My daughter is going to play the Violin this year in 4th grade and I am trying to find a less expensive way to get her one. The local violin shop will rent them for 1 school year for $200. I have been looking on eBay and there are tons of them out there but I don't know anything about them so I don't want to buy one and have it end up begin junk that they can't use anyway. Does anyone know anything about Violins or where I can purchase one for a reasonable price?

By Melanie on Thursday, August 18, 2005 - 06:41 pm:

I would talk to the music teacher and ask that question. I am sure it's been asked many times before.

Does your public school offer orchestra? Ours has band and orchestra and we are struggling to keep those programs going. Lord help us, our son is going to play trumpet this year!

Good luck finding a violin at a good price!

By Kaye on Thursday, August 18, 2005 - 06:48 pm:

I don't know anything about violins. My dd just joined the band and she is playing the french horn. We got a list of acceptable instruments, like flutes by so and so, etc. I would definetly ask and see if they have a reccomended brand.

By Annie2 on Thursday, August 18, 2005 - 07:07 pm:

Definitely find out recommended brands. The teachers should also know a price range. Sometimes music stores sell used ones at great deals.

I bought my dd a flute off of ebay three years ago. A few months later a part broke off (dd's fault). When I went to have it repaired it was a foreign model which they couldn't get parts for. I ended up having to buy one from the music store afterall.

By Jann on Thursday, August 18, 2005 - 07:08 pm:

My son played violin for several years. I asked the school for suggestions on where to rent one. $200 for the whole year sounds pretty reasonable, that's only $22 a month, plus I believe if you rent, they will do any repairs, tuning ect for free. The key thing with violin is the length. You don't want to get it too long. You might check to see what kind of upgrade program the rental company has if she has a growth spurt.

By Sue3 on Thursday, August 18, 2005 - 11:29 pm:

My DD has been taking violin lessons for the past 3 years.We rented the first year.
It was $25 a month with repairs and tune up`s included.
Now that she has grown she uses my DH`s.I can ask DH and my DD`s music teacher if the
have any suggestions.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, August 19, 2005 - 01:31 pm:

Our school board seems committed to keeping music programs going. I think it's great. My kids LOVE being in band. Kids start orchestra in 4th grade, here, too. No advice on violins, though.

Emily decided about 9 weeks into the school year to start band in 5th grade. They only have a limited number of flutes to use that first year and they were all taken. We just went out and bought her one. You can only use a school instrument that first year, anyway.

Sarah plays clarinet and loves that, too.

By Mommyof5 on Friday, August 19, 2005 - 02:24 pm:

We decided to rent one for this first year. Boy does it look rough. Obviously it has been used and abused it was the only one they had in the 1/2 size so hopefully it still plays well eventhough it is a bit beat up.