Title self-explanatory, I suppose. My teacher also repaired and restored instruments so I was definitely spoiled with regards to instrument maintenance. But it also left me dangerously ignorant of what should be done and when, I think. If I do manage to get set up to teach violin/viola then what level of skill do you think is a minimum for being able to identify and fix problems with the instrument? Obviously if a student receives an instrument mail order with no bridge you need to be able to fit that on, you need to be able to position a bridge if it wanders, etc. but do you think I need to be able to position a soundpost in a student instrument? I'd always get a fine violin sent to an expert because positioning really matters, but on a wee fiddle is it really a job for a pro or should I own a soundpost setting tool myself? Should I know when a bow needs to be rehaired? I've never had mine done cos I used to replace my bow as I progressed, but now I have a permanent bow I have no idea how long they are meant to last or at what point you decide to get them redone. I don't know how to do that knocking on a violin to see if the seams are open thing either.

What would you expect from a teacher as a minimum skill-set? And do you have any books you recommend on the subject? I've asked for a build you own fiddle kit for xmas so I can get a really good look at the parts of a violin and how they come together. I may not build the world's finest violin but the point is to learn about the construction involved.

I don't do soundposts. That's a job for a professional in my view. I can rehoist bridges (and identify when some well meaning dad has put one up back to front), change strings and deal with recalcitrant pegs (pliers useful for the really stiff ones), identify the source of buzzes (checking adjusters, chinrest fittings, string ends, and seams). I'm also quite an expert at fishing all sorts of things out of violins which shouldn't have been posted in there!

As for bows - since rehairs cost about £36 and cheap student bows cost about £28, when the cheap bows stop working (greasy fingerprints, general filth or age), I bin them and buy new. You should be able to tell when a bow needs rehairing - it won't hold the rosin as well or as evenly, and it just doesn't really 'feel' right, even if you're not the sort of player who loses a lot of hairs.

Also with bows, if they won't do up properly, it's worth knowing how to check the screw & eye on the frog, and be able to 'unplait' them if a child has managed to undo the frog and tangle the whole thing up.

I used to work in a violin shop - and wish I'd learned more of the practical things whilst I was there, instead of being upstairs serving customers and advising on the sheet music sales!

I expect only simple maintenance from a teacher. This would include changing strings, positioning bridge, fixing chinrests if they become loose, applying peg paste to slipping pegs and tuning instrumetns via the pegs.

These are all very simple things, which as a student I am capable of doing myself and would expect teacher who is far more experianced to be able to do.

I think just very basic things - I wouldn't even expect a teacher to do anything with a bridge - positioning it is not as simple as 'stick it in the middle of the f-hole notches' - it really needs a specialist to do it.

That said, if you're talking about really basic student instruments, then the bridges won't fit properly anyway unless they've been properly set up (in which case, logically no maintenance needed) - if they haven't been properly set up, it won't make that much difference wherever you put the bridge !

On the whole, I'd recommend that students learn to change their own strings, handle their own pegs, chinrests etc as early on as feasibly possible - then I'd send everything else to an expert - no one expects the luthier to teach violin, so no one should be expecting a teacher to fix instruments.

Positioning the feet of a bridge may be too tricky, but anyone who changes a string, or retensions it after it has gone slack, should be able to check that the bridge is at right angles to the plate, and correct it if not. This is necessary because tilting is a possible side effect of a string change, and if it tilts too far it will fall.

I'd expect my teacher to be able to tune a cello, change a string, give me some idea of when my bow needs a rehair and show me how to clean the strings. My cello teacher can fiddle with a bridge (I agree with kenm, if you are changing strings, you do need to be able to tweak a bridge if it isn't standing at the right angle - but I wouldn't expect anything more than that), is a great source of advice for causes of rattles and buzzes (having experienced many of said causes herself or in students over the years), knows a fair bit about rosins and also about how to eliminate wolf notes (she doesn't go in for applying the various methods on her students' instruments but she is good at telling you what to expect from the luthier).

Wouldn't expect her to play with my soundpost - that's for my luthier. I'd see it as a bit of a waste of her time, really - her job is to teach me how to play the cello rather than how to adjust the set-up. Can see it could be different for kids particularly when teacher is a peri - from the sounds of things, you get a lot of poorly or incorrectly set-up instruments, and goodness only knows kids can do some absolutely amazing things to violins and cellos, left to their own devices (we had one music camper once who ended up with a spike through the belly of his cello - don't ask! - and the teacher's job there was to handball this to luthier asap). I saw our strings teacher at school dealing with a child who had been on holiday to China with violin and brought in back with strings under tension causing damage to the bridge in the airplane (I gather it was in a part of the plane where the pressures weren't equalised) - she is a very canny soul and has an encyclopaedic knowledge as to how to handle most instrumental damage, from many years of experience. If I were starting out as a strings teacher, I'd want someone like her around to consult if things were getting sticky or I felt out of my depth.

Wolfnotes

Change strings - and wind them onto the pegs properly! - paste pegs, tweak a bridge to the proper angle, change/adjust a chin rest, know when a bow requires rehairing, remove the screw and frog from a stick and replace it again, advise on things like getting minor repairs done/varnish dinks touched in.

And that would be about it. Soundpost adjustments, fingerboards, tailpieces and everything else, are best left to a luthier.

When doing some of the DIY tasks (tuning, pegs, fine tuners esp.) I encourage the student to watch and begin to learn/get a feel for doing things for themselves, otherwise it reminds me of people who drive cars and yet have no idea about checking the oil, water or tyre pressures.

Tweaking bridges takes a little more experience. Knowing when a bow requires a rehair is more about learning how it should feel on the strings - if you have to endlessly apply rosin but it still slips around, I would hope a student might question this. Generally speaking, a bow used for a couple of hours practice every day will require re-hairing about once a year.

So my bow that did 6 hours orchestra on Saturdays alone should probably not have waited 15 years, then...

Errrr, no I'm surprised someone (even if not your teacher) didn't mention things like re-hairing a bow. Did you not notice the tonal quality and dynamic range was rather limited in your playing, or you just got so used to it it passed without concern

I thought I'd just got out of practice. Oops. I need to find a luthier that I can get into (disabled access) and go get rehaired. I was surprised it seemed easier to play my violin than my viola lately, that's probably why. I don't play violin much and I have 2 bows. Off to run my violin bow over my viola and see what happens. Silly woman.

If finding a local bow re-hairer is a problem, there are several very good people who offer a postal service.

How would you normally post one, do you have a bow case? A bow case seems dear, but I suppose in the context of getting my bow safely to and fro it's money well spent on ensuring it arrives unharmed. It's just that money is pouring out of my account lately on spare strings and sheet music, and a bow rehair sounds like something that can wait, but it probably shouldn't really.

The normal method of posting bows for rehairs etc is in a length of plastic plumbing waste pipe, padded with bubble wrap around the bow and foam at the ends, sealed at the ends with screw-on caps (again part of the "plumbing" range). It's a very safe way to post a bow and costs about £5-10 to make.
Alternatively, if that is just too much hassle, I know that at least one person (there may be others) will send a posting tube out to you free of charge. I'll PM you the contact details if you want.

That would be excellent. I need to keep costs down as much as possible, so the odd £10 is pretty huge at the mo, especially with the mail strike and having no spare bow I'd have to have it go each way by courier. Now I just need a full set of new strings for both instruments and a £20 book of music and...