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@LinDee - This is the weird part that people don't have much idea about. Some violins just have a terrible sound on one particular string. The A string is actually the most common. It's entirely possible that your violin has that issue.
If this the case, it won't matter what strings you put on your violin.
If the notes you play are very close to the natural acoustical tone of your violin you can get this strange phenomenon.
Of course I agree that you should get some synthetic core strings but don't be surprised if you still have the issue.
A couple of things that you can do to dampen that harshness/scratchyness....
Buy or make some play-dough and roll up a little ball about a half inch or a bit more in size. Stick that ball on the violins top between the f-hole and the foot of the G string side of the bridge. Try different amounts of play-dough for different weights and test between. We sometimes use this method to determine the amount of additional wood necessary to eliminate a wolf tone and sometimes a wolf tone is an ALMOST wolf which is hard to put your finger on.
You can also have a thicker or thinner bridge installed on your violin which could help. A thicker and possibly longer soundpost can also help.
This being said, there is no guarantee your violin can be made to sound good.
I also suggest that you test some instruments somewhere, or reach out to us for help finding your dream instrument if all my suggestions fail.
A better instrument gives you way more of a chance of success. It's hard enough to learn an instrument without fighting the natural elements of sound.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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LinDee said
@RDP :
@LinDee
I did warn everyone. At worst, I guess now you'll have a bad example to use as a guide to show how you can easily do better than that.
Hey, speaking of doing better; what teaching method are you using? You may have said but I either missed it or don't remember.
Purely self taught?
Suzuki self taught?
O'Conner?
Applebaum?
One of the other methods?
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@Fiddlerman : Sometime I will have to share the interesting history of my fiddle (at least, intersting in my family I guess). At this point I will just tell you that afterr I had it repaired I did have the opportunity to listen to a real fiddle player play it and it sounded pretty good to me.
I suspect the fault of the A string lies within myself... That being said, I am not saying this is a top of the line fiddle either and I do hope to eventually invest in another violin. But this one should get me by for awhile. At least long enough to make sure I will stick to it this this time, LOL! Since I hope to play a variety of styles (EVENTUALLY) this also makes since to me... I do look through your selection and drool a little bit... but, I need to be good enought to justify it too.
But, if I DON'T find myself improving over time, I might move up that plan... time will tell. rnThanks for the advice, will consider what you said about improving this fiddle as well.
LinDee
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LinDee said
...But this one should get me by for awhile. At least long enough to make sure I will stick to it this this time, LOL!...
This is why I bought an inexpensive Cecilio viola. I wasn't sure I would stick with it, either. As it turns out, after almost 11 months, I love playing and just bought (and received) a Fiddlerman Concert viola which is totally awesome!
The old curmudgeon!
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@RDP : You asked about my teaching method - well, its kind of a hodgepodge at this point. Several years ago I bought the Mel Bay's book 'You Can Teach Yourself Fiddling." I think a lot of people don't really take them seriously, but honestly I really like the book. So I started with that my FIRST time - then when I took up my fiddle again I did a lot of looking at the internet and kept hearing / reading about Suzuki, so I purchased their first 2 books (well, I accidently bought the volume 2, so I bought volume 1 after that). Having a CD so you know what the music is SUPPOSED to sound like is really helpful. Anyway, I just tend to get obsessed, so I ended up with 5 or 6 other books as well 
I also scroll through a lot of online videos, from Fiddlerman and others.
So, I am mostly focusing on the Mel Bay book - he seems to make starting to read music very clear and the songs are basic fiddle and bluegrass type of tunes. Also working my way through Suzuki. Someone on here posted a link to someone teaching through the book via videos and also a link to someone playing which is very helpfull. So, I try to do some bowing exercises and scales every day, then either play from one of these 2 books. or use the Suzuki video. There are lots of practice pieces and exercises in the various books I have. When I get tired I look up a video or 2, then play some more. I also try to spend a few minutes picking out songs by ear (so far only Jingle Bells and Silent Night). Right now I have a little extra time, so I can afford to waste some of my time, but soon I will have to tighten up things a bit...
LinDee
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LinDee said
I suspect the fault of the A string lies within myself...
When I say
Gordon Shumway said
My advice to all beginners is...blame everything on yourself for a few years.
I may say it bluntly, but I speak from experience (not just on violin): -
I've said it before, and I don't want to bore people who might remember that I said it, but when I was a kid I was loaned a plastic Boosey and Hawkes Regent oboe - the cheapest money can buy, and I couldn't afford to buy one, so I had to stick with it. Most beginners played them and sounded horrible on them. But I persevered and after 6 years had developed my chops (embouchure), reached grade 8 and made my own reeds and sounded like a professional and had a professional diaphragm vibrato. It can be done, on a plastic oboe. And not necessarily much quicker on a 10k wooden oboe.
But many Americans have vast amounts of money (you have counties where the median income is ten times my income!) and upgrading is too easy.
Andrew
Verified human - the ignominy!
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LinDee said
@RDP : You asked about my teaching method - well, its kind of a hodgepodge at this point. Several years ago I bought the Mel Bay's book 'You Can Teach Yourself Fiddling." I think a lot of people don't really take them seriously, but honestly I really like the book. So I started with that my FIRST time - then when I took up my fiddle again I did a lot of looking at the internet and kept hearing / reading about Suzuki, so I purchased their first 2 books (well, I accidently bought the volume 2, so I bought volume 1 after that). Having a CD so you know what the music is SUPPOSED to sound like is really helpful. Anyway, I just tend to get obsessed, so I ended up with 5 or 6 other books as wellI also scroll through a lot of online videos, from Fiddlerman and others.
So, I am mostly focusing on the Mel Bay book - he seems to make starting to read music very clear and the songs are basic fiddle and bluegrass type of tunes. Also working my way through Suzuki. Someone on here posted a link to someone teaching through the book via videos and also a link to someone playing which is very helpfull. So, I try to do some bowing exercises and scales every day, then either play from one of these 2 books. or use the Suzuki video. There are lots of practice pieces and exercises in the various books I have. When I get tired I look up a video or 2, then play some more. I also try to spend a few minutes picking out songs by ear (so far only Jingle Bells and Silent Night). Right now I have a little extra time, so I can afford to waste some of my time, but soon I will have to tighten up things a bit...
LinDee
The person who posted the link you're talking about to the Suzuki video tutorials was probably me since I'm rather vocal about the fact that I can play a violin now. Ask me and I'll tell you. Ad nauseum. 
I honestly don't have any experience in any of the other methods/books but for me the Suzuki books and the tutorial seems to be working and after 5 months I can play non-Suzuki pieces while still doing the lessons from the book because it teaches the playing skills which apply to everything regardless of genre. Plus, after only 5 months of getting my violin I'm now playing Bach's Minuet No. 1. A feat which sounds impressive to non-violin players even if it is a rather simplistic piece.
I wouldn't know if the other methods/books are the same but I suspect they are. The key seems to be the ability of the student to stick with the program. Or, should I say, any one program.
I guess what I'm saying is that I personally believe (and remember I don't know much) that you should find one method and use that as a guide to your learning and expand outward from there once you've gotten yourself musically organized enough to do it. For instance, I started learning to play Inisheer at 2 months. Inisheer isn't in the Suzuki books or the tutorial I'm following, yet I learned the new techniques needed to play it. Same with the Theme from Romeo and Juliet, not in the book but only 5 months after starting as a raw beginner I'm playing it.
I believe you can do the same.
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@andrew (Gordon) : thanks for that insight - very intersting... And, no rich American here, LOL - by American standards I would be considered pretty low on the income scale. Of course, I have enough to survive and that is far more than millions across the world have, so no complaints. But when I invest in a better instrument, it will not be out of petty change either...
@RDP : LOL, no doubt you are totally right and I should pick one and stay with it!! Even my own logical side tells me that is true - however, I am NOT always good at following even my own logic... I will say that all of the books I acquired are 'beginner' books and yet they are pretty different in their approach to reading music and other parts of the discipline. They all seem to have different emphasis and strenghts. I can tell from your videos that the Suzuki method is working and you are like myself, a self-teaching older student... So that says a lot in favor of the Suzuki books. Maybe I just like the Mel Bay book the best because it is the first one I acquired and used it before any of the others. If I find myself struggling (more than the normal learning process) I will probably need to concentrate on ONE method...
LinDee
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