Make or Repair a Violin

Join this class at BARN to build, finish, and string a violin so it's ready to play. Or get an old, damaged violin back into playable shape.

Building or repairing a violin is a challenging project, and not one that can be completed in a few class sessions. This class is structured to let you work at your own pace with a minimum of stress. The class fee covers three hours a week of instructor time for 12 weeks — approximately three months. You can also work independently between sessions. If your instrument is not completed after three months, you can sign up for another 12 weeks (or more). It's likely that 12 weeks will not be enough to build a new violin, especially if you don't already have hand woodworking experience or if you can't devote much time to work on it between sessions.

Instructor

Clay Levit owned and operated Fiddler’s Green Music Shop, a stringed instrument store in Austin, Texas, for 15 years. He began learning violin building at the Violin Craftsmanship Institute in New Hampshire and studied varnishing with Joe Robson in Ohio. He loves the combination of art and science inherent in the craft of building violins or fiddles. Clay makes fiddles and does repairs in his workshop on Bainbridge Island. When he’s not making fiddles, you might find him playing Irish fiddle music in a pub session!