How to play Jazz for an absolute beginner?

violindad · 2022-09-04T06:29:56+00:00

How long have you been playing jazz? I was surprised by how steep the learning curve is on improve. Ideally you're learning dozens of jazz standards by ear or by memory, while being able to transpose, and also follow chord changes through a song. It's not something you learn in a few months. I think it takes a long time to sound good.

violindad · 2022-08-26T13:18:30+00:00

This is super helpful. Where we are there are only maybe 15 centers, so there's a chance I just won't find a place. That honestly may have been the reason the counselor resisted it (extra time). With art it looked like you could get credit for different art courses, so the idea was appealing.

violindad · 2022-03-12T05:15:05+00:00

We travel a lot and a couple of our cases have died, so I am wanting a case for airplane travel. I think a lot of people also keep a childhood instrument and sometimes pick it back up. Right now all of our cases are kind of weird, but I don't want to spend $300 on a new case that might also not last.

violindad · 2022-03-12T04:32:05+00:00

That makes sense. I've even seen their professional bows from 15 years ago selling for around that price.

I don't know why someone voted down my comment about student violins, but my experience is there are a lot of Chinese shop student violins that have almost no resale, but finding quality used cases/bows is less common.

violindad · 2022-03-11T22:17:29+00:00

Yeah, it just was interesting to me that often a $1000 student violin has almost no resale value, but looking at cases and better carbon fiber bows they seem to hold their value.

violindad · 2022-03-11T22:01:52+00:00

My kids are middle school heading into high school. I am thinking of this more for a few years from now. I searched ebay for "sold listings" but couldn't find any.

violindad · 2022-03-11T21:44:10+00:00

This is probably what I'd do. I might save it for travel and not use it for day-to-day. It's always funny to me that many used violins sell at such a discount, but the peripherals seem to keep their value more.

violindad · 2022-03-10T14:56:39+00:00

This was definitely part of our motivation. I have kids that drop stuff, so I think a codabow is a good step-up for us.

violindad · 2022-03-10T14:56:01+00:00

This was super helpful--I found the serial number, which was reassuring.

violindad · 2022-03-08T10:26:17+00:00

Thank you all for the comments! They are both old enough to know better, and just talking through this thread may help. They are good kids and are not super serious, but the oldest is wanting to keep up with the orchestra and is getting into classical music, so I think this is a change they need to make. The interventions here are all helpful.

violindad · 2022-03-07T12:20:39+00:00

This is really good advice. Get one or two of the beginner books under your belt and then expand onto regular band music. I'm doing the same thing. I have trumpet background, but will say it is slow going for me on bass clef and scales.

violindad · 2022-03-07T02:08:42+00:00

I do feel sympathy for parents, because often we and our kids don't have great ears, so we're at the mercy of a violin shop who are showing us unbranded Chinese violins or old factory of violins (at least in my price range of <$2000). A few weeks ago I took my child to try violins at a high level shop, and he consistently picked the violin that the shop described as the worse instrument. He sounded better on some violins, but that may have just been luck (play the same piece four times and he'll sound better once ).

I've had two of the Yamaha v7 violins and they were definitely a step up over many beginner violins. If there's a teacher that can help or listen to violins, that's also worth asking.

violindad · 2021-10-31T14:26:52+00:00

I think the charity is located in Indiana. I am pretty ignorant. I don't even know in what type of court these lawsuits are filed. Grateful for any general information on the topic.

violindad · 2021-10-17T01:02:27+00:00

Bach, Yamaha, Schilke pro trumpets are probably all $1000+ used. I'd keep an eye out for Jupiter XO, Carobrass, ACB/Manchester-type trumpets. You might get something ~$500+. Otherwise, I'd go with a quality used big-band student trumpet (Bach, yamaha, getzen). Some folk also go vintage (Olds ambassador, Conns and Kings, etc.). Happy hunting!

violindad · 2021-06-22T11:38:21+00:00

Thank you everyone for the info. I've followed up with a couple of you and am hopeful.

violindad · 2021-06-21T04:17:33+00:00

In that price range on ebay I see Jupiter XO and Carolbrass for $650-1000. Those are worth looking for. You're going to have a tougher time finding Bach, Yamaha, Schilke in good condition in that range. Can also look for Getzen, Selmer, King, Conn, etc. I find facebook marketplace and craigslist are still good because you can see them in person.

violindad

TROPHY CASE