Guitar/Piano to violin?

Dave! · 11-10-2012 11:07PM #1

Hey guys,

I'm thinking of having a go at the violin/fiddle, and am wondering where to start

I've been playing guitar about 10 years, though I'm not as good as my experience might suggest

Got lazy after about 5 years, so I'd mainly be playing acoustic fingerpicking stuff now. I started teaching myself piano a few years ago too, and bought a digital one about 3 years ago. I can play a tune/chords, but I wouldn't be good compared to someone who got lessons!

Anywho, I want to do some music lessons, so I was thinking about either getting some advanced guitar lessons, intermediate piano lessons, or beginners' violin!

I don't currently have a violin, and have no experience at all playing bow instruments. Just wondering has anyone made the leap, or taken up violin in "later life" (I'm 24

) ? Was it difficult? I know the basics of reading music, but it would take me hours to decipher a piece for the piano!

Perhaps I'm being naive, but just to my eyes it doesn't seem terribly difficult from a practical point of view! Working the bow would be tricky, but once I figure out where the notes are on the board I would have thought it wouldn't be too hard to be able to play basic tunes. I picked up the ukulele pretty quickly!

Anywho, any suggestions for where to go from here? How much should I be spending on a violin to get started? Just looking on Thomann and there are a few for less than 100 bills:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/cat.html?gf=violins_and_violas&oa=pra

I'll be looking to get 1-on-1 lessons then probably

Thanks

martinedwards · 12-10-2012 08:52AM

IMHO violin is a wonderful instrument ONCE YOU CAN PLAY IT.

anyone under about grade 5 sounds like a cat going to the toilet through a sewn up bum!

be prepared for years of awful shrieking (both from the violin and your family) until you master it!

auti · 12-10-2012 10:53AM

Do yourself a favour and buy a good second hand instrument from someone who knows what they are selling. A <€100 instrument from Thomann is going to sound terrible and will be a complete waste of money. Violins take years to settle down and mellow, some of them might never mellow. Ask an experienced player to help you with your first purchase and expect to pay at least €300 for something that will not make your ears bleed

Nothing quite like getting disheartened playing an instrument that cannot possibly sound good!!!

Dave! · 12-10-2012 11:02AM

That's a concern alright

I wouldn't know my arse from my elbow when it comes to buying violins. I'm asking around on Facebook for a loan of someone's, but no bites as of yet!

auti · 12-10-2012 11:47AM

Have you tried any of the music schools? If you look for a tutor I'm sure they will help you with your purchase and they might know a more advanced student who is looking to upgrade and sell their instrument. They might even give you a loan or rent you an instrument until you get fixed up with your own.

PaulieBoy · 12-10-2012 05:02PM

I got a Karl Hofner for my first violin. Cost around €400. It sounds OK, and only OK. Anything cheaper is going to sound horrid! Depending on how much you practice be prepared to sound like a tortured cat for about 6 months at least. You can get a mute or use cloths pegs on the bridge to reduce the racket a tad.
A fun instrument to learn!
Charles Byrne or Crehans are the two best places to go in Dublin for a violin or violin related advice.

JonathanAnon · 14-10-2012 03:50AM

Hi Dave, I'm similar to yourself... I played keyboard since I was about 13, and guitar since I was about 15, and I sing with a band.. (now 36).... I bought a cheap violin, Valencia 80 euros, from the local music shop .. this was apparently the wrong thing to do, so dont necessarily follow my line on that one.

Here are my thoughts..

- Even learning to hit the basic notes accurately, takes time.. A piano has all the notes programmed, the frets keep you on the straight and narrow with the guitar, but you have to work hard on the violin to actually find the basic notes accurately on a consistent basis... For this reason it needs a lot more regular practice as well..
- The violin pegs are a pain. If you ever thought that guitar tuners were bad, you will realise that you've been spoiled.. Get yourself one of those clip on tuners (they work for both violin and guitar, they are a godsend), and some paste to help the pegs stick... otherwise you will end up taking the lump hammer to the tuning pegs.... And no I'm not joking on that one.
- There are plenty of really good online tutorials and a few youtube lessons.. professorv has a load of lessons and I even found a few old BBC tutorials by yehoudi menouin...

I'm sure I'll think of other things but that's it for the moment..

BostonB · 14-10-2012 10:40AM

I know someone who started violin at 65 doing very well at it now. Working their way through the grades.

I has violin lessons as a kid and hated it. Never kept it up. But I had a terrible ear back then. I think I'd be better at it now, my ear seems to be much better now than it was as a kid. Also I since found that the violin I was using was known for not staying in tune which didn't help. I also had piano lessons which I also dropped. But I always wanted to play the guitar and taught myself that. I was much better at that as a result. Because I wanted to play it and also didn't do lessons learning music I had no interest in.

+1 what JonathanAnon said, the violin needs a better ear to stay in tune, it has no frets so it much harder than the piano or violin. I'd actually like to go back playing it, if I get time in a few years. As theres music I like on it now, that I didn't know about when I was a kid.

No harm in trying it anyway. I'd go for it if I was you. But I'd get lessons and get a decent instrument.

JonathanAnon · 14-10-2012 02:44PM

BostonB wrote: »

+1 what JonathanAnon said, the violin needs a better ear to stay in tune, it has no frets so it much harder than the piano or violin.

Just one other point I meant to say on that... The reason the clip on tuner is essential, the violin simply must be in tune the whole time. If you start playing the violin with a string out of tune, you will automatically adjust your fingers and re-learn the notes in the wrong positions!!! Again, this cannot happen with the guitar or the piano...

Also, when playing along with songs online, make sure that the recordings are proper pitch. Some of the old Dubliners ones I was playing along with are slightly off proper pitch because the analog tape degraded before the upload..

Guitar/Piano to violin?

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