Help from fiddle/violin players please!

mariannewims

Hi all,

I've really wanted to learn the fiddle for years and have finally signed up for a summer school in Mayo for 1 week, 3 hours a day to get the basics.
However, I'd really appreciate some guidance on the following;

-Buying a basic fiddle; Any tips on where to buy? The summer school organiser advised only spending 100-150Eur as I'm only starting out. I was thinking of just popping into somewhere like Waltons and picking out something in that price range but would more experienced folk recommend somewhere else to buy my fiddle, or any brands/models that might be best suited to my needs and in that kind of price range? Waltons have a Valencia for 89eur, would something like that suffice for a beginner? I really just want something to get started on, that will last me for the first year or two until I know what I'm doing to some extent.

-Lessons in Dublin; After my initial week in Mayo, I'll be looking for follow-on lessons in Dublin. I was thinking of contacting Comhaltas as they have 2 branches near me (Drumcondra) or Waltons are handy as they're in town and I could have lessons during the day which, while not totally necessary, would suit me best.
Anyone got any experience of either of these 2 outfits? Or could you advise somewhere else? Something that appeals about both of these is that they seem to organise slow sessions which would be great a bit down the line.

Ok, I really hope someone can help!
Many thanks in advance,

Mar.

landsleaving

I took lessons in Waltons for a while and had a fantastic teacher, he also teaches in Dun Laoghaire school of music, which I've had a few teachers from, all great. Problem is, I think they're the most expensive places, but violin is tough to learn, and having a good teacher has been far more important with violin than any other instrument I've tried, so it was well worth it.

As for buying one, I would recommend http://www.charlesbyrne.com/ for good advice on what to get, and some expert knowledge, rather than waltons who just can't offer that expertise due to the amount of things they sell.

mariannewims

Thank you so much landsleaving, that's great info!
Much appreciated, I'll definitely pop into Charles Byrne for more advice, that sounds just the type of place I was after.

On lessons; I learnt piano, tin whistle and accordian as a kid but feel that the fiddle is going to be so difficult, especially in the early days, that I'll need some good tuition so that I'm learning the basics properly.

Thanks again,
Mar.

CiaranK

Hiya Mar,

I would not recommened a Comhaltas to start off with. I started off learning to play classically. Don't get me wrong the Comhaltas are great. I've gone to lessons with them for about 2/3 years maybe. They are fantastic players. But you would benifit much for learning classically for the first year or two. You learn the best technique with a classical teacher. How to hold the instrument properly etc. A lot of comhaltas teachers will just tell you how to play the notes and not focus on how you hold it etc. Learning classically and moving on to trad with the comhaltas would definatly be the best thing to do. Althoguh it may be expensive one to one classes are better becuase all the focus is on you. It depends on how much you can spend.

For buying your instruemnt I can not reccommend Chreans highly enough. They are experts and know pretty much everthing there is to know about Violins. http://www.crehans.ie/home.asp?subcategory=ho&lang=EN They have a lot of time for you. They are a family of players and they make instrumets themselves too. The shop seems small but they have so many violins upstairs in there workshop they bring down for you. I have dealt with Ciarán Chrean many times and he is a pleasure to deal with. So are the others but I have just dealt with Ciarán more. Even pop in for a chat with them and they will point in the right direction of excatly what your looking for.

A bit long so to some it up; Get classical lessons first then move onto the comhaltas. And pop into Crehans and have a look at instruments there.

All the best,

CiaránK.

mariannewims

Hi CiaranK,

Thanks so much for your advice, I really appreciate it.
I hadn't really thought of doing classical violin lessons first and moving on to trad then, but it makes sense to learn the basics well and then decide what I want sort of music I want to play.
I live in Drumcondra so it would be easy for me to pop into Crehans for a chat, thanks for letting me know about them!

All the best,
Mar.

mariannewims

Thanks again for your help guys.
I bought my first fiddle off Charles Byrne's yesterday; very exciting
I'm delighted I heard about them on boards, because they were just marvellous. Very friendly and informative.
So it's off to Mayo now for an intensive week of lessons, I'll re-assess the Dublin lessons situation when I get home.

Cheers,
Mar.