i started to learn violin when i was 18.

for RM400 to get a good one it's a bit hit and miss, and violin is not like piano, each violin can vary quite a lot even they're sharing the same price tag.

and of course, go for lesson first before buying 1, consult your teacher about everything before commiting. see what your teacher will say and report here and see what we can help.

amanda, don't worry, RM300+ and RM800 usually won't have much of a difference, unless you're looking at RM1500~2000. moreover, if you can't tell the difference, so there's no point, unless you're with your teacher or seniors to choose for you.

i'd say, you should look into bow instead. many, many of the student violin outfit, the bow are very weak and not stable, you can learn very basic things with it but very soon you'll find a better bow is much more enjoyable along your learning journey.

however, show your violin to your instructor before you make any further decisions.

well yes, a mellow violin is basically essential for a beginner, it's easier to the ear

just let your teacher test the violin and ask for her opinion since we can't possibly hear your violin. you may also ask about the opinions from your teacher about the bow too.

pm me if you wanna know about finding teacher in subang area...

the problem with viola is that the size is quite big and heavy to put on your sholder, and if you have short finger you might run into problem stretching your fingers.

cheapest viola is around rm400 or rm500, equal to a rm300 violin. take note that even a full size viola has various size too, ranging from 15" to 17". usually 15.5"~16" is pretty common and is what people usually prefer, more than that is quite heavy, less than that will have lesser deep sound quality due to smaller body.

it depends on what you like. listen to viola and violin songs on youtube. viola has more soulful deeper sound, like an alto/tenor, as opposed to a violin which is sparkling and brilliant, like a soprano.

for a more materialistic point of view, if you really want to cari makan, there's a great demand for viola player in orchestra. however, playing in wedding gigs, viola players normally not as demanding as only string quartet need viola ALTHOUGH it's still very demanding compare to other instruments. of course, if you can imagine how demanding violin teachers are, viola teachers are even more rare.

This post has been edited by little ice: Feb 28 2009, 03:49 AM

mskvenn, where do you stay?

if you're able to play guitar, you'll be more comfortable with cello as the length and fingering (within 1 string) is about the same, but since viola is smaller, so shouldn't be a problem.

by comparing the songs, ABRSM is generally harder, but not sure about recent years. i think recently the ABRSM C section got a song called czardas, which is imo quite easy among general grade 8 pieces, although it sound quite difficult when you hear people play.

sorry, dunno about teachers in ipoh, although my teacher is from ipoh but i think he no longer teach in ipoh anymore.

oh paiseh i missed that one! i'll pm you with informations.

i never take any other grade except grade 8 for violin. saved me a lot of money.

took me 3 years.

nope, my major is piano, but somehow violin give me more feel, and i can express myself more with violin. everytime i pick it up to play, i have a feeling that "this is the instrument representing my soul".

we're talking about the grading system of those examination boards like ABRSM, Trinity, Guild Hall etc. they grade the level, grade 1~8, depends on the skill required to play the songs, sigh reading (means read taugeh and play on the spot), scales (do re mi fa so la ti do), aural (singing/hearing etc).

after grade 8, it'll be diplomas already.

aiyo i'm not as pro as you think la. playing boleh tahan la.

hey hey i practiced hard for that leh hahaha!

you also mah, 13 years old (if i remember correctly) can get diploma already hehehe.

not neccesary a grade per year, it's not surprising that there're a lot of 12 years old can get grade 8/diplomas. i've even come across a 10 years old kid playing diploma pieces, a local chinese kid, not some kind of angmo.

typo la it's sight reading lol!! anyway whenever i try to do sight reading and always end up *sigh*. lol~

yangxi if you're teaching and earning yourself, then it's consider a good pay, unless you're also teaching in music center. at kl here rm100 is consider normal pay and you know, teaching in a center teacher normally will not get more than 60%, and most only give 50%~55% depends on the fees.

oh i see lol, i think that's not too much different compare to the actual salary per beginner student here in KL.

just my opinion la, you might want to raise the fees a bit for the sake of healthy market if you don't have much competing music centers/violin teachers.

yup.

you can visit this forum which is dedicated to violinist http://www.violinist.com , i enjoy reading all those posts, not just about playing, you'll also learn about taking care of your instruments and many other things too!

but i recommend listening a lot to other good players. you'll learn a lot more than just readings, and that's why you join orchestra, college/university, or group class. you learn from each other, and for violin you'll actually learn more when you watch more. you'll imitate your teacher, seniors, they're going to influence you a lot.

if you can't possibly do that, just go to youtube and watch a lot of the videos, although it won't be as effective as watching other people play live.

or, go to concerts and get impressed.

just sort of messing around with my miniature mic for performances and doing home recording. here's a short clip of canon in D lol...play so out of tune and unstable...

http://www.mediafire.com/?2mynqzmtzkd

i use Crown GLM-200 as the mic, going through M-Audio FW410, just that simple. the cello and harpsichord are virtual instruments played with keyboard...

now i listen back again my hair stand cause really shaky playing and intonation.

nope i use PC, cause i sort of want to see how my recorded violin sounds like.

hmm ya...it's hard for me to satisfy with my playing...

yes, i recorded 3 times, all 1 take lol. i record until the chopped part messed up that's why i cut away the rest. it was a test recording but i thought maybe i just make it into full parts and post it up to ask for opinions.