Arts & Entertainment, Music

Bonus Chapter: Acquiring a Fine Instrument

Lesson time 08:42 min

Mr. Perlman introduces you to his famed violin, the 1714 Soil Stradivarius, and explains how to select the right instrument for yourself.

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Topics include: The Soil Stradivarius • A Fine Instrument Is for the Player

Itzhak Perlman

Teaches Violin

In his first-ever online class, virtuoso violin player Itzhak Perlman breaks down his techniques for improved practice and powerful performances.

Preview

[CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING] SUBJECT: When I started to play, I remember that, uh, I actually was able to purchase, uh, a fine, uh, Italian violin. It was a, uh, Peter Guarneri. The gentleman who sold it to me actually let me pay it in installments. We were talking about $2,000, $3,000 for a fine, beautiful, uh, gorgeous, Italian instrument. Right now, for $3,000, maybe you can buy the peg, I-- I mean the tail piece, or the chin piece, or whatever it is. It's--it's-- it's ludicrous. Right now, these days are over. So unless you are, um, uh, loaned an instrument by a foundation, or a school, and so on and so forth, uh, the, um, the possibility of playing on a fine, Italian instrument is-- is-- is very, very difficult. And so a lot of the-- a lot of the musicians-- they play sometimes on very fine, contemporary instruments. Uh, you're talking about, I don't know, $40,000, $50,000 already. So-- so for-- if-- if you're trying to-- to really get a very fine, Italian instrument, for get it. I mean, we're not even talking about Strad. We're talking about good Italian but not on that level. You're talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. But if you want to-- if you want to get something, uh-- uh, Italian, then, uh, it's either-- it's either, uh-- uh, a foundation or an organization that loans violin. And of course, the danger of loaning a fine instrument to somebody is that, after a while, they have to return it. And then what do you do? I remember-- I remember very interestingly I--I played on a violin-- on a-- it was a, uh, Andrea Guarneri that I thought sounded pretty good. And, uh-- and I had a couple of people play it. And they said, how can you play on this? It's not so good. But on me it sounded good. So a lot of it has to do with the individual, what you feel like having. So if you take a violin, and you make a few sounds on it, and you are happy with it, it's for you. The question basically is, can you afford it? And, uh-- and, uh-- And that's it. Also, I always tell the students who look into new violins, wherever you buy the violin-- and I think that's a good advice to anybody-- make sure that you know that if you want to sell it, you'll at please least get your money back. In other words, you don't want to buy a violin that cost you X number of dollars. And then, when it comes time to sell it, uh, they say, oh, it's not worth that much. So you want to make sure that if it's a-- let's say if it's a violin that has papers as to what it is, and so on and so forth, you want to make sure that those papers are correct. And you want to make sure that-- that if you spend-- uh, if you spend $100 I'm just doing it as a-- like an example. If you spend $100, you get back your $100. You don't get to spend $100 and get back $50. So now we're talking about a lot more money. You're talking about $50,000 on a-- on a brand new-- on a-- on a contemporary violin. You want to-- you want to make sure that you...

About the Instructor

The world’s reigning virtuoso violin player, Itzhak Perlman performs for presidents, royals, and classical music lovers around the world. Now the beloved Juilliard instructor and 15-time Grammy Award winner brings his passion for teaching to a wide audience for the first time. Learn fundamental techniques, practice strategies, and how to add richness and depth to your sound. Give your most dynamic performance yet.

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Itzhak Perlman

In his first-ever online class, virtuoso violin player Itzhak Perlman breaks down his techniques for improved practice and powerful performances.

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