Electric Violins

[MrsWeasley]

Does anyone's kid here play electric violin? I'd especially love to hear from parents with kids in a Suzuki program. My six year old started an acoustic violin two years ago, and for a six year old, he's pretty serious about it. He keeps talking about wanting to play electric violin (like his idol, Lindsey Stirling). His teacher, who we both really like, isn't really a huge fan of that type of music. If you or your kid have played both, are they fairly comparable in terms of technique? How easy is it to switch between the two? Are electric violins good for beginning violinists? (He's still wrapping up Book 1.) Do they make quality,tiny electric violins? (He just moved up to a 1/8th size.) Is there any way I can rent one?

[Tsuga]

Subscribing. It's an interesting question.

[catz]

My 11 year old dd who's been doing Suzuki violin for a while (finishing book 5) got the opportunity to try one for a week at a Suzuki institute.  It lost it's novelty pretty quickly and I think it'd be hard for a book 1 kid to play it well.  I haven't really seen them in fractionals.  But you could buy a pick up that would work with any violin you get that might have some novelty affect if you were really committed?

 

ETA - we found the electric similar in terms of playing.  But errors are just that much louder and more obvious on the electric.  So it was a bit fussier.

 

If he's interested in other types of music, consider looking for fiddle jam circles for kids.  I think the world opens up much more though after about book 3 in terms of just being able to get around on the instrument easily enough to do more fun stuff - orchestra, jam sessions, composing, fiddling, etc.

Edited February 13, 2016 by WoolySocks

[Crimson Wife]

I've considered it for my hard-of-hearing child assuming we could figure out streaming it to her hearing aids. DD2 just LOVES her big sister's acoustic viola but playing a stringed instrument is heavily dependent on auditory discrimination ability.

[skimomma]

I have never seen them in sizes.  I also cannot imagine any Suzuki teacher encouraging a switch until the fundamentals of the instrument are very solid.  

 

That said, my 12 yo has been a Suzuki kid since she was 4.  She has finished the books but still takes lessons from our local Suzuki teacher.  She also plays in a band and has a pick-up for amplification.  It clips to her normal violin and can be moved when she moves up to a full size instrument some day (soon, we hope).  She uses the pick-up to plug into stage sound or to plug into her own little amp for rehearsals.  She also likes to plug into her computer and play around with Garage Band which might be an appealing alternative to your child.

[J-rap]

My daughter grew up in the Suzuki program.  At one point she wanted an electric violin, and I found her an inexpensive one on eBay.  I wasn't going to splurge for a higher quality one until I knew she'd really play it.  I'm glad I got her the inexpensive one because the thrill of it wore off fast.  I'm not sure why.  She's a very good violinist.  I think in the end she just enjoyed the sound and the feel of the classical violin.  The one we got on eBay (and it was new) was small.  I think they tend to run smaller, generally?  

 

I think, given your ds is still early in the Suzuki program, I'd probably wait awhile anyway.  Maybe you could find a store that has them sometime where he can test play one.

 

Too bad we don't have ours anymore or I'd just give it to you!  .

 

 

[Crimson Wife]

   She also plays in a band and has a pick-up for amplification.  It clips to her normal violin and can be moved when she moves up to a full size instrument some day (soon, we hope).  She uses the pick-up to plug into stage sound or to plug into her own little amp for rehearsals.  She also likes to plug into her computer and play around with Garage Band which might be an appealing alternative to your child.

 

This is interesting to me. I wonder if this type of pick-up might work with something to stream the signal to my DD's hearing aids.