First we have the student violin. This violin is the cheapest and therefore the most accessible for those just learning the violin. But price is only one thing that makes this a good violin to start with. The main feature of these violins is the 4 fine tuner pegs located below the bridge but above the chin rest. The fine tuners allow a beginner to make adjustments to the string tightness and get the tune just right without the hassle of making minor adjustments to the main tuning pegs located above the finger board at the top of the violin. The fine tuners are a must on student violins since most student violins use plastic tuning pegs at the top and those tend to slide after tightening them.
That is the big drawback of the student violins. The plastic tuning pegs are very difficult to keep in their tightened position. I found that if you push the pegs inward (not too hard, you don't want to break it) while you are tightening the string the pegs don't slide back to their un-tuned position as easily.
The next violin type is the expert violin. The expert, or concert, violin is more expensive than the student violin but has a better sound to it. The difference here is that the main tuning pegs are almost always wooden. The wooden pegs don't slide like the plastic ones on the student violin do after tightening the strings. This makes it easier to get the strings tuned properly with only the tuning pegs being used. The other difference is that the expert violin has only one fine tuning peg used on the thinest string, the E string. The reason for this is because the thinner the string the harder it is to get the proper tune. The E string is very sensitive to the slightest turn of the tuning peg so the fine tuner peg is used to get the accurate sound.
The only downside I've had with the expert violin is getting the G, D, and A strings properly tuned with just the main tuning pegs. But, with a bit of practice (and patience) it's doable and you'll find that you only need the one fine tuner peg for that sensitive E string.
Finally we come to the last violin type, the electric violin. That's right! You've heard of electric guitars well there's an electric violin as well. I don't know very much about these odd looking instruments since they are very expensive and they're not sold in my area... yet. So all I can really say about them is they look very odd. 😋
Aside from that I'm not really one for electric instruments. I prefer the sound of the acoustic stringed instruments over electric but there is an up side to them. With the electric violin you should be able to turn the volume of the sound it makes down or up. I, personally, like that option so I can turn it DOWN while I'm practicing (I don't like making people listening to me butcher a song I'm just learning 😆). Some of them, as shown in the picture below, actually have colors that glow while you play. I find that very interesting but I think it would be a bit too distracting while trying to read the music. But, to each his own. If you like it, get it. 😉
Next time I'll talk about the different bow types and which ones I prefer and why. 😁
