I'm curious about how a really good violin should sound. Is it something subjective? Or is there a particular tone to the perfect violin?

I had a violin lesson today, my teacher has got 4 violins. One of them was £12,000, one was about £2000, another was £300 and he had a spare cheap violin for students that costs around £80.

I managed to guess which violin was the cheapest. I really couldn't tell the difference between the more expensive violins and actually rated the £300 violin above the expensive ones! Ooops. It's probably cos I liked the tone and it looked like an older violin, so I thought it was the oldest and more expensive one. He actually uses the £300 violin for playing Irish tunes cos it's got a boomy/loud tone, it's not a violin for classical music. He then explained how intimidate and smooth his £12,000 violin sounded. I knew what he meant, but that violin sounded a bit weak to me. But I could see why it was more expensive after trying to play in the higher positions - it felt and sounded like I was playing in 1st position. The £300 one felt nice as well in the higher positions but not as nice as the more expensive ones. My stentor violin sounds a bit tight when I play above 5th position. I can see why it's cheap!

I'm only around grade 5/6 so I don't really appreciate what is a good violin. It's funny how I liked a £300 more than violins that costs thousands of pounds!

I also tried my teacher's bows, yet again I can't tell the difference between the cheap and ezpensive ones! I'll be clueless when I upgrade my violin. Is it only when you get to the higher levels like above grade 8 when you can start telling the difference between what's expensive/mid range/cheap?

There is no such thing as a perfect violin. One size, as far as tone is concerned, does not fit all, whatever the musical instrument.

With respect to playability, a professional use violin needs have an even sound across all the strings and a clarity of sound in all the positions. Fuzziness is a no go area. A lot of instruments do still have weak spots, but these have to be covered up, so to speak, by the player. The perfect tonal properties however are subjective to the player, but until you begin to reach an advanced level of playing, these things will not be very apparent. A Grade 5 player on a £12,000 violin won't sound hugely different on a £2000, or a £200,000 violin. This is nothing detrimental to the player, it is just that their skill hasn't yet reached a level where they can do an expensive violin justice and be able draw the best sound from it. The same applies to bows.

The sound has to be coaxed from a violin, not dragged out of it, but it takes a good many years of practice before a player can make this happen. Knowing what sound you want to produce is a big leap towards that goal, but getting your hands to do the same is often a lot more difficult. Additionally, every player has their own sound - ask two different performers to play the same instrument and they will both make it sound different.

Remember that tonal quality of the notes is not just in the bow arm. The position of your left hand and fingers, and even how you stop the strings, can alter the tone too.

I'd agree with all that


Different violins obviously have very different tones (it's rather like fine wines, or so I'm told) and it depends on the kind of tone you want. Some have huge, rich, dark tones, some have really delicate tones...

Some genres of music are supposed to sound better on certain tones: folk stuff does tend to sound good on "more boomy ones", as you said - rich & dark tones are great for Hungarian fiddle music. Although again, that's just my opinion


I'm trying to get a new violin at the moment: the one I've got's a £700 Peasold, but my teacher told me I could find a better value one with mine, the tone just seems to go when I reach a certain volume, and it always feels as though I've reache the violin's limit. It's fairly clear higher up... I though it was just problems with my technique, but my teacher wants me to get a new one - about £1000-2000...

But when you get to that price range, you can either get very good factoryish ones, or average antique ones... I'm having to decide.


Bows do make a big difference - and apparently they should never bend to the left (if you look along them, like they do with arrows in films), as it can affect spiccaato and ricochet and things....

There's a kind of geometric progression that applies to most musical instruments - and indeed other things - like cars maybe.

So a £200 violin will be twice as good as a £100 violin. A £1000 violin will be noticeably better than a £500 violin. But the difference between a £50,000 violin and a £100,000 violin will be imperceptible to the ordinary person.

It's not infallible. It ignores the fact that two £200 violins will be different from each other!

But it does tell you why you can easily spot the cheap one, but find the others difficult to distinguish. And I suggest you DON'T spend money on a violin if you can't tell the difference. Wait until you can tell the difference - then you will know what you like.

You might like to go to the West Country Violins website and listen to the sound samples they have there: this will help you educate your ear about the differences in sound of violins - and possibly relate sound to price!

This one is £300. This one is £4,000. I think I slightly prefer the cheap one...!

It's just a pity the recordings are homemade with playing that has rather less than secure intonation.

Listening to these clips is fine for an exercise, but personally, thinking about buying from a website on nothing other than a few photos and a sound clip is not something I would recommend. Additonally, if you buy the instrument and don't like it in-the-flesh, an administration fee will be deducted from the price you paid when it's returned. Do this a few times and it could get costly.

Safer to go along to a dealer and try a few instruments out. If there's one you really like you can take it away on approval .....and it won't have to paid for it in advance either!

Wow - that's really interesting! and helpful when I'm looking for one thanks!

Crikey! I didn't mean to suggest THAT! If that's how it came across I rush to correct. You should certainly NOT buy any instrument on that basis. Apart from anything else, you need to hold it in your hands, play it, get the feel of it.

No no - I just thought it was interesting to be able to compare some clips of violins of different prices.

And I meant it was helpful inasmuch that there's a telltale reedy quality to some of the higher notes on the sound clips, things like that.... reminds me of things to look out for when I go and buy one
And violins sound different depending on whether you're listening to them or playing them, live or recorded...