Hello,

I know I have only just got my violin - it's an Andreas Zeller set up with dominant strings. It came with a P&H bow and some rosin.

It is my birthday soon and I need to make a birthday wish list. Is there any thing I could do to upgrade my violin -better strings, better rosin etc?

Any suggestions would be welcome!

I am already adding a load of violin books to my wish list

LearnerFlute

If you got it recently from a reputable dealer, and it was set up with dominant strings, you probably don't need to do anything more to it.

Fiberglass bows are probably best for a beginner too, so unless it needs rehairing, that will be fine for now.

Ask your teacher if they think the violin needs bridge/nut adjusting (probably doesn't though).

Maybe you could get a nice shoulder rest?

If it came with a small block of generic amber coloured rosin, maybe ask for some professional grade rosin in a tin/box to keep your case clean and free from rosin chips.

Oh, and maybe a spare set of strings- or at least a couple of E's.

It's nice that you are thinking of violin bits for your birthday, usually, as a parent, those things have to be purchased all year round, and not just on birthdays!

What is a good make of rosin to ask for? Is there a certain brand, grade, lightness, colour I should look for?

Melos, jade or anything by pirastro would be a good choice
What about one of these mutes http://www.baroquebling.com/
I have 2 !

There's no accounting for taste!

hahaha people either love them or hate them. i of course dont leave them on for rehearsals, concerts, recitals etc. but theyre a fun bit of sparklyness for practise!

Hi,

I've got dominants on my Zeller and I use the Thomastik Dominant rosin which is designed for those strings. There may be better rosins in many folks opinions but I'm not really a good enough player to provide an educated opinion or the relative merits etc. I just went on the basis that if the rosin is designed for the strings then it will probably be fine for my standard of play!

This link :

http://www.thestringzone.co.uk/dominant-rosin

is where I bought it from for ?7 per tin

take care
Keith

ps I also use a GEWA heavy mute for orchestra practice .. reduces volume a lot but destroys tone

If you choose Dominant rosin be confident about your ability to open a smooth, sticky tin. I would not buy it again simply because I cannot open the tin without a knife or screwdriver!

I've just made a birthday wish list too-the dreadul day is imminent unforutnately!
My partner was intrigued by my newly purchased viola (cheap and cheerful from ebay) and started to 'potter' on his Ipad. Next thing I knew my non-musical other half was helping me tune the viola and other musical instruments around the house with the help of a tuning app. I was so intrigued by the technology that a digital tuner is now on the wish list. I had tuned my viola reasonably well with the aid of the piano but I found the tuner fascinating. May be a bit of a gimic but I'm happy to try new technology if it saves time!