As a beginning violinist I was fortunate enough to be lent a violin for my first six months of learning how to play. I loved that first violin since it had faithfully started me on my journey as a violinist. However, I did come to learn rather quickly from my violin teacher who had been playing the violin for over sixty years that my beloved violin was cheaply made and lacked sound quality despite how good it had looked to me. I had noticed in retrospect that his violin had sounded much better then mine, but I had attested that to the fact that it was due to my lack of skill as a violinist it was by no fault of my violins. Finally I did concede that my violin was difficult to tune as I had seen my teacher struggling with it and in all honesty I did know that it sounded metallic. Still I probably would have kept playing it if I could have ,but since it was a loan the day came when I had to return it to its owner.

Hence began my search for the perfect violin. I began by searching on Google looking for the best violins money could buy preferably a Stradivarius, but I soon realized I'd never own one of those and I'd be truly blessed if I was ever graced with the honor of performing on one. Realizing that my dream of a Stradivarius was to go unrealized I turned my attention instead to at least purchasing a very old violin that had been hand crafted in Europe since I knew that the best violins came from Europe.After scouring Ebay I found quite a few beginners violins like the one that I had been lent and also some violins that looked very old. I didn't quite trust them though since I'd heard that just because a violin is old doesn't mean that it's any good if it was poorly crafted at the time that it was made ;whereas a well constructed violin as long as it is regularly played only improves with age.

My next step was to pour over websites of elegant and expensive violin companies that offered hand crafted violins that had been made from 100 year old wood from Germany. I knew that I couldn't afford a violin that had been hand crafted from aging wood, but I knew that I had to have a violin made in Europe and I most certainly did not want to rent a violin like my teacher suggested. I wanted a violin that I could proudly say was my own and we would be able to improve over the years together. My teacher knowing what I wanted remembered that one of his previous students had purchased a hand crafted violin from a European company and it had been a violin of excellent quality for it's price range a perfect intermediate or student violin.

A Red Violin

Soon after I had a whole entourage including my teacher accompany me to the music store to inspect my possible future violin. It was beautiful to behold a spruce top, glossy red in color with a maple flamed back and neck even my teachers eyes gleamed with appreciation. He had me test out the violin by playing it which of course is important since before purchasing an instrument you should know how it sounds. I was no expert, but it sounded perfect to me and my teacher was pleased with the sound quality. He then proceeded to insure that the neck,bridge and tailpiece were straight and that the fine tuning pegs were working properly; since whenever you purchase a violin you want to make sure that it not only has tuning pegs, but also fine tuners because if it doesn't it is extremely difficult to tune and violins often even in the middle of a lesson need to be adjusted for tuning.

Choosing a Bow

It was a violin kit that I was to purchase, but I did have some liberties when it came to choosing my bow. The one was a decent bow made from brazilwood and horsehair and that was the bow that would usually accompany a kit like mine, however I was also given the option of taking a bow made from pernambuco wood and horsehair. The latter are the best quality bows and the bow is just as important as the violin itself. This particular bow was normally worth double the price of the other bow and normally I wouldn't have been able to afford the finer bow, but it had a flaw( it wasn't perfectly straight) and because of this was on sale. Now usually you should never purchase a violin bow that is in any way crooked and you should examine it for precisely that very reason, however since my teacher was with me and after sixty years of playing he knew what to look for and he deemed that the bow was perfectly fine and even though it was slightly bent was still a much better bow then the other made from brazilwood.

Discerning the Real Deal

I also wanted to insure that my violin was really handcrafted in Europe by examining the inside of it where it was stamped with the companys name in this instance ARS Music, the model number 028, the size 4/4, which is the size of an adult violin, the year it was crafted 2004 and where it was made in the Czech Republic.

Cases Are Never a Waste

Something else that needs proper consideration when purchasing a violin is the case itself because you certainly want to make sure that you properly protect your investment from any bumps, the various elements, and dust in general. What to watch out for is if the case is shaped like your violin that denotes poor quality and when the case comes as a package deal with your violin the entire outfit is poorly made. It's fine for an absolute beginner who may not stay with the violin, but if you're serious about playing then those violins are a waste of time and money.

Strings

The quality of a violins strings are also not to be underestimated unless you don't care if your violin sounds metallic. The best strings are still made from gut they are also of course the most expensive.As of yet I haven't purchased any gut strings for my violin, I still use the brand that came with it. The brand I use are Thomastik-Infeld they are very well known and make good quality metal strings in Austria.

Shoulder Rests

On the day of my violin purchase to my embarrassment my violin teacher insisted on haggling with the store owner over the price of the violin the price wasn't lowered, but I was given some extra items thrown in like a Kun shoulder rest since previously I had been using a clean make-up sponge fastened with a rubber elastic band to help hold my loaned violin in place.

You'll know Rosin By the Way It's Packaged

I was also given some good quality rosin for my bow. You can easily tell if the rosin is of good quality or not by how it's packaged if it comes in a box it isn't as good whereas if it comes in a pouch you can be quite certain of the quality. The rosin I was given was from England made by W.E. Hill and Sons.

Only the Beginning

After I had everything that I needed violin,bow,case,strings,rosin and shoulder rest I left the store that day with my new violin walking very proudly knowing that I was a professional violinist and that the world really was mine for the taking. Anything was possible now for me and my red violin.