youjian....dont simply buy any violin for 6k. For that kinda money you have a lotta choices. Just because it has a 'certificate' doesnt necesarily mean its good. Anyone can go to a printing shop and print a 'cert' with any design they want. It's no big deal.

I;ve heard many China violins without 'cert' that sounded way better than European ones with 'cert' for the same price range. Beware...some teachers will charge you 'extra' to earn some profit from you buying the violin...which of course they will deny la.

In a nushell...dont buy the 6k violin until you have tried others violins in the smae price range. YOu'd be surprised what you can get.

6k is not very very expensive, but it falls in the price range of what i call ambiguous range, usually from rm5k to rm7k.

because at this range it's what parents feels "right", not overly expensive, and there's some quality assurance (to them, anyway). this is where the market targetted and there're possible of all sorts of rip offs.

i'd ask for a trial before paying the money. trial is very very common for violin purchases. if possible, try a few instead of one, so you can compare. consider add in a few rm3000~rm4000 violins as well as some rm8k to rm10k. so you'll know which one you feel the best.

not to say if you find rm10k violin inferior to the rm6k violin it means the rm10k violin is rubbish. sometime you need some skills to appreciate the differences. if you don't appreciate the difference, better don't spend it just because somebody tell you that it's a long term investment (unless you really trust the person), and most importantly, something that you don't enjoy.

you don't overspend the money, you spend what suits you the best.

PS: don't care about the cert. of course, if it has, it's always better. but it won't justify the price just because the cert is there. most important thing is still the violin itself.

Is it better to get second hand violins since the older the violin, the better sound it produces? (my teacher told me that.. hehe)

Yes, seasoned violins sound much better than brand new ones. My violin was about 2.4k and now some people want to buy it for 3k+.

Why is that ah.. What makes the violin sound better?

my teacher tell me to buy the 6k violin then keep and continue playing for 2 years then sell . he say can sell 8k true onot?

generally, more or less, yes. but not necessary sound "better", it'll sound more mature, more focused, and the respond will be faster and easier to play (means when you move your bow the sound will come out much quickly).

not too sure, something to do with the vibration to free up the wood. initially the wood is stiffs so the high and low frequencies won't be as prominent.

just like pianos. older and well played pianos will sound more brilliant and focused.

you're buying violin as your tool, or better still, your partner along your learning journey. don't do that kind of investment on violins, they're not meant for that.

also, violins are very, very individual. if you've found a violin you really like, keep it, don't sell it, you won't find another one that's as good or as satisfying maybe for the same price you paid. you may want to sell it when you got a better violin, but you can always keep it as your spare violin.

This post has been edited by little ice: Feb 1 2009, 06:50 PM

Yeah... the best way to improve oneself is to see how ppl who are better than us do it and learn from them. This is y I suggested a regular group gathering - to learn from one another. I bet I have lots to learn from u guys. Haha...

So anyone interested? I know I am

maybe u can make a thread for gathering of violin in towns??
little ice u played in klpac b4? or been there?



This post has been edited by youjian: Feb 2 2009, 03:27 PM

nope, haven't been there nor perform there before.

by the way empire stop promoting me la, seriously i'm really not that good lol.

Lol. next time if you all having performance let me know la.. I wanna go see see XD

i see that there are more female violinist than male violinist............am i rite?

youjian...you are right. More girls play violin. A Violin sounds very feminine...unlike the more 'masculine' sounding Viola and Cello...which are also 2 great instruments too.

lol i'm a guy. And the violin is in no way feminine just because it has a higher tone, girls get wet for guys with a violin. they'd probably never heard of viola and a cello cannot be brought around for a spontaneous performance. So we win!

wow, all start their music instruments younger.

I wonder would it be very troublesome to learn violin at the ripe age of 23?

I dont think the age matters. But IMHO maybe it will be hard for some ppl to spare some time for practising since ppl tend to be busier as they get older.. Like for me, I was busy for one whole week and couldn't find any time to practice.. So, there goes one week's worth of practice.

oh i see. well, the only thing left for me is learn how to bow and strike the note properly. i know how to read a sheet music, timing, stuff, so it's ok for me.

man, i wish i have the time for a new instrument practise since i don't have them nowadays, college assignments piling up like mad!

if you have basics of music, you're fine with picking up a new instrument.

however, violin needs a lot of dedication than most other instruments especially for grown up person. you need a lot of focus on violin and a lot of thinking/problem solving when you're practicing violin. you also need to work a lot with hands too and pay attention most of the time.

say, when you practice, if you find your playing doesn't sound right, it could be out of tune, bowings way off, fingers/posture not correct. when you're dealing with a phrase, you need to think about left hand fingering, right hand bowing, AND paying attention to everything including the sound you produce. so many thing you need to figure out when practicing.

i wouldn't say it need hours or practice per day (if you can, it'll be great), just remember the important points above. an hour of smart practice is more efficient than 5 hours of plain finger/hand exercise.

Mind sharing with us how to perform smart practices?

i give an example, say first 2 bar of minuet no.2 by bach which involve both appegio and cross strings.

smart:
practice right hand first, left hand doing nothing. observe right hand all the time, and try to remember the "feel" of your right hand. then, add in left hand fingering, and play it very slow so that you can observe both hands. then, try to play in normal speed, but break it into groups of 4 notes, play 4 notes, pause, 4 notes, pause. then start to play all at once.

inefficient:
just spam with normal speed and hope to get it right after 3 hours of doing it. you probably won't get it rigth in days of practices.


notice i mention about the observation of your hand while practicing. if you don't pay attention, you won't find out what exactly is going wrong and fix it soon, perhaps wait for the teacher to correct you. but you see, if you wait for teacher to correct you, you might not be able to "understand" it fully. you must figure things out youself, that way you'll remember it forever.