Electronic Toy Violin — Plays 25 Melodies

5 Comments

1. Laura A. Johnson says:

   July 31, 2010 at 5:46 am

   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
   Rating: 4 / 5
2. R. Fast says:

   July 31, 2010 at 8:35 am

   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.
   Rating: 5 / 5
3. sportsmom says:

   July 31, 2010 at 9:30 am

   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.
   Rating: 1 / 5
4. Mom in San Jose, CA says:

   July 31, 2010 at 10:34 am

   This is a great toy. It sounds great and has enough different songs to not be irritating or boring. My 6-year old son loves it. It seems very durable, but we got it just this Christmas so we’ll have to see.
   Rating: 5 / 5
5. Karolyn Jennings says:

   July 31, 2010 at 11:35 am

   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.
   Rating: 5 / 5