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Hi there, i'm new to violin. By new I mean my first lesson is monday! I've never played a string instrument before but always liked the sound.
I play piano but have be keen to add a second instrument.
my teacher has 2 violins I will be chosing between to borrow, 1 being electric - which was my first choice but thought i'd ask here to see if this is the best choice.
I will be practicing mostly later in the evening when the rest of the house is in bed so thought an electric would be ideal but then i'm sure i'll be missing something by purely using this - is that correct? or would I be ok for the first couple of years at least?
Ideally the electric would be ok until I decide Violin is for me, at which point i'll buy an acoustic to play at weekends whilst continuing to borrow the electric...and then probably get one of my own of those too (not keen on borrowing instruments, much nicer having your own)
Anyway, life goal for my Violin career would be to be able to play last of the mohicans theme. If I get that far i'd consider myself happy.
nice to meet you all, look forward to speaking with some of you
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Hudson1984,
Welcome to the forum and the fiddle, alot can be said for both, GL on your decision and keep us updated on your journey.
Mark
Master the Frog and you have mastered the bow.
Albert Sammons
Honorary tenured advisor
Regulars
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@Hudson1984 Just want to welcome you to the forum. As far as which violin to choose, my only experience has been with an acoustic violin, so I can't offer advice.
Jim
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Welcome! Great group of people on here. You can purchase a mute for a violin that dampens the sound so that might be an option for you to think about. Fiddlershop has a great selection of intermediate violins for purchase and YouTube videos to listen how they sound. I personally recommend the fiddlerman soloist when you decide in the future to purchase. Also, a lot of free music available. Good luck!
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Welcome to both the forum and the violin Hudson1984.
Your thinking makes sense as for playing at night.
The only thing is that you probably won't feel that it's that fun to play an electric violin. The sound that you get with a silent, solid body violin, is not very appealing. Acoustic is vibrant and interesting.
Perhaps if you play it through an effects processor in ear, it could be a bit more fun. There are slight differences which you will notice later when you learn to play a bit and test acoustic violins.
Good luck with your new journey.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Hi all, thanks for the words of wisdom and the welcome - interestingly you've been really open to the suggestion of electric, I've read very similar posts to mine on other forums and people are dead set against it so it's refreshing to see open minds.
I think i'll go as planned, use the borrowed electric to get started to allow for maximum practice time in evenings, then probably buy my own acoustic, use that at weekends or when time allows, but continue with the electric as required.
I'd certainly be keen to have both long term, maybe making the acoustic a nicer version i.e. spend a bit more and get good quality, but keep things budget with the electric and then play about with effects etc.
as suggested, I do play piano and the difference is there with digital vs acoustic (I actually recently sold my digital in favour of an acoustic but then they are a bit too big to have both....for now)
Looking forward to my lesson now
Regulars
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Hi there, Hudson, and welcome from yet another forumer 
As a condo dweller, I use my Fiddlerman metal mute when I want to practice at impossible times of day and it really quiets things down. So when you do decide to go for an accoustic violin, this little item could be really useful.
This seems to be the new, improved update of my mute:
https://fiddlershop.com/produc.....ctice-mute
The video demo is pretty spot on in terms of muting effect.
Of course you're not going to hear all of the luscious colors your violin/strings/bow are capable of, but it's a pretty good compromise if you need to be quiet.
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well, a duck to water I am not!
managed to make a very nice bee impression but very little in the way of an actual tune....or note 
After a bit of a chat, I took home the spare acoustic. I've ordered a mute so will see how I get on - her electric wasn't that much quieter in all honesty so didn't see the point and if it's going to hold me back from day 1 there really seemed little point.
Hopefully the mute will allow me to play late into the evening as that's really when I want to play.
But, lesson 1 down, here's to lesson 301 when hopefully I can get some actual notes out of the thing
Regulars
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Not a duck to water here either, @Hudson1984 but a year into this crazy process and tunes are starting to sound tuney
And congrats on which ever instrument you chose.
So here's my next, unsolicited suggestion: You're going to want some kind of tuner. Any thing from an A = 440Hz tuning fork, to pitch pipes to a clip on electronic tuner will be OK. After trying all of the above, I've really come to appreciate the "Tonal Energy" app for it's accurate, realtime feedback. There's also a metronome tab and a drone generator built in. At $3.99, it's the best single investment I've made in my violin adventures so far. The idea, according to my teacher, is to use it for just a few minutes at the beginning of scales or etudes or even a new piece... and then shut it off. Intonation is important to keep working on but so is relaxation and bowing, etc... and you can't work on it all at once
Honorary advisor
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@Hudson1984
I have never played electric violin. My understanding is the basic reasoning for playing an electric is to have an instrument which blends well in an electric based group. You can also play an acoustic violin which has electric pickups. This would presumably give you the feel of an acoustic and the sound of an electric. But I cannot say which is better or what the differences really are.
I can say that there are qualities of an acoustic violin that I doubt can be achieved by solid electric instruments. There are resonance qualities built into the material and the craftsmanship. These are audible and add to the sound, tone, and the harmonics and sub-harmonics which an acoustic instrument can produce.
I recommend, for your ear training, to learn on the acoustic. You will be able to hear those tones and sounds and your ear will be better trained.
It is probably similar to learning on an acoustic piano vs an electric keyboard. They both play the same note, but they are vastly different. I think you would agree.
- Pete -
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I think you're right.
I bought a rubber mute which was rubbish - it did turn the volume down but not really enough so i've ordered another and hoping it'll help.
had second lesson today and I managed to get a few notes out rather than buzzing rubbish so feeling loads better about it.
you are right with the digital piano rather than acoustic, I had electrics for years but it's only when I came to do gradings that it just held me back so I sold it and bought an acoustic.
I think i may give it a few more weeks and buy my own acoustic, It's ok using the hire one but i'm terrified of doing something to break it, I need my own instrument and feel more comfortable about it.
Hopefully the new mute will help. Really want to play in the evenings.
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Welcome to the forum and the fiddle, alot can be said for both, GL on your decision and keep us updated on your journey.
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Hudson1984 said
I bought a rubber mute which was rubbish - it did turn the volume down but not really enough so i've ordered another and hoping it'll help.
Just so you know: if it's a little rubber mute that goes over two strings, it's not designed to reduce the volume at all. It's an orchestra mute, which is for a completely different purpose: it's supposed to produce a thinner sound for effect, without reducing volume too much.
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