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My almost 7 year old son has been wanting to play the violin for about a year. I'm at a loss here...I've called around to different places that offer lessons, many will sell us a violin for about $160. Lessons, are an additional $60-75 per month. I'm saving up to buy the instrument and then I notice on ebay a lot of child sized violins for around $20-40 which probably means they're not good?? These are new instruments like this one...
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...330911868&rd=1
I'm wondering about the Suzuki (I think that's what it's called) method??? I've heard great things about it. I've heard there is a great deal of parental involvement, which may not work for us with a 4 year old and a baby in tow. TIA!!!

 

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yes, thanks Miranda for that very informative post! I'll look into a Suzuki teacher in my area...I am concerned that I won't be able to do it because of my younger children, it almost seems as though I'd need to get childcare for them during his lessons, which is not a possibility.
Linda, I was planning on buying the instrument because I have 2 other children that may end up playing it at some point, but I hadn't thought about the fact that he'll need to change sizes at some point. thanks for the heads up!

 

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Originally Posted by moominmamma A beginner can make a great sound, but it helps vastly to have a better-than-entry-level instrument. And hence the attrition rate it significantly reduced by insisting on a decent instrument... Miranda

This makes a lot of sense to me...I might consider buying a $30 one on ebay more for a "toy" than to really learn the instrument. At this age, my son gets frustrated more easily than he used to. I don't want to make this harder for him, to the point where he might want to give up.

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quidditchmom ... I just wanted to point out that chosing a teacher is just as important as a violin. Suzuki is not trademarked and anyone can say that they are a Suzuki teacher. I've heard awful stories of kids who were taking 'Suzuki' lessons and came to HATE their instrument because of the teacher. I would read some of Suzuki's work (Nurtured by Love is a good way to start) to get a feel for the ideas behind the method.

I went to the SAA website and found a couple teachers near me. I emailed one of them with a few questions and he answered right away, seems very friendly...we're going to make an appointment to observe one of his classes soon. I'm definately going to check out "Nurtured by Love", it sounds great!

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Stacymom ...My advice is to find a music store near you and rent for awhile- often a portion of each rental payment goes towards eventual purchase. Plus, a lot of stores will have a guaranteed buyback program in place, where if you buy a 1/4 size, and then trade it up, you get most, if not all of the money you paid on the smaller one towards the larger one.

I think this is what we'll do...thanks for all the help!

 

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Miranda...one more question for you! I just realized that if we use a Suzuki teacher, we'll need two violins right? One for ds, and one for me?