VIOLIN: how to choose one, gear it up, care and maintenance

Name: VIOLIN: how to choose one, gear it up, care and maintenance
Rating: 4.6 (36 reviews)

A guide to know what to look for when purchasing a violin, and how to gear up according to your needs and possibilities.

Created byLa Pizzicata Cuerdas - Lucía Garrote

Last updated 6/2019

English

What you'll learn

The parts of the violin and bow, and what each one is for
How to identify a good quality violin from a low quality one
How to buy your first violin, avoiding scams
What to take into account at the time of making the choice
What are the necessary accesories and gear, and the different types available
How to replace the strings on your instrument
How to tune the violin in two different ways, one for begginers and the other for more experienced students
All about daily care and periodic maintenance
how to choose the right violin size for kids

Course content

4 sections • 11 lectures • 1h 55m total length

Introduction to the course1:19
Explore essential violin care, maintenance, accessories such as shoulder rests, and strings, including tuning and replacing strings, plus tips for choosing your first violin.
The parts of the violin and bow, and their functions10:36
Identify the names and functions of the violin and bow parts, from pegbox and nut to fingerboard, sound post, and bridge, and learn basics of tuning and bow maintenance.
Basic care and maintenance18:23
Master daily violin care: tighten bow hair before playing, loosen after, and apply rosin properly. Maintain with periodic deep cleaning and lubricating fine tuners to protect wood, varnish, and bow.

Rosins7:11
Learn how rosin enables bow hair to grip strings and produce vibration, and compare hard, soft, and colored rosins for weather, sound, and maintenance.
Shoulder rests9:57
Choose a shoulder rest to lift the violin and keep it steady on the shoulder, enabling smooth hand movement. Test brands like Wolf and Kun with adjustable legs.
Strings7:03
Explore violin string types—steel-core, nylon-core, and gut strings—and learn how sound, durability, and tuning stability differ, with a beginner-friendly path from steel-core to nylon-core for richer tone.

How to replace the strings properly7:51
Learn how to replace violin strings correctly, including winding around the peg, securing in the tailpiece or fine tuner, and replacing strings one by one to preserve bridge tension.
how to tune your violin for begginers, and for more experienced students15:51
Learn beginner and professional violin tuning using tuners, apps, and a tuning fork. Align strings in fifths and octaves, aiming for a 440 pitch and balanced tones through double stops.
How to identify the quality of a violin to buy the right one20:09
Identify violin quality by examining spruce top, flame maple back, ebony fittings, and proper bridge setup; prefer carbon fibre bows and ebony or carbon tailpieces.
How to choose the right violin size for kids5:48
Choose the right violin size for children by matching arm length to the instrument, ensuring the scroll fits under the fingers; sizes range from 1/8 to 4/4 with proportionate bow.

Requirements

Being eager to dive into this wonderful bowed world
Having paper and pencil to take notes, or a violin and bow at hand

Description

How to know if a violin is of good quality or not? How to know if the price for a certain instrument is fair? What accesories do I need? Is a shoulder rest necessary? What is rosin for?

Those are all valid, and very frequent questions begginers have. It’s a bit of a dilemma to have to choose an instrument and its gear without yet knowing what it is about, which are its parts and their purposes, its characteristics, problems and proper care. On countless ocassions my students have chosen poorly, or have rushed into the purchase. So here comes this short course, to asist and advise on that first choice, to introduce you to the violin, its parts and functioning, and also to its accesories: what each one is for, what types you find available, and their necessity at the time of learning to play.

Besides, you’ll find step-by-step guides for tuning and maintenance, and all the tips and advice for the daily care of the violin and bow, with downloadable written material for your reference.

Note: instructor speaks in spanish, but you'll find all captions available in english!

Who this course is for:

Begginer violinists
Amateur violinists
Young begginer violinists' parents
Future violinists
Anyone who wants to know more about these instruments, their care and problems, gear and accesories

VIOLIN: how to choose one, gear it up, care and maintenance

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction to the course and the violin3 lectures • 30min

Basic violin gear: necessary and optional accesories3 lectures • 24min

Step-by-stpe guides4 lectures • 50min

Accesories1 lecture • 12min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: