Hi,
I'll start by saying that I am a flute player and my boyfriend is a pianist, and we know nothing about violins!

This is the thing - my boyfriend has bought a new violin for his grandmother as a present (she used to play when she was young, apparently) because she specifically asked for one. It arrived today and we thought it would be all ready to play, no such luck...

So please forgive the stupid questions, but I wanted to ask your advice.

How tight should the strings on the bow be? And the resin - what's it used for, and how much?

The bridge is not attached to the violin - is this normal? Is it held in place by the pressure of the strings, and where should it be positioned exactly?

Tuning - what's the best way to go about it?

What notes do the strings tune to?

Anything else I should know? (We've already broken a string... hehehehe)

Finally, shuld I get a pro to do all this, or can I wing it?

Thanks so much for any replies - God I feel stupid...

I'm a viola player and I would really advise you to take it to a pro who can set it up and show you some of the things involved in taking care of it - ie. bow care, changing strings etc.

It's really nice that your boyfriend's grandmother wants to play again, though

Oh, and the strings are tuned in fifths - the G below middle C, the D a fifth above that, the A a fifth above that and then the E a fifth above that. Best to tune to a piano at first.

Thanks for your reply Rainbow, I really appreciate it. Maybe be should have got a used one, thinking about it now... Oh well.

Yes, granny is a sprightly soul, 82 years old. See, it's never too old to start

It's really inspirational to hear that his granny still wants to play, best of luck to her with that (and you and your boyfriend with setting the violin up!)

Actually most violins these days are playable without specialist set-up work. We've got a page here about how to put the bridge up.

setting up a violin

Still, quite why shops can't send them out bridge up in the first place is a mystery to me.

Liz

Liz,
Isn't there a danger the sound post might get dislodged without the pressure of the strings on the bridge??

Precisely - that's why they should send them bridge up. But most won't.

Liz

Thanks for the info Liz, I appreciate it very much.

Can I ask more info about the bow? How taut should the strings/hair on the bow be? And how much resin should I put on it/how do I prepare it exactly?

You really don't need to do anything with the bow - if this lady already plays she will be well aware of the fact that you have to tighten and rosin it before playing*. However, the answer is this:

you tighten the screw so that the hairs meet and become sort of springy - this usually means that the stick will be almost parallel with the bow hairs. Two finger widths between the stick and the hair will be about right. Don't force it, if it gets hard to turn the screw then it is tight enough.

Rosin - this will take AGES with a new bow and a new block of rosin ( we send ours out ready rosined as it's so much easier that way), rub the bow hair up and down on the block of rosin, all the way up and down the bow, until the hair turns white.

* come to think of it, probably you could have left all the set-up work to her anyway, she'll have more chance of knowing what it should look like!

Liz

Thanks Liz, you're a star!

Final question (I think) - the pegs at the top are only pushed through the hole on their respective side - do I have to push them through the other holes on the opposite side so the end of the peg is flush with the outside of the violin? I'm guessing yes otherwise they won't stay in place when turned.

Does that make sense? (<what's this icon, BTW?)

Yes, push the peg through, it won't have any effect if it's just on one side.

liz

When i first started the violin, i borrowed my friend's(who doesnt play anymore). It came awefully untuned, so i thought i might try to tune it(as i had seen done before)... BAD MISTAKE!!!! I was a little harsh with it and practically wenched the peg instead of using the fine tuners(i didnt even know what they were for at the time)... and TWANG!!!!.... I broke the d-string.....im still kind of scared to use the pegs right now... i just stick to the fine tuners...