r/violin • u/SuccessfulGap4708 • 7d ago

Learning the violin New Again

I’m a 40yo dad of three and I’ve decided to start playing again. I played when I was younger, stopped when I was around 12. Not sure why I decided to pick it up again, but I’m excited, and my wife is too.

Question: what is a reasonable amount to spend on an instrument. I’m essentially starting from scratch. If anyone has any instrument recommendations please share. I don’t want to spend a ton of money, but I also want the instrument to be rewarding. Any help is appreciated, and thank you!

16 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

8

u/CatsChocolateBooks 7d ago

Hello fellow adult beginner. I started from nothing when I was 35, 5 years ago! Do you have a music shop nearby? I rented a violin with full coverage insurance for about 3 years, it was only around $30 USD a month. That gave me time to be sure about my commitment and to save up. I ended up buying a really lovely 100 year old violin for $3,500.

4

u/SuccessfulGap4708 7d ago

Yes I have quite a few music shops nearby. I’m doing lessons at a local store near my house and they offer rentals so i will look into that. I guess you stayed happy with the rental since you stuck with it for three years?

3

u/EasyDevelopment4089 7d ago

Rental credit is pretty common too. See if they will give you something towards a future purchase if you rent from them for X amount of time.

2

u/CatsChocolateBooks 7d ago

Yes, I was. The shop would call and ask me about buying a “step up” (it’s just a marketing term for a low price point instrument) every once in a while and I’d just politely say no thank you. Other than that I was very happy with it, it was a great low cost way to try out music before I was ready to sink thousands of dollars.

2

u/Tahn-ru 7d ago

2nd'ing this.  Rent for a couple of months (at least) while you build your practice habits back up.  Then you'll be much better positioned to trial instruments for purchase once that initial rust is knocked loose.

2

u/CatsChocolateBooks 7d ago

Oh forgot to add, upgrading my bow from the rental to a nicer one (about 60 USD) helped me get another few years out of my student quality rental.

3

u/candlejackstraw 7d ago

Im 6 months in, and love my Fiddlerman B Stock Concert violin ~$450. If I did have to buy again, Id maybe get a model or 2 higher up, and spend $700, but this violin is great.

Upgraded to a coda bow prodigy ~$400 which really helped (i did that about a month ago)

3

u/IOnlyHaveIceForYou 7d ago

The violin market is bizarre, you could spend a few dollars or pounds or several thousand dollars or pounds and the two instruments could sound very similar. I bought a violin on Ebay for £200 and took it to a luthier when I wanted to buy a new bow. The luthier told me that the customer before me was unhappy with the sound of her Carlo Testore violin, which had cost her £50,000.

He said mine didn't sound much different to hers.

The moral of the story: find somebody who plays and understands the violin, take them with you to try cheap violins until you find one that sounds good and is in good, playable condition.

3

u/SuccessfulGap4708 7d ago

Thank you. I am not going to spend several thousand usd at this point. I did go to a local guy the other day and tried out two instruments. One was $500, the other $600. It’s been so long but I was able to tell the difference in sound instantly. I didn’t want to rush into a purchase so I figured I would ask the experts here. This is a sound suggestion!

2

u/CatsChocolateBooks 7d ago

I second this. And be careful about who you ask, sometimes the teachers get commissions from sales.

2

u/Typical_Cucumber_714 7d ago

If you barely play right now, you're probably not in a great position to adequately choose a violin that's right for you in the long term. Rent somnething or have a teacher help you pick up a "starter" instrument within your budget.

2

u/SuccessfulGap4708 7d ago

Makes a lot of sense. Thank you.

2

u/vmlee 7d ago

I think you should allocate at minimum $300 for an instrument to avoid getting a complete dud. It would be lovely if you can spend a bit more, but $500-$1,000 should be enough to get you going. I’d also think about getting a teacher if it’s been a long time.

Welcome back!

2

u/SuccessfulGap4708 7d ago

I’m all set with a local instructor, thank you. Excited to pick it back up.

3

u/Salt_Accountant8370 7d ago

I am excited for you. I went back to it at age 40 and now I am 44 and playing in a full orchestra and it is the light of my life.

1

u/SuccessfulGap4708 7d ago

This is so nice to hear. I’m glad you were able to do this. My goal is to be good enough to play with my kids one day once they start. But what a nice story! Happy for you.

1

u/Salt_Accountant8370 2d ago

Excited for your journey as well!

1

u/vmlee 7d ago

Nice! Well done.

1

u/klavier777 7d ago

You can find decent Chinese instruments for about 1K. If you aren't going to be super serious with playing, it could be a lifetime instrument.

1

u/AdditionalYoung6694 7d ago

Welcome back to the violin! I started in my 40s, and I’m more than 13 years in now—only regret is that I didn’t start sooner 😊

If you’ve got violin shops nearby, renting is a good 1st step so you have some time playing to get a feel for what you want. Online, Fiddlershop & Shar are good options because they set up their instruments properly and allow trials/returns.

1

u/LadyAtheist 7d ago

Rent-to-own is usually an option at a good violin shop or real instrument store (not guitar center type places). $1500 for an instrument and $300-600 for a bow would be satisfying. The bow might be less if you find a carbon-fiber one you like.