I played for
years and never got very good
And yeah, it's pretty much the worst-sounding instrument til you get some level of ability, the scratchy screechy noises your right arm makes with the bow and and the accidental wlid glissandi up and down the finger board as your left hand searches for the note you want
But practise practise practise and it gets better. And at least there's only one line to read so sightreading is easy.
If you need some inspiration watch the videos in Campestral's thread:
http://www.altnation.com/forums/band...nt-violin.html
McCormacks have a reasonable range of violins in, more so than Biggars I think. There's violins online from under £40 though I think paying a little more would be a good idea! Make sure you get one with fine adjustment screws for all four strings on the tailpiece - if you buy second hand you sometimes see ones where only the E string is fitted with these screws. Oh, and you'll need one of these, or you'll get festering sores on your collarbone
One other suggestion: put a
small amount of chalk on the tuning pegs before you tune it the first time and it'll stay in tune much more reliably.
Have fun!
