Many people ask me about violin brands, types, and models when they want to purchase a violin. Violins are more art work than “brand-able” products. Therefore, just like art, an artist critic has to examine the instrument to judge the quality. Violin “brands” only have reputation based on the track record of quality of such brand.
Making stringed instruments is a high art, and you can take it to very high levels – as well as “junk” levels.
Violins that are of good quality for a beginning student may not be appropriate at all for an advancing one. The bottom line is that a violin needs to be played easily in the learning stages to be considered appropriate. The quality of sound and playability will vary according to the artistry of that instrument making.
And there are some who attribute magical proprieties to very high quality instruments. Violins can be so individual in their sound and playability as the number of violinists. No two violins behave the same in the hands of a skillful performer.
Take this article‘s extract, for example:
Antique Italian violins, such as those crafted by Antonio Stradivari or Giuseppe Guarneri “del Gesu”, can fetch millions of dollars. Many violinists truly believe that these instruments are better than newly made violins, and several scientists have tried to work out why. Some suspected at the unusually dense wood, harvested from Alpine spruces that grew during an Ice Age. Others pointed the finger at the varnish, or the chemicals that Stradivari used to treat the wood.
But Claudia Fritz (a scientist who studies instrument acoustics) and Joseph Curtin (a violin-maker) may have discovered the real secret to a Stradivarius’s sound: nothing at all.
The duo asked professional violinists to play new violins, and old ones by Stradivari and Guarneri. They couldn’t tell the difference between the two groups. One of the new violins even emerged as the most commonly preferred instrument.
Violins are art. You don’t want to buy high quality art without an expert guiding you, do you?
I have some advise on violin shops here.
For young children, The Suzuki approach is the most natural and simplest method to learn music.
“Rigo has provided violin instruction to my daughter for almost two years now. I have been incredibly impressed with the patience that he displays working with her and her peers, since they are so young and new to playing an instrument. Under Rigo’s guidance I’ve watched my daughter progress tremendously, and we look forward to a continued partnership with Rigo in the future. Top qualities: Personable, Expert, Creative.”
“My daughter is 10 and loves her violin lessons with Mr. Murillo. She’s been making a lot of progress with her violin pieces since she’s been taking lessons with him. We moved to Allen about a year ago and now I can see the difference in my daughter’s violin sound, intonation, and musicality. Mr. Murillo is extremely knowledgeable of violin technique and also has just the right sense of humor to get the points across to my daughter. He really makes every private and group lesson fun and my daughter looks forward to having her violin lessons every week. She also loves Mr. Murillo’s group violin classes and has a great time playing with the other children and with the violin trivia games and gets sad when the lesson ends. Mr. Murillo’s instruction really makes all the group play at a very high level together. I don’t know what we would do if we had to move far away again. Mr. Murillo is a true gem. It is truly worth the drive from Allen.”
“Mr. Rigo is a great teacher and a lot of fun. He has a great sense of humor and both my daughter and I look forward to violin lessons every week. Now, after 2 years, I see a lot of things about the Suzuki method that I didn’t know before. Mr. Rigo always tells me how to practice with my daughter and I am learning a lot about how to deal with her personality. Mr. Rigo is constantly recommending things to do to learn the violin pieces well and how to get my daughter to learn faster and play better. I can recommend Mr. Rigo any day.”
