Anonymous wrote:OP, it’s rented from a local music store. The strings come off, this little wooden piece falls off, his strings teacher from FCPS just says take it back to the store, we go back, they fuss with it, two weeks later same problem. I have never played any instrument so I’m just at a loss.
We have paid for online lessons but the instrument breaks so much. In person would be much better so the instructor can help with explaining how to fix it.
For the Lord's sake, please be cognizant of basic terms, since you're paying for this service!
Stop saying the violin is broken. Everyone thinks you're stupid when you say that.
It's called the bridge. It's not even broken, it's merely detached. It would cost a lot more to fix if it were broken - you would have to pay for a new bridge, which can be $200 - so the difference is important!
Perhaps the bridge is falling off because your child is not tuning properly, which means the strings are not applying enough pressure on the bridge to keep it in place. There is no glue because the bridge needs to vibrate. The bridge is kept in place by string pressure. When non-experts tune, the string are usually pulled more in one direction than the other, and therefore the bridge can either snap (break), or slide and fall. Your child has to be taught to tune properly, by exercising a very controlled release and tightening of the string pressure, and holding the violin to eye level to see if the bridge is still perpendicular to the violin table.
The other possibility is that the bridge is not high enough or the right dimension for the violin... but a good luthier would have told you this by now. Where did you go?
If he's in his first or second year of violin, yes, he needs in-person lessons, otherwise the teacher cannot fix his posture or left hand or right hand, and he will develop terrible habits that will take extra time to fix later on.