<![CDATA[TIM CARROLL STRINGS - Blog]]>Sun, 03 Aug 2025 02:54:13 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Mr. Carroll’s 5 Tips for Success]]>Mon, 05 Nov 2018 05:08:19 GMThttps://www.timstrings.com/blog/mr-carrolls-5-tips-for-success1. Enjoy playing your instrument at home on a regular basis. 5-10 min/day for first year students and increase by 5-10 minutes for each year you continue to play.

2. Show up to rehearsals on time with music, instrument, and pencil in hand.

3. Organize your music ahead of time in a binder or folder. Try not to lose it!

4. Play to glorify God and not yourself.

5. Seek opportunities to serve others with your music.


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]]><![CDATA[Finding the right instrument]]>Fri, 05 Oct 2018 18:53:22 GMThttps://www.timstrings.com/blog/finding-the-right-instrumentPicture
Finding an instrument can be tricky but here are some different ways to go about it.

One of my favorite options is to ask around your church, family, and friends to see if anyone has an old instrument that they are no longer using.

Renting an instrument can have some advantages. However, if you purchase a quality instrument, you can usually resell that instrument when your young musician outgrows it or is no longer playing.

Rental options:

I currently have some instruments that I let students use for an additional monthly fee.
Violins and violas are $7 a month, while cellos and basses are $15 a month.

There are also many local music stores that rent instruments. But I recommend that you do the math and make sure that it doesn't make more sense to just purchase the same brand instrument that they're renting  used on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or  eBay.

Purchase options:

Shar Music or Southwest Strings

These two companies are reliable and have many different student instruments for sale. They also both have a clearance instrument section on their website and are very helpful over the phone.

Purchasing a used instrument via eBay or Craigslist:

If you'd like to use eBay, amazon, or Craigslist to find an instrument, feel free to send me a link to the post and I can take a look and let you know if I think it's a quality instrument or not. Here are a few brands that are consistently good:

Cremona
Carlo Robelli
Eastman
Yamaha
Franz Hoffman (Shar model)
Amadeus (Shar model)
Klaus Mueller (Southwest strings model)

Any of the other brands that you find on Shar music or Southwest strings are acceptable

Avoid purchasing anything with the title Merano or Cecillio.  These brands can be okay for cellos for younger students, but I have not been impressed with their violins.

Also, any violin that is new and under $70 is probably junk and will look like a violin but will be frustrating to play and maintain.

If you're buying online, I am happy to measure your student so you know what size to purchase.
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​Happy practicing!
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