One of the major concerns by parents and students will be looking for a good value violin or cello before their music lessons. Well, we understand that buying a violin or cello can be a long and confusing process.

Here’s the good news.

Music Mood have work with local stores to let our students get violin and cello cheaper than the market rate. We also help our students to rent a cello as well.

Buying a violin will be a purchase that should bring you joy for many years to come. Knowing what makes for a good quality student instrument before you walk into a musical instrument store will keep you from being swayed by fancy-looking instruments that have more style than substance, or buying accessories that you don’t need.

Below is a short video showing how we carefully select the violins that is available in Singapore music students.

So before you buy the violin, we would like to share with you some of the things you should look into before the purchase.

How to select a Violin or Cello

If it is your first time selecting a violin or a cello, deciding on which instrument to buy can be overwhelming due to the varied range & quality available. Even accomplished players looking to upgrade their violin or cello require professional advice before deciding on the instrument of their choice.

But here’s the main thumb of rule, you must ensure that the seller actually takes the effort and time to evaluate what you need, before recommending a selection of music instruments. Be cautious that some music retailers try to push the students to purchase instruments with high price tag instead of those that are good values.

When considering buying a violin or cello in Singapore, some of the factors you should be looking at are whether you have a music background, and how motivated you are in learning the instrument.

If you just started on your learning journey, or are not too sure whether violin is something for you, consider buying a beginner’s grade violin or renting a violin. A beginner violin is ranging from S$180 to S$250 plus and should not cost you more than S$300. While a beginner cello is starting from S$650.

Basics of buying a violin that can’t be overlooked

But there are some basics of buying a violin that can’t be overlooked, even in inexpensive instruments. When considering to buy a violin, look out for these factors. For instance, the violin sizes, accessories included and personal preferences of the sound produced etc.

The construction of the violin has to be of great enough quality that the instrument will stay in tune. Make sure the tuning pegs will hold after being adjusted and that handling of the instrument will not cause tuning problems.

Along with examining the overall condition of the instrument, take a close look at the purling (narrow decorative edge inlaid into the top plate and often the back plate of a stringed instrument) that runs along the top and back of the violin and check for cracks or weak spots. The condition of a violin’s purfling will be a good measure as to how the violin has been previously treated.

What’s more than just the violin?