To the Parents

If your child is starting the violin, first thing is of course to fit the violin that is appropriate for your child. To figure out the right size is of course most important. It is best you consult with your child's teacher, but the ball park figure is when a child put the violin under his/her chin, the end of the scroll reaches the wrist. You don't want the violin too big for him/her which makes it hard to handle the instrument. There are 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and finally the full size.

First time my son started, I rented one from the teacher with a 1/4 size, but soon I realized that since he was really into playing it, it was better for me to purchase one. I bought it from the internet. Luckly, it was decent and he used it without any trouble until he moved on to a 1/2 size. If you have stores close by, I will highly recommend you take your child and have him/her try several different ones.

I will also recommend you get a ebony fitting which means that the fingerboard and pegs are made of real ebony not other wood material painted black. To my understanding, that the ebony is hard wood so it last longer without being scraped through repetitive fingers shifting back and forth.

It is also important that you tune your strings. There are four strings. The thickest string is G and the next thickest is D and then A and E. You can use a electric tuner or pitch pipe to tune it. After awhile, a child should be able to tune it without the help of the device.

Another thing you may want to get is a shoulder rest. Some people prefer not to use one, but if your child's neck is long, you might want to consider getting one. It is a device you hook under your violin so that the violin is comfortably held under your chin.

My son used Kun Collapsible which you can fold the legs to fit into your case. You may want to try a few different brands since they all have slightly different settings.

After my son moved on to a 1/2 size, he started using Wolf Forte shoulder rest. He liked it a lot. Then when he moved to 3/4 and a full size, he started using Kun Bravo which is lighter than the former and he continues to use it as of now.

The bow usually comes with a violin if you are purchasing an outfit. But if you are buying separately, make sure the bow hair is made of horse hair. There are also different types. Brazil wood bow, Perambuco bow and composite bow.

When your child is young, you may want to consider composite bow since it is very durable.

Then finally the last but not least you need is a rosin. This is a must if you want to make a sound out of your violin. You need to rub this ample of amount when you use your bow for the first time. This makes the bow make friction with the strings and the sound comes out of your violin. My son uses Andrea rosin and he swears by it. I saw a video clip (3:17) of Anne Sophie Mutter using it.

Now You have everything your child needs to start to make some music!