Customer Reviews

Toy Violin -- Electronic Toy Violin for Kids

I caught my three year old grandson pretending to play music by running a stick across another stick...as though he was playing a violin. Hmmmm I thought...just maybe??? I called our local Suzuki school and they suggested we wait until he was 4 yrs old to give him violin lessons. I saw the electronic toy violin and thought it would give him something a little better than two sticks to get a feel for a true instrument...and that it did. He is learning to properly hold the instrument (his mother played violin and I the viola, as children), and to properly run the bow across the bridge. The programmed tunes are very nice. I really like that the tunes are played based on the child running the bow over the bridge of the violin. The are no real strings, so there is no worry that a 3 yr old will break the strings. My grandson thinks that he is actually playing and making music. I think this little violin shld be a required toy for evry child who plans to take violin/viola lessons. My grandson will enter the class next Spring with so much kowledge and skills about the violin. Also, who could ask for a better price! My only complaint would be that a case for the instrument shld have been offered. I want him to lean to put his instrument away when he has finished playing. And putting a violin in the toy box is not good for the instrument.

Grandma Laura
Chicago

I bought this toy for my 4 1/2 year old son who loves music and requested a violin from Santa for Christmas. Upon it's arrival, I was disappointed in how small it was and overall it just seemed a bit "chincy". I tried it out before wrapping it up and you do have to get the bow just right on the strings for the music to keep playing (it sort of cuts in and out). I decided it would be fun for him in spite of my impressions. He did really like it, and the smaller size was actually about right for him. The only problem was that it quit working within the first hour. We tried replacing the batteries and still nothing. I know it was played with gently so this was a big disappointment. There was no return/exchange info on the sales receipt and I have failed in getting a live person at the phone number listed. My messages left have gone totally unanswered. I fear I will have to file a claim with Amazon's A-Z guarantee department as this company (The Planet Shops) is quite lacking in their customer service. It's too bad as I think this would have been a decent toy and instead of enjoying it, we are trying to figure out how to explain that it needs to go back to the North Pole so Santa's elves can fix it. Next time I will purchase from a reputable store that I know I will be able to return or exchange without this hassle.

My 3 year old daughter who has autism was always fascinated with my violin and enjoyed drawing the bow and pluck the strings. Although there are no strings to pluck on this violin I was amazed at how authenitic it looked and the wonderful sound of the 4 classical music pieces that you could play by simply pushing a button. My most favorite aspect was the ability to draw the bow across what looked like strings which moved the apparatus back and forth and it would play the next note in the song if you held the bow in the position it would hold the note, so she really felt as if she was playing. Although she mostly likes to push the demo buttons to here the song without using the bow, she has enjoyed it as much as when she would want to pluck the strings on my violin.

I love that the toy looks like a real instrument and makes music. My 27 months old boy absolutely loves it! He's been playing it for a month and it has not grown old on him.

My son begged for a violin and was very happy to get this. He likes that the violin plays when he bows the strings. You don't really get to pick the song it plays as it will just play the next one in line. It is loud enough to please the child but not so loud that I want to break it. The sound is tinny, but of course the child does not care.

What I like (as a music teacher-mom) is that is is an accurate replica of a real violin - tuning pegs, real strings, chin rest, etc. I actually use it for my early childhood classes as a demo instrument for the toddlers. I also like that when you bow it, it plays, when you stop it stops... when it's working. My only complaint is that the pre-programmed songs sometimes keep playing when you're not bowing and there is no "off" button and occasionally the bow rubbing the strings won't start the music. That said, it's not obnoxious and I also like that there are a ton of songs on it so you don't hear the same tune over and over. It's also nice that it plays both classical and folk/Irish type violin pieces. For the money it is really a great toy instrument.

I was really excited to purchase this for my son. He loves listening to my violin and trying to play it. When he opened this on Christmas he was really excited. But it doesn't play all the time, if the strings or the bow gets alittle bit of dirt on them it stops playing. Or some times it doesn't even play and all I have to do is switch the batteries around. I am really considering getting him a real violin I think it would be more worth my money.

I bought the violin for my 4 year old niece who asked for a violin for Christmas. Most kids ask for guitars and drums. Lexi wanted a violin. So I went searching on Amazon.com. She opened the box and started shouting, "this is just what I wanted, just what I wanted, thank you auntie." She started playing it non-stop and stood by anybody who wanted to try it to get it back immediately and play again. Her mother thanks me sarcastically for the violin every time she sees me.

I purchased this for my three year old son, as a Christmas gift. When I received the package in yesterday, the toy was scratched up, and appeared to be used? It feels cheap, it was not what I expected at all. The back where the batteries go in was missing the screw. I was pretty upset, but am still going to give it to my son Christmas morning. I am sure he won't even notice that it is all dinged up....I don't like the toy at all.

Have 3 year old who asked Santa for a violin. Older brother plays violin and he idolizes him, so was looking or one that looked like the real thing, Received item and clip to hold batteries was broke. The violin did not respond to bow but to fingers pressing on strings. Their was an automatic mode that played song without pressing strings and a mode that allowed notes to be played when strings were touched. That lasted about an hour an now only automatic mode works and after song completes it gets stuck (plays the same note) until the auto button selected again or until batteries are pulled out, which means removing tape that we had to put on to hold batteries in. So looks really cute looking but really is junk.