Welcome Meadowlark Families!
It will be a lot of fun doing violin classes with the 3rd grade this year. I’ll update this page with information, sheet music and listening links from time to time as we go. Here is info on renting and equipment.
RENTING
Of course, you’ll need a violin and bow. There are many options but two good ones in St. Paul are:
Cadenza Music - $300 per year for the school year and the following summer included if you renew. I do teach lessons there a few days a week, but I have not stake in their renting program.
Fein Violins - $36.21 per month, cancel by the 14th of any month to stop and apply $25 per month toward a future purchase for the first 18 months
OTHER EQUIPMENT
Shoulder accomodation— I would like to start with sponges as a cushion because they are more flexible. Fein violins includes a shoulder rest but will swap out for a sponge on request. At Cadenza you’ll have to buy your own sponge, but they stock them and they are about $5. We may add a shoulder rest later, or if you are taking lessons with another teacher and they request you use one then that’s fine.
Chin accomodation— there was a year long study that found most violinist benefit from a higher chin rest toward the center. For that reason, I recommend the Wittner models. They have center one that is fairly high, but even better, they have a height adjustable model. Fein Violins has outfitted many of their rental instruments with Wittner but not all. If you get a rental without one from Fein or Cadenza (which come with a shorter one) it will definitely be a worthy investment to spend about $25 to purchase one.
A music stand. We won’t use music in class righta way, but at some point we might and you’ll want a stand for home practice. A cheap folding one is fine for home and then is easy to transport.
INSPIRATION
I wanted to share a few pieces of music that I know we will study, so the students can listen to them and get the melodies in their heads ahead of time. The video element is less important than the music, so feel free to find these pieces any other place you want for listening. I’ll add a few more of these later.