How much to spend on violin for 9 year old ?

May 31, 2005 at 07:23 AM · Hi,

I am a violin teacher. Here's my suggestion: because your child is still going to change size from 3/4 to full size later, so you don't want to spend to much money on the 3/4 size, however, if he's going to start book 5 of Suzuki, he is pretty advanced for a 9 year old, so you don't want to buy a instrument that is too cheap, the better instrument always will make the playing easier. The best thing to do is to consult your child's teacher, if he has one. Usually, a $300-$500 dollar violin should be good enough, but really depend on where you get their from. Also, the quality of the violin really varies, so the best thing to do is to find someone who knows about violins to help you pick one.

May 31, 2005 at 09:11 AM · Maybe look around your area to see if a music store will rent you an instrument? THat way you can rent a quality violin and when he grows bigger, you can continue renting and paying towards a nice full size violin. If you only have the option to buy, I would get him a nice sounding violin he likes....it is important to his development that he likes the sound of his violin enough to keep playing and practice often. If you need a price suggestion, as he is in book five, I would recommend the range of $500-$800 at least.

May 31, 2005 at 10:25 AM · I spent 950 Euros for a 3/4 violin at the same age. However, my son was only on Book 3, although as they don't really follow the Suzuki method as such, he was working on a lot of other things. I followed the advice on this board to buy the best I could afford, and haven't regretted it. I was lucky enough to have access to a 1920's violin through a luthier, and it will be later sold/exchanged when he is ready to switch to a full size violin (there are plenty of enquirers already).

At that time the shop I usually go to tried their best to sell me a YAMAHA violin that cost around 300 euros, and said that a luthier was too much for such a young person, second-hand violins couldn't be trusted, their might be hidden commisions etc. etc. I am glad that I wasn't scared away.

I would really go for a quality violin from your store, because it does help enormously in the progress they make.

I think the bsst way I can put it is that the instrument should be "more" than your son's playing, and not the other way round, otherwise it can be very frustrating when they try to do things and are held up by poor response from the instrument.

May 31, 2005 at 11:37 AM · One thing to consider is that many (but certainly not all) shops will allow 100% value for a trade-up. For example, if you spend $1,000 on a 3/4 size violin and in a couple of year need to trade up to a full, they will give you $1,000 credit towards the new purchase (assuming the instrument is in good condition).

May 31, 2005 at 03:27 PM · I've been amazed by Shar's Carlo Lamberti series, they have violins from 1/8 to full size, and the sound is always very pleasing. Their LV11 model isn't as much as you'd think it would cost (based on the sound), it's only $600 for a 3/4, Which I think is a very reasonable price, I'm sure when you're ready to sell it it'll fetch a nice price too. Shar even lets you trade it in for a 100% of it's purchase price towards a better instrument.