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[chiaroscuro_violins]

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[arglebargle]

Best advice? Marry a successful lawyer/doctor/etc. 

The second best advice can be found here. 

 

[David Burgess]

The market for violin makers is already pretty well saturated. Most aspiring makers end up making most of their living by doing repairs and maintenance.

[Davide Sora]

8 hours ago, arglebargle said:

The second best advice can be found here.

Great advice!

[Rachell66]

On 3/25/2021 at 3:36 AM, chiaroscuro_violins said:

Hello Pegbox!  This is my first post, so I'll be figuring out how this works.  

First, my background: I've been playing violin since age 8 and began studying violin making at age 14.  I am now 20 years old and looking to make this my career.  In my research, it has become apparent that the vast majority of makers attend a 3 year violin making school.  However, this is not the route I've taken.  I started out learning from a local established maker, and for the past 6 years I've been working under his guidance.  I've completed 5 violins and 1 viola, as well as some minor and major restorations.  The master I study with is well-respected, but we live in a very rural area and don't see much traffic.  

I'm not aiming to be the next Strad, but I would like to refine my work to the best it can possibly be.  The next logical step for me seems to be to find an apprenticeship/internship with a shop.  Would a shop even consider hiring someone without a certificate from a violin making school?  I am willing to study in a school setting, but I really hesitate to go back to square one, considering I've already learned a great deal from my master.  I have been looking at summer workshops for advanced repair, but ideally I'm looking to spend the next full year doing violin work.  Another option I've considered is to apprentice with a master full-time.  Am I too ambitious to assume this path is open for me?  

Any advice would be appreciated!  

Wow, congratulations. Being 20 years of age, you have accomplished a whole lot! 

Continue the apprenticeship full time, and do more violin making. 

Maybe after lock down talk to shops in the city. Show your violins, that will make the biggest impression. Make a resume. I doubt you won't get hired. 

With programmers and graphic designers it goes very much by portfolio. 

Your experience is worth a lot more. 

People fresh out of college don't have the experience that you have.. 

[Rachell66]

1 hour ago, David Burgess said:

The market for violin makers is already pretty well saturated. Most aspiring makers end up making most of their living by doing repairs and maintenance.

But the there was one... He might be that one... 

[David Burgess]

34 minutes ago, Rachell66 said:

But the there was one... He might be that one... 

Sure. However, I think it's good that anyone contemplating this be aware of the odds. Should they choose to go ahead anyway, aware of the odds, that's their call.

[Bodacious Cowboy]

On 3/25/2021 at 3:36 AM, chiaroscuro_violins said:

Hello Pegbox!  This is my first post, so I'll be figuring out how this works.  

First, my background: I've been playing violin since age 8 and began studying violin making at age 14.  I am now 20 years old and looking to make this my career.  In my research, it has become apparent that the vast majority of makers attend a 3 year violin making school.  However, this is not the route I've taken.  I started out learning from a local established maker, and for the past 6 years I've been working under his guidance.  I've completed 5 violins and 1 viola, as well as some minor and major restorations.  The master I study with is well-respected, but we live in a very rural area and don't see much traffic.  

I'm not aiming to be the next Strad, but I would like to refine my work to the best it can possibly be.  The next logical step for me seems to be to find an apprenticeship/internship with a shop.  Would a shop even consider hiring someone without a certificate from a violin making school?  I am willing to study in a school setting, but I really hesitate to go back to square one, considering I've already learned a great deal from my master.  I have been looking at summer workshops for advanced repair, but ideally I'm looking to spend the next full year doing violin work.  Another option I've considered is to apprentice with a master full-time.  Am I too ambitious to assume this path is open for me?  

Any advice would be appreciated!  

It's impossible to give even semi-sensible advice without knowing what your current standard is. Can you show some photos?

[David Burgess]

On 3/24/2021 at 11:36 PM, chiaroscuro_violins said:

 I am willing to study in a school setting, but I really hesitate to go back to square one, considering I've already learned a great deal from my master.

There may be some schools which will let you "test in" at the second or third year level. Perhaps Davide knows if the Cremona School will do that?

[Rachell66]

25 minutes ago, David Burgess said:

Sure. However, I think it's good that anyone contemplating this be aware of the odds. Should they choose to go ahead anyway, aware of the odds, that's their call.

True, he should definitely go ahead and give it his best shot. He is of the minority, so young and so much experience.. Not the traditional way. It is exciting, I think people will like that. 

[Rachell66]

3 minutes ago, David Burgess said:

There may be some schools which will let you "test in" at the second or third year level. Perhaps Davide knows if the Cremona School will do that?

He can contact the school, send resume and photos or a video clip of his violins. For what reason should he be wasting time in first years? 5 violins, man, I can't get my head round it! 

[Bodacious Cowboy]

3 minutes ago, Rachell66 said:

He can contact the school, send resume and photos or a video clip of his violins. For what reason should he be wasting time in first years? 5 violins, man, I can't get my head round it! 

I've seen some astonishing work produced by first year VM school students. I wouldn't assume that the OP would be way ahead and/or wasting their time. 

[Mark Norfleet]

11 minutes ago, David Burgess said:

There may be some schools which will let you "test in" at the second or third year level. Perhaps Davide knows if the Cremona School will do that?

They did at one time as I was able to get into the second year pretty quickly with less experience than the OP, but that was a long time ago.  It's a good thing too, as the "master" who was running the workshop I was in didn't even know how to sharpen tools.  It was a tough week or two...

[David Burgess]

18 minutes ago, Rachell66 said:

True, he should definitely go ahead and give it his best shot. He is of the minority, so young and so much experience.. Not the traditional way. It is exciting, I think people will like that. 

People will be more interested in the quality of the experience, and in what he can do, and how well he can do it.

Saying that one started playing the violin at two years of age, and practiced four hours every day, is not enough to get one into Juilliard, or to win an orchestra audition. One needs to actually be pretty good.

[Rachell66]

Do you need to be pretty good to get into Cremona? 

[Brad Dorsey]

On 3/24/2021 at 11:36 PM, chiaroscuro_violins said:

...Would a shop even consider hiring someone without a certificate from a violin making school?...

I think there are some shops that would.  I think it would depend on the quality of work that you are capable of.  The violins that you made are evidence of your skill.  You would have to relocate to take a job in a shop.  Congratulations on the instruments you have completed and good luck.

[David Burgess]

It might not be difficult to get a job doing setups on factory or rental instruments. Whether there was the potential to otherwise advance other skills would very much depend on the shop. There are some shops where it is very difficult not to learn a great deal, if only by "osmosis" from the super-skilled people around you.

[GeorgeH]

Have you sold any of the instruments that you have made?

[chiaroscuro_violins]

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[chiaroscuro_violins]

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[chiaroscuro_violins]

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[chiaroscuro_violins]

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[joerobson]

12 hours ago, arglebargle said:

Best advice? Marry a successful lawyer/doctor/etc. 

The second best advice can be found here. 

 

Sound advice indeed.  The unspoken common agreement:  This is a calling not a career.   Keep the overhead at a minimum.

Grab each opportunity as it shows itself...no telling where It will lead.

on we go,

Joe

 

[Davide Sora]

3 hours ago, David Burgess said:

There may be some schools which will let you "test in" at the second or third year level. Perhaps Davide knows if the Cremona School will do that?

Yes, at the Cremona school it is possible to directly enter the third year by skipping the first two, passing a workshop exam (something like sharpening a tool and making a fingerboard or similar things depending on what the commission decides) and also passing a test for the Italian language, which is mandatory to know.

Frankly speaking, it is not too severe an exam, for the OP it would certainly not be a problem to overcome it, but often the admission of new students to the third year is limited by the number of places available, if the classes are already full even if you pass the exam you are placed in second, or even in the first year for the same reason.

[LSF]

On 3/25/2021 at 7:27 PM, arglebargle said: