If you want to know how to play the violin, you first have to get one. Actually, the price range for a violin is from $50 to several million dollars. A professional violin costs from about $1,300, but you can get a good one from about $650. I personally can’t recommend buying a violin on eBay, because you can’t be 100 % sure about the quality and it’s extremely important to hear how the violin sounds in your own hands.
If you want to buy one in a music store, make sure that there are no cracks on the body and that the neck of the violin is straight. Also look to it that the pegs are of ebony (or rosewood). The right size of a rent cello is also a major point as you need to be comfortable for your instrument. The right size depends on your arm length and hand size. Don’t hesitate to ask the store owner to help you determine the size you need. In terms of the bow, make sure you tighten (the gap between the stick and the hair should be about 1 cm in the middle) and rosin it before you play. Otherwise there might not be enough friction on the string for a proper sound. There are also rental programs that allow you to rent a violin (even online). In most cases you have to rent it for at least half a year. In this case you pay from about $10-15 per month.
A lot of people think that it’s very difficult to play this instrument – particularly because there are no frets on the fingerboard (like those on guitars). For this reason there are finger taps available: thin tape-strips that mark where you have to place your fingers on the fingerboard (from top to bottom: forefinger or first finger, middle finger or second finger, ring finger or third finger and the little finger or forth finger). The finger taps can be removed later.
