Violin Tour- 4th Violin

I know what you're thinking... How many violins does this girl need? Well this one's different!

It's electric!

My friend, Erica, had gotten an electric violin for Christmas a few years back and I played it occasionally but obviously wanted one of my own since they're so much fun. So I asked my mom for an electric violin for Christmas last year and that's what I got!

I also got an amp that has a lot of presets on it to make my violin sound like an electric guitar and much more. It's pretty awesome. :)

Erica and I eventually want to play in public somewhere, just for fun and not necessarily for money. It'd be interesting to see other people's reactions... We might even be filmed! All we need to do is find a place that allows street musicians-- a project for another day!

Violin Tour- My 3rd Violin

My current violin is my favorite violin I've ever had. I love how much louder it is in comparison to my first two violins. It's also richer in sound and so physically beautiful at the same time. I absolutely love and cherish it.

The photo doesn't do it justice- it's actually a much deeper brown. Remind me not to take photos at night. :)

My violin also came with a fancy cake of golden rosin. That rosin literally looks like a piece of pure glittery gold! It has it's own little box and you hold it by the cloth attached at the end. It's definitely a step up from the old rosin which you have to scratch up a bunch of times just to get it to work.

I can't thank my mom enough for buying this violin for me. It was a complete surprise. I had woken up from my usual nap after school and I saw that she had a violin case in her hand. I was both confused and a little drowsy from my nap still, so all I had done was just stare at it with my eyebrows furrowed. My mom just smiled and said, "I bought it for you." Immediately, I knew what she meant. I got so excited and opened it up immediately. I saw that same gorgeous violin in the ruby red-lined case that I had tried out at the shop. She said, "In the back of my mind, I just heard your daddy say, 'Get that baby that new violin,' and I knew I had to get it for you." That's definitely something he'd say. He always referred to me as his baby since, like any dad, he didn't want me to grow up. She started crying and we hugged. My dad passed away April 21, 2011, so of course she'd be in tears after that. We both miss him very much, and this just shows that he's always there, looking out for us, even though we may not be able to see him.

Bradley Stephen Hull

December 31, 1958 - April 21, 2011

Violin Tour- My 2nd Violin

I've had 4 violins total (1 electric) in my whole life. I still remember getting my very first violin. I was in 4th grade and my violin was a 1/2 size, and I cherished it so much that I held it to my chest instead of holding the case by the handle. I was too afraid that it was going to break, even though it was snug in its case. Sadly, I don't have that violin anymore. I switched it out for a full size when I was in 6th grade. That violin I still have.

I played this violin up until the beginning of my sophomore year in high school. I was playing in the orchestra pit at the time for my high school's play, How to Succeed in Business Without Trying, and my friend noticed that I had a long crack running down my violin. I took it to a violin repairman, but he said there wasn't much he could do. He could put glue in the crack, but the sound of my violin wouldn't be very good, or he could repair the violin fully, but it'd cost a lot of money and he'd have to take a lot of the violin apart to do so. We decided to go with the glue. It was pretty disappointing.

I tried out a violin at the repairman's shop just for fun though and I absolutely loved it. Every note I played reverberated throughout the entire room with a deep, warm and rich sound. It had gorgeous brown wood and the bow had rainbow colors on the bottom of the frog. But I remembered that I had to be reasonable and stick with the glue option for my old violin and I left empty handed that day.

However...

My mom surprised me with a new violin a week or two later, the one that I had tried out at the repairman's shop just for fun and fell in love with!

More on that violin tomorrow. :)