharmusic.com/

 

You can rent. If you buy some offer a trade-up policy.

 

Tuition is $27 per half hour lesson at the local university. Her teacher is superb though.

[langfam]

One thing I want to mention is that playability of an instrument is very important. Some instruments may sound good but are not easy to play. This can cause lots of frustration and cause the student to want to quit.

 

DD has a couple of violins given to her because they were sitting in relatives' closets... though they may sound good, they're difficult to play. One has a neck that is slightly too thick. another rattles because of the chin rest. For this reason, I would go with renting/buying from a reputable company who make sure the instrument is properly set-up.

[Suzannah]

DD has been doing Suzuki for 2 years, since she was 4. You are getting a great deal on price. I would absolutely recommend renting for three reasons:

 

1. Children don't always stick with the first instrument they try out. When I began band in 6th grade we were required to rent for the first several months because it's not at all unusual for kids to change their minds about which instrument or whether to continue at all. Naturally as a parent you will control whether or not DD sticks with it, but perhaps your circumstances will change at some point and you'll want to cut back on something. Just one thing to think about.

 

2. Children sometimes drop things or lose them. I think most places have insurance to cover most of the replacement cost and regular repairs to a damaged instrument.

 

 

3. Children tend to grow. Violin, unlike piano, needs to fit the size of the child. If you buy a 1/16 size violin, you'll have to buy a 1/10 within a year or so. Then you'll be buying a 1/8 a few months or a year after that. Now you own three violins and perhaps at that point your child will decide to switch to oboe or harpsichord. Then what do you do?

 

Rent, but if it looks like she's going to stick with it for a while, go with the "deluxe" rental rather than economy. The place we rent from has two categories. The economy models have had a lot of wear and tear but play well enough to learn on. The others are slightly used, but of the same quality as ones sold new. They will also put part of the rental price towards purchase if you do decide to buy. We began with economy then switched to the nicer one several months later when she moved up a size. The sound quality was noticeably better, but I don't think DD would have appreciated it as much at the beginning when she was just learning to make a sound...any sound.

 

HTH:nopity:

[kristavws]

My son has been playing for nearly 2-years. He is learning through the Suzuki method. If you will be using this method, I would recommend reading Nurtured by Love (by Shinichi Suzuki). The company through which I purchased my son's violin allowed us to rent for 6-months (I think it was $15/month). They then allowed us to apply the amount we spent on rental to the purchase price of the violin. They also have a "trade-up" policy. When my son outgrows his current violin, I call them up, tell them I need the next size, they ship it to me, then I ship them the old one. Provided the old one is in good shape, I am only charged for shipping.

 

BTW....$15/lesson is great.....we are paying $25/ half hour.

 

Hope this helps!

[StephanieZ]

Firstly, $15/half hour is *very* inexpensive. I would guess the teacher is very inexperienced or independently wealthy or both. :) More typical would be $30-$40 per half hour. Or more. Or much more.

 

First, know that noone rents really nice violins. They rent junk. If you want a good ear and to love music, you need to have a good instrument that allows you to produce good sound. That's one solid argument for buying as soon as you are sure this is more than a passing fancy. In a group of kids, mine have often stood out b/c of how nice they sound b/c they have good instruments. If they spend 45 min/day, that's maybe 300 hours a year playing. . . that's a lot of time training their ear, spirit, etc. I want them to have the best tools I can provide so their efforts can result in achievement and beauty. I don't know that having good tools/insturments has caused them to love music and achieve so much, but I do *guess* that it has influenced it (I know there is no genetic component, that's for sure.)

 

We're respectiful of our instruments and have never had a serious injury or expensive repair to an instrument in 8 years of playing and with 3 kids and 7 violins, 2 harps, and a guitar. . .. That said, if your kids are more wreckless or you aren't committed to teaching them to respect their instruments, then renting often has built in insurance that repairs/replaces irregardless of how negligent you were. I've met families who rented their cellos just b/c they knew their kids would (and did!) break/damage them on a regular basis! WOW! Scary, IMHO, but still. . .

 

I have always bought instruments and have come out way ahead $$ by doing that. I can hardly imagine how broke we'd be if we'd rented!

 

They'll typically stay in a violin for about 1 1/2 to 2 years before needing to move up a size. At $20/mo, that is $480 for two years.

 

Also know, violins for 2-6 y.o.s (1/32, 1/16 and 1/10) are so cheap and can be bought for under $2-300. That is not much rental time. After about age 6, they'll get into 1/8 size and up where you can (and should) but better and more expensive instruments.

 

They just don't make "nice" violins smaller than 1/8. :) For purchase, each size you go up they go up a good bit in price (assuming similar quality).

 

To demonstrate the $$ savings of buying. . .

 

We now own one each of :

1/32, -- 2 years use 1 child (paid $150, would have been $480 rent with nothing to show, instead own adorable little violin/case/bow awaiting another child's use and/or could resell)

1/16 -- 1.5 years use for *3* children consecutively -- 4.5 years use total, would have cost $1080 rent at $20/mo, instead paid about $150 total, plus perhaps $100 in upkeep; still have adorable violin . . .)

1/10 -- 1.5 years use for *3 children consecutively - 4.5 years total use, would have been $1080, instead paid about $400 total plus perhaps $100 in upkeep. . .

1/8, -- 2 years use for 2 children; third about to move up into it - . . . paid about $800

1/4, etc etc (paid abt $1000)

1/2 etc etc (paid abt $1200)

3/4 etc etc. (paid abt $1400)

 

(Note that the rental for a violin of the quality we're talking about in those larger sizes is $45/mo as opposed to the $15-$20 cheaper rentals. . . And even so, those rentals will always be the dregs that they have left over that aren't being bought. . . You play/listen/test multiple instruments and bows when buying these and pick the best. . . The rejects may likely end up as rentals. . .)

 

My oldest will move up to a full size in another year or so. Won't it be nice to be done buying them (at least until/unless she wants a fancier one for college). Once they hit the 1/8 size, you can get much better quality instruments. I think they are worth it. The Doetsch brand is very nice. https://pottersviolins.com/violinshop_listings_violins.php?cid=36 is a link to the shop outside D.C. where we buy ours. Good service, good instruments, not cheap. You can even call them and have them ship you something sight unseen. I did that with our very first $150 1/16 set up. At that size/age quality doesn't vary a whole lot. They sound like shoe boxes irregardless. :) When I needed a 1/32 for my third child who insisted on her own instrument at age 20 mos, I bought it sight-unseen from Shar Music and it was/is just fine for that purpose. Again, under $200 for the whole package.

 

They aren't cheap but they do hold their value. I notice that the 1/8 is now about 50% more than we bought it for 5 years ago. Most shops have rental-applies-to-purchase plans but they are generally not worth considering as they may limit you to buying the GARBAGE instruments generally available for rental or totally inflate the value of the junk you're renting. Long term, it makes sense to buy and then resell independently (to another student/family in your community or your teacher's student. . ) if it is the $ you are worried about. Whoever you buy it from will often take it as a trade in later, but at deflated values. I think Potter's policy is something like they'll give me my purchase price of the VIOLIN (not case/bow/etc) minus $200 as a trade in. The "Set Up" price of the Doetsch 1/8 when I bought it 5 years ago was about $750. Of that, they assigned about $300 to the bow and case. You get $0 for that. So, I'd get $750-$300-$200 or only $350 for the lovely set up which is all perfectly good and which they'd resell with a new $50 bow and $100 case for $1200. I'd rather sell the whole thing to a family I knew for $350 (or more like $700) rather than give that profit margin to the store. :)

 

I keep meaning to sell the littler sizes that we are "done" with but I'm holding out for another baby someday or will likely save them for the grandkids. They're just too cute to let go of for just a few hundred dollars.

[Mama Bear]

My piano playing kidlets have developed an interest in strings and I've been waiting to dip my toes in because I've had many of the questions that have been answered here.

 

I wanted to add my voice to the Reasons to Buy List:

I began playing the piano when I was about three and loved it. Loved all music and wanted to learn other instruments. By the time we got around to doing that ($) I was in the 8th grade and my mom rented me a flute. It was easy to pick up because of my other experience with music, but I was the only kid in the band (of about 120) who could not get the durned thing to tune. It was so mortifying that as soon as the event was over, I quit. I still have fond memories of the music, playing with a group, etc. but am sitting here blushing just thinking about it now. (25 years later)

 

Point being: you know your kiddo. If it's a risk you're comfortable with, or can get comfortable with, go for it. Also, there are a variety of instruments available on the Goodwill website -- most look like a good deal, especially for learners.

 

That said, I might just have a different answer for you when I go to total up the cost here. Maybe I can sell a kidney..... ;)

[Robin in Tx]

You know, it must depend on the luthier, because we have had extremely good luck with rental in the early years. When dd was in a 1/4, we were renting a $1200 violin. We always rented, and we were never in an instrument that would have cost less than $400-$500 to purchase, and we started on a 1/16. And yes, the rental over time would have been as much as or a little more than purchase, but that rental also included free string replacement and it applied 100% to purchase so that when we had accumulated about $1500 credit, we were able to get a very nice violin.

 

I have almost found the opposite of what you said to be true... we found it very difficult to find a good quality small instrument period, even for sale, and once we found a couple of luthiers who had them, we found that they didn't have hardly any new instruments... they were all rentals. We were told that the purchase market for good quality small instruments was so narrow that they didn't invest in sale inventory - everyone preferred to rent so they focused more on carrying good quality rentals. So it might depend on the area where you live, too... but for us we got great small instruments on rental, and it was like putting a really nice instrument on layaway for the future.

 

And actually.. now we're renting again, because my dd was emotionally attached to the 1/2 size we purchased and didn't want to trade it in (our shop gives 100% trade in value). So we're renting another very nice 3/4, building credit to purchase in about a year when she's ready for her full size. We were in the shop the other day and she was allowed to play on an instrument listed for $8000 (!!) Of course, she fell in love with it ,but I've got news for her... it's going to take manna from heaven to get anywehre near that! LOL I cringe every time I think about what I'm going to have to put towards that purchase... the rental will help, but not enough to break into a fine instrument price range.

 

Anyhow, our shop operates a little differently, and it has been worth it to rent... but I should state that they DO have different rental levels, and we went with the most expensive one (the deluxe a previous poster mentioned) in order to get a very good instrument. A shop that has a deluxe rental and 100% credit towards purchase and 100% trade in value does exist. Our shop is in downtown Houston area and services most of the professional musicians in the city. I think they view this process as developing potential clientele... definitely a lot of good will on their part.

 

Editing to add: I forgot to mention that our rental credit goes towards anything in the store. We have not been and will not be limited to what we purchase once we decide to buy again. We should have about $1000 credit built up by the time we're ready to buy again, and if I could afford it, I could apply that towards the $8000 instrument dd has her eye on :). Yeah right... like that will ever happen! LOL

[EKS]

We pay $30 per half hour. Renting an instrument is a good idea, not only because it gives you the option to stop lessons at any time but also because the teeny weeny violins are only used for a short time and then they need a bigger one.

[emelsha]

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments. :001_smile: The teacher came highly recommended from another homeschooling family. She has been playing in a symphony for 20 years. (For whatever that is worth) She is currently living in a small town, so maybe that has something to do with the price. We went to meet her today, and she measured my dd. She is a 1/8. I want to learn violin with my daughter, and she said that would be wonderful. She said she would even work one on one with me sharing some of the time with my daughter. She said it wouldn't cost me more. I guess that must be common with the Suzuki method? Or do you think it would be more beneficial for my daughter if I just watch and work at home with her? So much to learn. :D

[EKS]

I have been taking lessons alongside my two sons for the past two years. It has been tremendously beneficial for everyone. My sons get to see Mom learning something new and struggling a bit (ok, a lot!) and that struggling is ok and can be overcome. I get to experience what it is like to learn something new. Sometimes as adults we forget what it is like to learn new things, how difficult and frustrating it can be. It has made me a better teacher in general.

 

After the first few lessons, you will probably each need your own lesson time. There is so much to learn and it takes time to do it.

 

I think it's great that you're thinking of doing this! Good luck!

[ShelzNH]

Music lessons vary GREATLY by area of the country. We pay $20 per half hour and our teacher is a professional who plays for the Boston Pops for MANY years. She is a musical genius.

 

Suzuki has some nice points to it BUT IMHO I wouldn't want my children learning just Suzuki. An instructor that offers a little bit of both Suzuki and Tradititional is best. I want my children to learn to read music BEFORE they get comfortable not having to. if that makes any sense. To each his own, I have seen many great Suzuki kids. (At least they impress me! But I am not a violinist)

 

We currently rent and our rental goes toward the price to of the violin or a trade in. However, I am looking in to buying a better sounding instrument. I agree that they don't sound that great and my son, being a perfectionist, can get very frustrated at the sound quality at times. I too was told that smaller sized violins can't get much better sund due to the small size. I am waitng for him to be in the 3/4 size.

[Montana Peach]

I also think that lesson rates are based on your area and what the market supports. I am in small town Montana and my cello teacher charges me 35/hour and his quartet plays all over the northwest. I opted to buy instead of rent mainly because this will be a long term hobby for me and at at 44, I won't outgrow my cello :)

 

A good source of info is www.stringworks.com. They have a message forum there and people are really helpful.