Violin Making Classes Part 1
Derek Roberts taught evening classes in violin making at Warwickshire College for several years, and short courses in his own workshop. The classes were designed for anyone who wished to make a violin, viola or cello under the guidance of a professional violin maker.
This is the first part of a feature article on violin making classes. For more about the classes, see part two and part three. For more on violin making, watch Derek Roberts make a violin by hand.
Derek Roberts' classes catered for all levels of ability
and experience.
The workshop was equipped
with workbenches and all the specialist tools necessary for making
a violin in the traditional way by hand - bending irons, thumb
planes, gouges, chisels, saws, thicknessing gauges. Students purchased
their own materials (chiefly wood) but did not need to have their
own specialist equipment. They were encouraged to make their own
moulds and templates under expert tuition.
Class members were
given individual attention by Derek Roberts at every class. Each
member was at a different stage of construction of their instrument
and can work at their own speed. Here a student is working on the
rib structure of a violin. You can see the inside mould, corner
and end blocks.
The violin-making
courses at Warwickshire College were started several years ago by Rowan Armour Brown,
the distinguished Cremona-trained violin maker. Derek
Roberts (right of picture) was a member of the course in the
early 1980s. He came full circle to teach the course himself
after further study at the Welsh School of Musical Instrument Making
and several years as a professional maker and restorer, running
his own violin business.
Now read on to part two and part three for more about instruments made in the classes.
For more on the different stages in violin making, follow Derek's progress as he makes a violin by hand.