Violin questions from parents and students, answered by our string team. Sizing is the one most families get wrong — violins run from 1/16 for a three-year-old up to full size, and it’s arm length that decides, not age. The other recurring theme is what to touch and what to leave alone: fine tuners yes, pegs no, and never try to reseat a fallen bridge yourself. Tuning and small adjustments are free for our renters, any time you’re in the Norwalk shop.
A lot of people just call us the violin doctor, and that is exactly what a luthier is: someone trained to build, repair, and care for string instruments. The word is reserved for strings. You would not call a piano…
Loosen the strings slightly, lay the instrument in its case, and bring it in. Don’t stand the bridge back up yourself, and don’t let anyone else improvise it: resetting is quick, routine work at our counter, and a fallen bridge…
Use the fine tuners, the small screws at the tailpiece. They move the pitch a little at a time and are very hard to overdo. The strings are G, D, A, E from lowest to highest, and a clip-on tuner…
Violins run from 1/16 up to full size, and it is arm length that decides, never a chart of ages and heights. Children come in every shape, and the final call on size belongs to your child’s teacher. The quick…