Features:

  • Size 3/4 violin with solid spruce wood top, maple back, neck and sides with inlaid purfling in antique varnish
  • Ebony fingerboard, pegs chinrest, and tailpiece with 4 detachable nickel plated fine tuners
  • Strung with D'Addario Prelude Strings
  • Includes: Cecilio chromatic tuner, lesson book, lightweight hard case, 2 x Brazilwood bows with unbleached genuine Mongolian horsehair, quality rosin cake, adjustable shoulder rest, and an extra bridge
  • 1 Year Warranty Against Manufacturer's Defects
Surprisingly Good Violin

We love this violin! We purchased the blue Mendini last year and it didn't last long. As a side note, try to stay away from painted violins (they don't hold up well and the paint compromises the quality of sound and use). My daughter's orchestra teacher was skeptical at first because we purchased the instrument online, but was pleasantly pleased with the sound and quality of the Cecilio. I was able to tighten and tune most of the strings myself, and I'm not an instrumentalist. The tip, that was in the reviews, to push down and turn while tightening really helped. Now on to the good stuff: -Came with two bows-One of them was completely useless. -Rosin-Not good, but this was to be expected -Tuner-Works pretty good. Helped with tuning the strings. -Shoulder Rest-Decent-Won't last very long though as it is a bit flimsy, but works for now. Case-Standard case. Sturdy and lightweight. -Lesson Book-We haven't really had a chance to dive into the book, but upon initial perusal, my daughter recognized some of the material she learned when she started playing. All in all the Cecilio CVN-300 is a good purchase! We are thoroughly pleased with this violin!

Excellent violin (add ons, not so much)

I'm an adult beginner who always wished I learned to play violin. I'm not getting any younger, so I decided to just go for it. Having no experience purchasing a violin before, I did a TON of research and watched video reviews by several professionals. I'll save you some time. Buy this violin. Not only a beginner instrument, it should also take you into your intermediate years, which was a big plus in making my decision. The sound quality is great, at least to me, but obviously it's not going to sound like a professional instrument. The violin itself is beautiful and glossy. I did have some issues in the beginning with the pegs slipping but that seems to be normal for a brand new instrument (they don't slip anymore). It stays in tune quite nicely with just minor adjustments with the fine tuners. The fingerboard did make my fingertips black for a while, but that wore off fairly quickly. I really love this instrument! I am giving it 5 stars because the instrument itself is great, however the add ons... not so much: - Bows: It comes with 2, which is nice and they seem decent, but I had a nicer bow given to me and it's definitely better. - Shoulder rest: Do yourself a favor and just add a better one to your cart right now, you'll be happy you did. This thing is absolute junk, extremely uncomfortable, and didn't hold the violin in the right place no matter what I did to adjust it. When I got a better one it was a world of difference! - Rosin: Seems decent and I used it for a while (it did need to be scored first) but I bought some jade rosin a month or so ago and I could immediately hear the sound was better (and I'll take anything that makes me sound even slightly better at this point!). - Strings: It's been three months am still using the ones that came with the instrument. They seem great to me! I wish it came with a second set! - Tuner/metronome: I never even put batteries in it. It doesn't seem like something that's well made. I just use an app on my phone. - Lesson book: This book is awesome! It's pretty much the only book I am using, and my tutor also agrees it's a great beginner book. Obviously it starts with the basics and builds you up. It indicates there are songs on a disc that match up, but my book did not come with a disc. There is a link on the very first page where you can download the songs though, which is VERY helpful! - Case: Decent. It has a zipper pocket on the outer top of the case, perfect for a small notebook. The lesson book is a little too big to fit in it all the way though. The case closes with a zipper and velcro flap. There's a space inside to store your rosin and extra bridge. The case lid doesn't stay open though, which is annoying. The hinge should allow it to go back just an inch more so it doesn't slam shut on you. Otherwise, it's a case and it does its job. All in all, I am super happy with my purchase and learning to play has been such a joy (and not as hard as I thought it would be)!

You are getting a good deal for what your are paying for

For starters I am not an expert violin player. I purchased the full size version and the 1/2 size for my son, we are learning the violin together. I have played the guitar for years. I have played the violin for about 2 months, I have an electric violin, my son had a 1/4 size acoustic, my son grew out of his so I just got us both a new acoustic. The violin comes with d'addario strings - which sound very nice. The violin sounds nice and looks just like the picture - its obviously not hand stained - but its nice and shiny. It plays pretty well (I am obviously not the best player in the world, i don't hit the other strings too much - or at least much more than I do on other instruments). The bow feels a little heavier then ones I have used before so it takes a little getting used to that, but I don't think its a bad bow. It tunes pretty easy. I tuned both of the violins in about 5 minutes - granted I have played guitar for years so I am not new to the process of tuning string instruments but violins are MUCH harder to tune than guitars - and cheap violins often times are really hard - and then they don't stay in tune after for that long. The case is good, about what you would expect and everything they said that comes with it did. The tuner is also a metronome which is a good thing to have for a student. For the price, this is a very good violin. If I had spent 150 or 200 for this I wouldn't feel ripped off, I think the violin sounds good - and is very playable. I would recommend this to people looking to start violin, you're not spending a fortune and you're not getting a cheap violin that is very hard to tune, wont stay in tune and the bridge just makes you hit other strings all the time. The violin is a hard instrument to learn, so I wouldn't recommend spending much more that 200 dollars for a first violin in case you don't stick with it but having said that, I don't know if I would go too cheap either because if the violin is cheap and doesn't sound good and doesn't play well at all, the cheapness of the violin you're trying to learn with adds to the difficulty, this violin seems like a good medium and really they could probably charge a little more for it. Also for parents wondering how loud their kids violin will be: The violin is fairly loud, so you even with a practice mute will hear in the next room, violins are not quiet, no matter what you try - if you buy an electric silent violin which is the one I started with, its quieter but you can still hear it in the next room. Acoustic violins are a little better sounding, actually they're a lot better sounding - so just buy earplugs.

great bang for your buck for beginners

i have no musical background at all fyi. I just started playing 2 months ago. im in my mid 30's and this is perfect for the money to learn on. my teacher was impressed with it as well. it may not sound like a 1000 dollar one but, however it sounds great for the money its perfect for me. if im able to stick with learning violin/fiddle in a year I will be upgrading for sure. but perfect for starting out without dropping a lot of money into. i also recommend the fretless finger guide as well that's helping me a lot for where the notes are to memorize. my up and down bow has improved a lot with just sitting infront of tv watching news. ive already got part of GOT theme figured out not perfect but huge improvement for me. love practicing and playing it been wanting to learn for 20yrs. i also used the Alison sparrow intro vids to tune and start learning before i found a teacher and that helped a lot.

Great deal for the money and excellent option for beginner to intermediate player.

I purchased this violin 10 months ago, so I've had ample time to evaluate it. I played violin all though my teen years and quit in my sophomore year of college. As a middle aged adult, I decided I wanted to play again, but didn’t want to invest a lot of money until I saw if I would be successful at it. I’ve been very happy with this instrument. It has a clean sound and blends well with other instruments. The only change that I’ve made is that I’ve replaced the strings with a set of Dominants, which produce a warmer sound. Our church has an active music program and, after becoming comfortable with playing again, I’ve been accompanying the music at services. I’ve also performed a duet prelude with our music director, who also plays violin, and the tone of our instruments blended together nicely; she was impressed with its sound for an inexpensive violin. The violin holds its tuning well and is comfortable to play. My opinion is that it’s a great deal for the amount of money spent and is an excellent option for a beginner to intermediate player. I expect to continue enjoying mine for years to come.

Perfect!!

This violin looks great, sounds great and is just overall a great product. I've been playing for 13 years and I can tell you that the quality of this instrument is comparable to that of a violin that costs over $1000. All I had to do when I received it is just adjust the bridge a little and tune it up. Everything that came with the violin was great quality also. I recommend this to anyone that is looking for a good quality violin at an inexpensive price.

Great For A Beginner

My daughter wanted to start Strings in school so she needed a violin of her own. Sam Ash Music Store warned us not to get a Cecilio but the music teacher at my daughter's school said a Cecilio is a great beginner instrument. Since I don't know if my daughter will be interested in continuing with Strings past this grade, I didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a professional grade violin, plus she'll grow out of this size at some point. So we decided to go with this Cecilio. It was a great price and when it came, it looked very well made. It fit all of the requirements set forth by the music teacher and she has started using it. Haven't had any issues with it in the two months she's been using it. Would definitely recommend this item for a beginner.

Almost returned it because of tuning problem

Almost returned it because it seemed impossible to tune since the all the pegs just slipped back when I tried to tighten the string. Glad I gave it a second try. I found out that this problem could be solved by pushing the peg towards the hole, which will make the peg as tight as you want. Of course not too tight, or it will be hard to tune. Now I am happy with the color, the sound, etc. The only concern will be whether or not it will stay in tune. It doesn’t right now but it could be because the strings need to be stretched. After two days if it still doesn’t stay in tune I will update the status.

Can't complain for a starter.

As a mildly experienced cellist (going on 5 years), I bought this for a friend that wants to learn to play the violin. It's a basic beginner's violin. Super cheap, but hey... ya gotta start somewhere, and who knows if he is actually going to stick with it. A nice violin could cost thousands of dollars, so if you are just getting started, this is a FANTASTIC place to start. The only thing that I definitely changed was the strings. The strings it came with are TERRIBLE! I like Dominant strings because they are a good mid-level string (like not for those who suck but not for those who are pros). I replaced the strings with Dominant strings and it sounds fine for what he's doing with it. The tuner surprised me. I thought it was going to be a piece of junk, but it does it's job. A bit of a learning curve, but no real problems. Overall, great purchase.

Seems like a good starter kit.

I got this as an adult beginner, and in three months of playing for perhaps 10 minutes 3 or 4 times a week I'm only up to page 10. Although I had to google a few things to get past the first couple pages, the rest have seemed like a good self paced progression. I'm still enjoying working on the few things I can play, neither frustrated by lack of progress, nor intimidated by an overly steep curve. Someone with more time or a mentor could probably make much faster progress through the booklet than me. Problems in the first few pages, despite the notes explaining to initially floss the bow for something like 5 minutes, they didn't explain that you might have to rough up the floss to get it started. As soon as the lessons moved to shifting fingering between strings, I had too google to get a better idea of hand and finger position than what the booklet was giving me. Where to put the fingers on the strings is one thing, but how to brace the hand didn't follow without some extra help. The tuner that came with it didn't help me any. It was causing me to badly miss tune the top string until I downloaded a phone app tuner that gave much better response. Not being a musician, I can't really speak to the sound quality or craftsmanship. Just that it's a decent kit that lets me stop and displace some of the stresses of the day with something different. P.S. The pets all leave the room and go to the far corners of the house. Apparently they don't appreciate my lack of skill.

Full Reviews