Wyamusic

In order to hold a violin or viola correctly and well you must have some kind of shoulder rest. This is very necessary to play well. As beginners you should have a shaped shoulder sponge that is attached to the instrument with rubber bands. As you progress I strongly recommend buying a specially designed shoulder rest. You can buy these as soon as you begin playing, but most students wait until thry have a full sized violin. On some brands you can adjust the rest to make it fit on different sized instruments, and for some young players having this shoulder rest instead of a sponge may provide some advantage. Beware of the very cheap models, as they feel uncomfortable, fall off the instrument as you play, and may scratch the instrument. I recommend the "kun collapsible" shoulder rests for their good quality, great feel and functionality, and reasonable price. There is a Kun shoulder rest that does not collapse which is a few dollars cheaper, but I don't recommend that one because of the increased difficulty carrying it with your instrument. **** The Link below is for a full sized (4/4) violin shoulder rest. A Viola Shoulder rest would be marked "5/4", and a 3/4 sized violin would be marked as such. BE SURE YOU ORDER THE ONE FOR YOUR INSTRUMENT AND YOUR SIZE***

As important as rosining your bow well, you also should make sure that no rosin dust builds up on the strings or the body of the instrument. You should regularly wipe the rosin off of your instrument - don't wipe it off of the bow hair though, only the stick should get wiped off. There are specific cloths marketed for this purpose, but I've found that a square of soft, clean cloth works well and saves you a few dollars. In face I've found that a single, clean sock whose mate has been lost, or a square cut out of an old, clean t-shirt works just fine.

Yes the process of wiping off the strings creates a squeak that can land me on the floor in fetal position holding my ears, it is a necessary evil. If left on the instrument for enough time, or even in certain heat conditions, the rosin can "melt in" to the varnish of some instruments, or can get very stubbornly caked on the strings and the body of the instrument. Rosin caked on the strings makes the instrument more scratchy/squeaky sounding, and can be tough to get off! Better to wipe it off regularly while it's still dust.

Tuning your instrument by ear can be a long learning process, especially with such short lesson times and large lesson groups. Most students can go years before being confident enough in their ability to tune to do it effectively by themselves. For this reason I recommend buying a digital tuner to give your child feedback as they start to tune at home. There are many kinds of tuners, but for flexible functionality I recommend a tuner that can clip on to the instrument. Other noise in the room can make microphone tuners very ineffective, especially in the Rehearsal Room before class.

A clip on tuner, or a tuner with a clip on pickup doesn't pick up external sounds, and makes it easier to tune your instrument. That being said, there are also apps on all major platforms that are chromatic tuners (get one that says it is "chromatic" meaning it will read all the notes, as opposed to a strictly guitar tuner which will only read guitar string notes). Some of these tuners are free, and work fine in a quiet environment.

The "Snark" clip on tuner line is popular, and you can find them in most music stores and all over the internet.

For Cellos you need something to keep the endpin from slipping around on the floor. There are many kinds of Endpin Stops or Anchors that you can look up online. I prefer the Xeros Endpin Anchors for their versatility, adjustability, and economy.

In order to hold a violin or viola correctly and well you must have some kind of shoulder rest. This is very necessary to play well. As beginners you should have a shaped shoulder sponge that is attached to the instrument with rubber bands. As you progress I strongly recommend buying a specially designed shoulder rest. You can buy these as soon as you begin playing, but most students wait until thry have a full sized violin. On some brands you can adjust the rest to make it fit on different sized instruments, and for some young players having this shoulder rest instead of a sponge may provide some advantage. Beware of the very cheap models, as they feel uncomfortable, fall off the instrument as you play, and may scratch the instrument. I recommend the "kun collapsible" shoulder rests for their good quality, great feel and functionality, and reasonable price. There is a Kun shoulder rest that does not collapse which is a few dollars cheaper, but I don't recommend that one because of the increased difficulty carrying it with your instrument. **** The Link below is for a full sized (4/4) violin shoulder rest. A Viola Shoulder rest would be marked "5/4", and a 3/4 sized violin would be marked as such. BE SURE YOU ORDER THE ONE FOR YOUR INSTRUMENT AND YOUR SIZE***

When playing an instrument it is essential that you play and hold your instrument with good posture. Having your music held up in front of you and not laying down on a table, bed, etc. is imperative to learning correctly and playing without aches and pains. Depending on where you rent your instrument, a music stand may come with the rental package, but make sure to check with them and purchase your own if you need one.

Rosin is what you rub on your bow hair to make it sticky enough to make the strings vibrate when you draw the bow across them. You have to rosin your bow every time you play your instrument to make sure that you are able to get the best sound out of your instrument.

Rosin comes in many shapes and packages. There is rosin for all instruments, but violin, viola, and cello rosin is interchangeable - you can use the same rosin for each instrument. In fact most rosin is labled as violin/viola, or violin/viola/cello. I have the Bellafina mini rosins at school and find them to work pretty well for violin, viola and cello. Bass rosin is very different. it is a lot stickier, and some types even melt in hot temperatures (make sure to keep it in it's case!).