How to Choose a Violin

Video Transcript

"Hi everyone I am Teresa Neumann, and I am a poster girl for people who start late in life, because I didn't start playing the violin until I was thirty-seven. And so when you are looking for a violin, and you are wondering maybe you are at a garage sale, maybe you are at a store, and you have no clue as to what a good violin is. A general rule of thumb is that the older a violin is usually it has a better tone, because the wood has had time to mellow, and age, and you get a little richer tone. The thing to look for, and this by the way in case you are interested is a Zeta Acoustic Pro. It is actually an acoustic violin inside it has a condenser mic. If I hold my arm out, and I put it on my shoulder you can see where my hand is reaching the finger board in relation to my shoulder, and where my chin is. And if you look at the angle of my arm, and where my elbow is that is, that would be the correct place for me. So if you have a child, and you want to get them a violin that is what you would do. You would have them hold the violin on their shoulder, and see where their hand comes on the finger board. And it should be the same angle, and that would determine the size. So when you are looking for a violin basically those are the things that you would be looking for."