[StilettoMum]

My daughter wants to learn violin. Does anyone have any recommendations for student violin.

[Chief Pancake Ma...]

What ever you do don't get a skylark - they are cheap and nasty - they sound aweful and will convince your child that it is an aweful instrument and they cant play.

DOnt have any specific brands I would recomend - maybe Kawasaki some less expensive ones. I would ask your childs teacher for a recomendation - they might even know where to get a second hand one from some one who has given up/upgraded etc.

P.S decent quality strings are also important - dont go cheap on those either.

[Bombom]

I teach violin before and I would recommend to get a cheap one, as your child will probably need a 1/4 or 1/2 after 2 or 3 years if she continues to love the instrument and time for you to buy a full size that is when you splurge on a good one, I've seen parents buy expensive violin at 1/4 an the child lost interest half way through the year, look in ebay there are affordable ones and 2nd hand is also good

[Overtherainbow]

Suzuki is good and affordable. I like amore.

Try a good music store for a good 2nd hand or a great deal for future trade ups.

[Marquise]

I'm a violinist, and I teach. Absolutely do not buy a new small-sized violin from a music shop or some such. There's no need for a first-hand one at that age (in fact, 2d hand wood instruments are better quality) and it is much much cheaper to buy a 2nd hand one on ebay or something like it. Do you have any idea of what size you need? If you arrange to have a first lesson with a decent teacher, they should be able to advise you on that.

[anotherlogin]

My DD does Violin, we were told DONT buy from Ebay ... we were sent a list of places that the school was happy for us to purchase one. You can also rent a Violin (not sure how much it costs). I found that the cost of the Violin was cheap compared with the lessons!

[Bombom]

They told you not to buy from Ebay because of consignment, If you go to private tutors there is no problem buying 2nd hand from ebay one of my really good violin is from ebay and it is excellent. renting in the long run will be expensive, as the other teacher here I agree, buy a 2nd hand or a cheap one because kids wont be using a full size not until 10 or 11. Once they decided that violin is their choice of instrument then that is the time to think of purchasing a good one. To purchase one it is better to go to shop or try conservatories, sometimes there are student major who are changing instruments and those are of really good quality.

[Lucky*Mum]

My DD does Violin, we were told DONT buy from Ebay ... we were sent a list of places that the school was happy for us to purchase one.

My daughter has been accepted into the violin program at school and we were told this also.

We were told to stay away from the cheap eBay one's (not 2nd hand quality brands - I'm talking about the $50 coloured ones) as they are made out of cheaper materiel's and do not stay in tune. I was also told that if they are dropped etc that they are most likely to crack instead of just dent or chip.

Our daughters teacher was happy for us to purchase from anywhere as long as she could see a photo or print out of the violin first.

In the end we purchased a brand new violin, fully strung and suited to my daughter for $150. It also comes with a cloth to wipe it down, bow, rosin and extra strings. It is an Enrico brand and is a 1/2 size. She has just turned 8years old but is on the smaller side.

HTH OP.