Is violin an expensive hobby?

It can be, but it doesn’t have to be.

What are the costs associated with learning the violin?

Well, you have to get a violin first, of course! You have two options: rent or buy. I always recommend renting at first for a few reasons.

1. If you’re a true beginner, you don’t really know if you’re going to stick with it for the long haul. Learning to play the violin is a commitment, and one that despite the best intentions, you may not be ready to make. I’ve taught a handful of learners who, at first, were very excited to learn to play, but very quickly realize they could not fit it into their already busy schedule. If you rent an instrument and then decide to quit playing, you can easily return the violin and save a lot of money, rather than trying to sell your instrument or simply letting it collect dust.

2. It’s more affordable than buying. High quality violins can be quite expensive (a few thousand dollars or more) and not a lot of people have that much money to invest in a hobby. While you can purchase violins that are much cheaper, they are still generally in the $200-$500 range, which is still expensive! In my area (East Coast of the US), renting is about $40 per month, and many shops offer first time rental deals.

3. When you rent, the shop is much more likely to help you out when problems inevitably arise. If you’re trying to learn the violin on your own and your string breaks, or you can’t get the violin tuned, or you can’t figure out how to put your shoulder rest on, you’re pretty much on your own. If you’re renting from a local violin shop, they can change your strings for you, tune your instrument, help you put on tapes, and so much more. If you’re renting from them, they are much more likely to help you out, making your violin journey much smoother.

I understand that there are benefits to owning an instrument, and if that’s your preference, you want to make sure you’re getting the best bang for your buck. If you can avoid it, do not purchase your instrument from Amazon. Amazon is famous for selling VSOs-violin shaped objects- which leave much to be desired, to say the least. My favorite online violin retailer is Fiddlershop. They not only make high quality instruments for affordable prices, but also have excellent customer service. One of my students lives in Arizona, and her new violin from Fiddlershop was damaged in transit due to the extreme heat. They quickly expedited her a new one, no questions asked, and even let her keep the other.

The violins I recommend from Fiddlershop are:

Fiddlerman Tower Strings ($269.99)

Fiddlerman Concert Violin ($519.00)

Fiddlerman Master Violin ($1,039.00)

I would also be very cautious when buying an instrument on Facebook Marketplace. In my experience, it is full of scammers! If you do decide to purchase an instrument there, be sure that you receive videos of it being played, and carefully examine the pictures to make sure there aren’t any cracks.

Now that you have a violin (yay!) you have to learn how to play! You have three options: work with a teacher either in person or online, join an online learning program, or teach yourself.

Working with a private teacher is the most expensive, but arguably the best, option. Working with a teacher gives you personalized feedback and recommendations based on your specific problems, questions, and goals. There are two types of private lessons: in-person and online. The benefits of in-person lessons are that the teacher can physically adjust your posture and it’s easy to play together (which is very helpful for pitch & rhythm). The drawbacks of in-person lessons are that they are a bigger time commitment (due to the travel time) and you’re limited to teachers in your area, which may or may not be a great match for your learning style and goals. The benefits of online lessons are that they are much more convenient, less time consuming, and you can study with anyone in the world, which guarantees you’ll find the perfect teacher for you. The drawbacks of online lessons are that the teacher cannot physically adjust you (which in my opinion is not a big deal-online teachers can instruct just as well using only their words), and no one’s internet connection is 100% reliable-but hey, neither is anyone’s car!

The price of lessons varies depending on your location and the teacher’s experience, but the standard rate here in the US is $1 per minute. So, if you were taking weekly, 30 minute lessons, it would be around $120 per month. Many teachers (myself included) also offer bi-weekly lessons (every other week). This is a great option for those who need a bit more time between lessons to implement their teacher’s feedback, and/or a more affordable learning program.

The next option is to join an online program, like Learn Violin Online. The two biggest benefits of online learning programs is their flexibility and affordability. Unlike private lessons, students do not have to take their lessons at any specific time, they can do so whenever is most convenient for them. The drawback with online learning programs is that the personal feedback and support is less than private lessons. Many online learning programs do not offer any feedback, but in Learn Violin Online, all members are invited to post videos in the community for direct feedback from me as often as they’d like. This ensures that your questions are being answered, you understand what you’re doing well, and have an action plan on how to improve. Since online learning programs require less of a time commitment from the teacher, they are much more affordable than private lessons, and Learn Violin Online is one of the most affordable programs on the market. Comparable programs cost about $65 per month, while Learn Violin Online is only $35 per month (which is about what my husband and I spend when we get a meal from Chipotle!)

The final option is to teach yourself, which is the most affordable option because it’s free! Now, don’t get me wrong, it is certainly possible to teach yourself how to play the violin; however, it is arguably the hardest way to learn. There are several free beginner courses out there (like mine) but these will only get you so far. After you’ve learned the basics, it’s very hard to decide on a learning plan for yourself simply because you don’t know what you don’t know! Additionally, it can be very frustrating to try to go it alone. Your questions will go unanswered, you will get conflicting advice (from videos and from others in online forums and Facebook groups), and it’s likely you will get to a point where you’re not happy with your playing but you don’t know how to improve.

In addition to lessons or learning programs, students must purchase the method books they’ll be using. These are usually not too expensive: the Suzuki books cost about $10 each and the other books I use for note reading, shifting, and double stops cost about $10-$15. However, inside of Learn Violin Online, all of the sheet music for the pieces and exercises are included, so you do not need to purchase any books or sheet music.

Violins do require some maintenance to ensure they stay sounding their best. I recommend rehairing your bow at least once per year. Costs for this varies, but I pay $90 for my bow rehairs. Additionally, I recommend changing strings at least once per year, and possibly up to 4 times per year depending on how much you play. String cost varies, but the strings that I use, Peter Infeld PI strings, cost about $120 per set. The strings I recommend for beginners are Dominants, which are about $80 per set. The most affordable violin strings are the D’Addario Prelude, which cost about $20 per set. In addition to the bow rehair and strings, there could be other accessories that you need to buy, such as rosin (about $10), shoulder rests (between $20-$100), and a music stand ($20-$60).

In summary, the largest upfront cost for learning the violin is the violin itself! This usually requires an initial investment of a few hundred dollars, unless you choose to rent. After that, the price of this hobby largely depends on how you choose to learn. It could be as much as a few hundred dollars per month if you’re taking lessons from a very experienced teacher, or as little as $35 when you join Learn Violin Online. Violin maintenance will also generally cost a few hundred dollars per year.

So what do you think? Is violin an expensive hobby? Leave a comment and let me know!