Oh boy. The order of events...
1) So, my daughter left her violin* on the kitchen table (not in its case). This is a bit odd for her, she is usually pretty good about keeping it in her case.
2) I'm cooking dinner and setting the table, my daughter isn't responding to my shouts to come down and move her violin, the case is no where to be found, so I pick up the violin and put it on the piano bench so I can get on with dinner.
3) Later, my boy sits down to play the piano and moves the fiddle to the floor. Oh no.
4) Then, my wife accidentally knocks one of those little busts of Mozart off the piano while futzing with the holiday decorations we have perched on the piano and, of course, it lands on the violin, cracking that little piece of wood around the f-hole.
5) Wailing and blaming immediately ensues. Everyone gets blamed, everyone loudly proclaims innocence.
Of course, as everyone here can CLEARLY see, I am the only blameless one, but others in the family have different opinions!
*Student Violin. $600 new. Plays nice, sounds nice, had a great set-up.
Edited by - doryman on 01/08/2024 14:22:33
Rather than go ahead and assign blame point by point, I'll just say that this shows how many "accidents" are not just the result of one misstep. Did you and your family install the door plug panel in that Boeing 737 the other day, by any chance?
Tragic. Moral of the story from where I'm looking: never set a violin where someone might sit. I know that doesn't help, but if the boy had sat on it, the damage would have been worse. Of course the child should have done as she was told in the first place, but that's not my lane then, is it. *
Any structural damage? Does it still play? F holes get damaged, it shouldn't be the death of the instrument.
*Edit - no criticism here, I don't have kids to boss around 
Edited by - ChickenMan on 01/08/2024 15:29:48
It's her violin. Her responsibility. Period. She's obviously not "growed " enough to take care of nice things yet, so she can live with the consequences and learn. That's how I was raised, and how I raised my kids. You make your choices and you live with the consequences, no bones about it. We never had a problem with it. Just my experience and my opinion. My kids still call me, many years later, so I couldn't have been too bad. I've been in similar situations where it was my ox getting gored, and I viewed it the same way. I was angry that it happened, but it was my responsibilty, my fault, nobody else to blame.
quote:
Originally posted by ChickenManTragic. Moral of the story from where I'm looking: never set a violin where someone might sit. I know that doesn't help, but if the boy had sat on it, the damage would have been worse. Of course the child should have done as she was told in the first place, but that's not my lane then, is it. *
Any structural damage? Does it still play? F holes get damaged, it shouldn't be the death of the instrument.
*Edit - no criticism here, I don't have kids to boss around
We have a saying in my house when we leave our instruments in harm's way, "It's not a matter of IF it gets wrecked, but WHEN it gets wrecked."
The violin is definitely fixable, I just don't know if it's worth getting fixed. I'm taking it a luthier on Wednesday.
quote:
Originally posted by KCFiddlesIt's her violin. Her responsibility. Period. She's obviously not "growed " enough to take care of nice things yet, so she can live with the consequences and learn. That's how I was raised, and how I raised my kids. You make your choices and you live with the consequences, no bones about it. We never had a problem with it. Just my experience and my opinion. My kids still call me, many years later, so I couldn't have been too bad. I've been in similar situations where it was my ox getting gored, and I viewed it the same way. I was angry that it happened, but it was my responsibilty, my fault, nobody else to blame.
I hope I didn't come across as being too upset about this. We are still a family and all, and I have good kids. Rather is was a somewhat humorous chain of events that led to the calamity, with some "blame" to share all around. Personally, I think Mozart is mostly at fault. If he had the good sense to have some legs and arms, he probably could have kept himself on the piano.
Sorry to hear about the violin getting broken.
I tell people to "never to leave a violin where you would not leave a baby."
That includes never leaving a violin or a bow anyplace where somebody could sit on it, like a chair, sofa, or piano bench.
I would have assumed that not placing a violin or bow where somebody might step on it would be generally understood.
Edited by - GeorgeH on 01/08/2024 16:52:51
My friend’s daughter tripped on the stairs with violin under arm…
I saw the violin afterwards…aka pile of wood.
My friend was pretty upset about it.
I hope your daughter’s is fixable!
Good handling practices help to minimize the risk to instruments, and I strongly encourage taking measures to make sure they aren’t in dangerous situations, although accidents can happen even to those who are generally very careful. I could probably write a sizable book of stories of players who had accidents with their instruments, many of them rather embarrassing.
Repair what can be repaired reasonably and put a plan into place to avoid accidents happening again.
I agree with them: it's your fault. When you picked up the violin, you should have started playing a tune, and then gone into another one, and forgotten all about dinner. At worst, you would have ended up with no more than some burnt meat 'n' potatoes and some dirty looks, instead of a busticated violin ... !
This one should go in the sequel to my instrument horror stories collection:
buzzsprout.com/2040333/13320727
Responsibility of the owner of the violin, of course. There are four fiddlers/violinists in my household, and we mitigate the problem somewhat by putting those instrument hangers on the wall, so that the instruments are handy to play, but up out of the way of deceased composers who have now turned to stone. Also guitar hangers, and a rack...and we put Mom's harp in the corner so it is out of the general path. There is so much music stacked on the piano that you kinda need to look the situation over carefully before playing...
Edited by - DonRyan on 01/09/2024 17:27:44
There are 2 places a musical instrument belong in. Your hands or the case. Learned that the hard way, my son cracked the head off his mandolin from leaning it against a chair for a few seconds. Tipped over and Kablooy.
quote:
Originally posted by wrench13There are 2 places a musical instrument belong in. Your hands or the case. Learned that the hard way, my son cracked the head off his mandolin from leaning it against a chair for a few seconds. Tipped over and Kablooy.
Maybe we should buy some cases. Right now, we just use old pillow cases.
A sad story, for certain. On the up side you’ve got the makings of a pretty good little comedy sketch here. She could use the proceeds to get a pretty nice case.
Edited by - Earworm on 01/11/2024 15:06:17
quote:
Originally posted by DonRyanThese are pretty cheap - easy to install.
Those do get the violins off of surfaces from which they might topple, but they don't do anything to avoid the outside (and inside) getting dirty. Cases provide more protection from damage and they keep dust, dirt, and sunlight out when you're not playing.
You are correct, of course. I suppose as the value of the instruments goes up, as it tends to do as playing ability demands finer violins, one must be more cautious, but for the youngsters I like them to be out of the case on the wall looking at them screaming, "Play me!"
What brand/type of case do you prefer?
quote:
Originally posted by DonRyanThese are pretty cheap - easy to install.
That's how I store my fiddle. I'm so lazy, if I kept it in a case, I would never bother to get it out and play it.
For what it's worth....... a fiddle disaster story with a happy ending........ facebook.com/media/set/?set=a....41&type=3
Short version......... someone sat on a fiddle, soundpost punched up through the top (which also split). It's now one of my favorite players, by a central PA maker.
I played a music program cello in grade school. I dutifully stored it in one of those dreadful thin canvas covers. I lugged it to and from school through all weather. Think Iowa winters. But it was in its case and I did my best not to whack it into things. One day after practicing I stood up holding the neck in front of me and the neck joint gave way. The body fell away to land on the floor with a thunk. In horror I reported events to my mother who in turn reported them to the orchestra director who promptly whisked his way to our front door. As I opened the door to admit him and face the music, so to speak, he burst out laughing at me and couldn't stop until after he left. Maybe he never did. I got another old war horse and labored on.
Maybe he never left? I would think that's the kind of thing you'd be fairly certain of, one way or the other - maybe a quick look around the house is in order ... !
