Easy Songs from Classical Music for Violin (Free Sheet Music)

If you are learning to play the violin or teaching yourself to play violin, you probably love these classical favorites. You don’t have to be a master to play some of the best classical pieces for violin. I’ve transcribed some of my favorite themes from classical music so it’s easy to play for violin students. Enjoy playing along with these classics!

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While I love creating these violin arrangements, they do take a considerable amount of time to notate, arrange, edit, test-play, and upload. If you want to download and print all of this music (and much more), you can with my Online Studio Membership, where you’ll get access to all of my courses and my Sheet Music Library-a collection of over 200 easy, intermediate, and advanced violin songs. Learn more here!

The Planets: Easy Jupiter Violin Sheet Music

From the Planets by Gustav Holst

This luscious theme is by far one of the most gorgeous, epic themes in all of classical music. It’s great for practicing long bows and bow control. 

Join my membership and download the sheet music for Jupiter here (plus get a tutorial on how to play this song along with play-along tracks).

Also Sprach Zarathustra Easy Violin Sheet Music

By Richard Strauss

This is the iconic theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Feel free to play along with any orchestra recording, it’s in the same key signature.

Download the violin sheet music for Also Sprach Zarathustra by joining my membership!

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Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, 4th Movement Easy Violin Sheet Music

By Antonin Dvorak

This symphony is a ton of fun to play. It starts off with the “Jaws” theme before it really gets going. Play along with any recording. It’s in the same key, however the whole symphony isn’t included in this transcription. The long rest of measures isn’t exact (it’s just for fun). But after the development of the symphony you can pick up again and play the ending.

Join my membership and download the violin sheet music for Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 here.

Sibelius Symphony No. 2 Easy Violin Sheet music

By Jean Sibelius

This is another slow, gorgeous theme. One of my favorites!

Join my membership to download the easy violin Sheet Music for Sibelius Symphony No. 2 here.

Vivaldi Spring from the Four Seasons Easy Violin Sheet Music

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is one of the most iconic classical pieces for the violin! Spring captures everything that is lovely about playing violin. Try your hand at an easy version for Vivaldi’s Spring I created in D major. If you are ready for the real key signature, give E major a try!

Join my membership to download the easy violin Sheet Music for Vivaldi Spring here.

Join my membership to download the real E major version that matches the actual piece here.

In the Hall of the Mountain King Easy Violin Music

Okay, this might not be “easy” but it is an easier violin version of Greig’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” Use Low 1s for all those sharp open strings. Play that second to last measure tremolo!

Join my membership to download In the Hall of the Mountain King Violin Sheet Music here.

Canon in D Easy Violin Sheet Music

Nothing needs to be said about this classic violin piece.

Join my membership to download Canon in D Easy Violin Sheet Music here.

Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir De Florence Movement 3 Sheet Music

This is an epic piece for the violin! Listen to it on Youtube and listen for the double cello solo. It’s one of my favorite moments in classical music.

Join my membership to download Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir De Florence violin sheet music here.

Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir De Florence Movement 4 Sheet Music

The 4th movement is a raging, rollicking tour de force from the first note. Hold on!

Join my membership to download Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir De Florence violin sheet music here.

Enjoy playing these beautiful themes from classical music! What other songs would you like to see? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy Practicing!

Join my online studio membership and get access to all the sheet music plus all these great courses!

Violin Scale Duets: Play a Duet with Me (Free Sheet Music)

Scales in Harmony

Playing scales as a duet can do wonders for your intonation. I’ve recorded the major scales that a violinists uses with a teacher duet part in harmony. Play the normal scale along with these recordings and try to adjust your pitch to be in harmony with my notes. It’s lots of fun!

To follow along, you can download these free scales sheets for scales in harmony. You will play the notes on these pages. Play along with me using the videos below. Have fun!

Download the sheet music for Scales in Harmony: C major + Sharps

Download the sheet music for Scales in Harmony: Flats

How to Have Better Intonation on the Violin

Playing in tune can be one of the trickiest skills to master on the violin. Without frets or keys, knowing where to put your fingers is challenging. Violinists use muscle memory and their ears to know where to place their fingers, which means a good practice routine revolves around finger training and ear training. While it does require lots of practice, playing in tune does not have to be a struggle! Here are 8 tips to help you have better intonation and play in tune on the violin.

Note: Violin teachers like to throw around the word intonation. It means the accuracy of your pitch. Good intonation=accurate pitch. 

1.Don’t Use Finger Tapes 

This may seem backwards, but finger tapes actually hurt your intonation. You are using a visual indication for an auditory skill. Doesn’t make much sense, does it? It’s kind of like hiring a musician to do your taxes. In my Complete Beginner’s Course, I’ll show you exactly what you need to do to be able to play without finger tapes.

2. Use a Drone 

Most tuners also have a drone function which produce a constant pitch. As you play through your scales and songs you will be able to compare the pitches you are playing with the drone pitch. The more you use a drone, the more your fingers will adjust to play in tune with the drone automatically.

How do you know what pitch to use for the drone? Start off by using whatever key you are in as the drone pitch. If you are playing a song in the key of D, use a D drone. Some notes will be naturally dissonant with your drone, but even dissonances need to be in tune!

3. Compare to Open Strings

Your open strings are great tools to help with intonation. Your third finger in first position is always an octave higher than the open string below it. If you are playing third finger D on the A string, you can compare that note to your open D string and adjust your third finger until it is in tune with your open string.

If you are playing fourth finger in first position, the next open string will be your fourth finger note exactly. For example, if you are playing fourth finger E on the A string, your next open string is an E string. Adjust your fourth finger to match your open string.

4. Know How the Song Sounds

When you are starting out, playing in tune is easier if you know how the song or problem spot sounds. If you can’t hear the pitches before you play them, you won’t be able to adjust as quickly. 

Record your teacher playing the song. Or, play the song on the piano. The great thing about piano is that the intonation is not up to you! As long as the piano is in tune, you are in tune. You don’t have to be a virtuoso to play your song on the piano. A quick tutorial on the basics is all you need. If you don’t have a piano, there are many piano apps and free online programs.

Another way to hear your song with perfect intonation is to have your computer play it for you using music composition software like Musescore. After you learn the basics of the program, you can type your song then let the computer play it back. 

Try this exercise. Play your problem spot and stop after each note. Can you hear the next note you are about to play in your head? Can you sing it? If you can’t hear it, you won’t know if it’s in tune or not. Listening to the song as much as possible will make this exercise easy.

5. Sing it

Singing a song is the best way to teach your ears what the right intonation sounds like. Once your ears know what they are listening for, they can help your fingers adjust to the right pitch. Use a piano to check you are singing the right pitch. If you are self-conscious about how you sound, close the door, find a closet, or hum the song. Singing not only helps your intonation, it will also help with phrasing and dynamics. 

6. Use Light Finger Pressure

Your fingers are constantly adjusting to play a pitch in tune. No violinist is 100% in tune all of the time. The key to good intonation is hearing and adjusting very quickly to the correct pitch. If you have a death grip on your fingerboard, it will be hard to move your finger with lightening-quick accuracy. Try this exercise. Play your problem spot with your fingers barely touching the strings. It will sound awful. Don’t worry, it’s supposed to. Play the passage several times, gradually using more pressure. You’ll find that you don’t need that much pressure for the notes to sound properly. 

7. Play Slowly

Don’t play faster than your ears can hear. Even if a song is fast, play through it several times very slowly. You have to play slow enough for your ears to tell your fingers how to adjust! 

Learning to play slowly is one of the best things you can do to help your intonation. It will also help all aspects of your violin playing. Next time you pick up your violin, try playing every scale, etude, and song very slowly before you play at a normal tempo. If you are paying attention to your intonation while playing slowly, you will be pleased with the results!

8. Listen to Other Violinists

Listen to as many violinists as you can. It’s not only inspiring, it’s a fun way to teach your ears good intonation.

If you’re getting frustrated with intonation, don’t worry. It’s something we all struggle with. Take a deep breath, practice slowly, and enjoy the results. Happy Practicing!

Slow Easy Fiddle Songs (Free Sheet Music)

I love playing slow fiddle songs on the violin. They are great for developing tone, smooth string crossings, and bow control. Plus the slow tempos give you time to think about intonation and finger placement. For slow songs, it’s imperative that your bow is straight since you will be using lots of bow! If you need some tips and exercises for playing with a straight bow, check out my guide to playing with a straight bow.

I’ve written down some of my favorite slow fiddle tunes for beginner and intermediate violinists (with free sheet music). If you want to know my absolute favorite, scroll down to the very end!

Looking for more great fiddle tunes? Try my favorite Stephen Foster fiddle tunes with free sheet music!

Ash Grove Free Violin Sheet Music

Ash Grove is a great, slow fiddle song for beginners. The key signature is in D major, so you will have high 2nd fingers on the D and A strings and low 2nd fingers on the E string.

Join my membership to download the sheet music for Ash Grove here.You’ll get this song and more as part of my online violin sheet music library.

Loch Lomond Free Violin Sheet Music

Loch Lomond is a great Scottish fiddle tune that is dear to my heart. My ancestors hail from Scotland so this tune brings back fond memories of my visits to my ancestral homeland. Feel free to swing those 8th notes even though it’s not written in. (Swinging the 8th note means playing the first of every two 8th notes a little slower). In this version, I’ve included two verses with the second verse being an octave higher.

Enjoy this beautiful version by Nicola Bendetti.

Join my membership to download the sheet music for Loch Lomond here.

Danny Boy Free Violin Sheet Music

Danny Boy is a timeless Irish tune that can be deceptively tricky on the violin. The slow tempo coupled with those long tied notes makes bow control paramount. Notice how those long notes always happen on down bows. That means you will want to plan out your bow placement and always make sure you are at the frog for those long notes so you have the entire bow to work with!

Watch one of my favorite violinists, Nigel Kennedy, play a gorgeous version of Danny Boy.

Join my membership to download the sheet music to Danny Boy here. 

Will You Go, Lassie (Wild Mountain Thyme) Free Violin Sheet Music

This is a recent favorite of mine. It sounds great on the violin and there are lots of opportunities for ornaments and embellishments. Scroll down for a more advanced version with some embellishments written in.

I love this version with Hurdy Gurdy!

Join my membership to download the sheet music to Will You Go, Lassie?

In this version, there is a key signature change in the middle from G major to D major. I added in some easy double stops and some triplets.

Download the sheet music for the advanced version of Will You Go, Lassie here.

The Parting Glass Violin Sheet Music

Join my membership to download the pdf violin sheet music for the Parting Glass here.

My favorite slow fiddle tune…

What’s my favorite slow fiddle tune? If I had to pick one, it would definitely be Ashokan Farewell. This classic slow fiddle tune has endless opportunities for turns, double stops, and other embellishments. Since Ashokan Farewell is copyrighted, I can’t publish the free violin sheet music here, but you can purchase this great fiddle tune. Find the sheet music along with my other top picks for fiddle books here!

Happy Practicing!

Swallowtail Jig Free Violin Sheet Music

Swallowtail Jig is a great introduction to fiddling. It’s a relatively easy fiddle tune for the violin. It’s also, simple to memorize and lots of fun. Enjoy this free violin sheet music for Swallowtail Jig. If you are a little rusty on note reading, I’m also including a tablature-like version. Happy Practicing!

Download the sheet music for Swallowtail Jig here.

Check out a list of Easy Fiddle Tunes for the violin here as well as my top picks for fiddle books!

Swallowtail Jig Tablature Version for Violin

()= A string { } = E string. Normal numbers = D string

A dash (—) means a slightly longer note

12 311 (1) 11311 (10) 3 

2 00 (0) 00(3 2 3 0) 32

311 (1) 11311 (1- 2 3 2 3 0) 3 2 3 1 1 1-

(1 1 2 3) {0- 1 0- 1 0} (3 1)(1 1 2 3) {0- 1 0} (3 1 3-)

(1 1 2 3) {0- 1 0- 1 0} (3 1)(3 2 3 0) 3 2 3 1 1 1-

Easy Hymns For Violin (Free Sheet Music)

Nothing sounds quite as beautiful on the violin as an old-fashioned hymn. These hymns are easy enough for beginners but offer plenty for intermediate and advanced players.

For even more easy hymns along with intermediate third position parts, join my online studio to download my hymn book, Favorite Hymns for Violin. It has over 50 of my favorite hymns transposed into easy to read key signatures for violin. You’ll get Favorite Hymns for Violin in addition to several other downloadable violin books and over 200+ songs and sheet music for violin.

Also check out my top picks for beginner violin books, scale books, hymn books, and fiddle books!

You can download the sheet music for all of these violin hymns when you join my online studio membership. Click here for more information!

He Leadeth Me Violin Sheet Music

This version of He Leadeth Me is in the key of D (two sharps) which is the most common key for beginning violin songs. Hold the notes under the fermatas to add to the musical phrasing. As you get more comfortable with the notes, try to add in slurs wherever you want a smoother sound.

Count Your Blessings Violin Sheet Music

Here’s an easy hymn with a little faster beat. Add in slurs or “swing the beat” with dotted 8th notes and 16th notes if you want to add a little something different.

Come Thou Fount Violin Sheet Music

One of my favorite hymns for violin is Come Thou Fount. I’ve included two versions: an easy one octave version in the key of D major and a version in G major that has one verse in the lower octave and a second verse in the higher octave. Playing verses in different octaves is one way to add variety to each stanza. Add in slurs and your own dynamics as you get comfortable with the notes. Or for something really special, add in ornaments, double stops, and slides like this beautiful version by Taryn Harbridge.

The Old Rugged Cross Free Violin Sheet Music

Another classic hymn for the violin, The Old Rugged Cross reminds me so much of sining in church as a child. The Old Rugged Cross is in 6/8 time which means the 8th note will get the beat.

Be Thou My Vision Free Violin Sheet Music

This traditional Irish hymn is simple and easy for the violin but so beautiful. It’s a great hymn to practice slow bows and a beautiful, sustained tone.

Let me know what other violin hymns you would like to see! Leave a comment below!

Scales and Arpeggios for the Violin--Free Sheet Music

For a great violin warm-up, practice scales and arpeggios everyday. Below are the main scales and arpeggios for the violin in first position. I recommend staying in one key for a few days to master the finger pattern. Scales are a great way to incorporate more advanced concepts like complicated bowings, accents, dynamics, and rhythms.

Understanding the building blocks of scales can make playing scales so much easier. If you also want to know why some notes are sharp and some aren’t, read about key signatures and minor scales.

For a typical warm-up, I choose a key and play the scale several times, starting with half notes or whole notes and gradually speeding up the duration of each note (see Daily Warm-Ups for Scales below). Then pick one exercise from Bowing, Rhythms, and Dynamics for Scales below. Use this advanced bowing or rhythm for the entire scale.

If you want more violin scales in your life, check out my FREE scale book, Creative Scales for the Experimental Violinist. It’s great for beginners or intermediate players. It includes the most common major and minor scales as well as pentatonic scales and dozens of scale variations to make scales enjoyable! Plus, I’ve included my handy Key Signature Quick Reference Guide so that never again will you wonder, “is this high 2 or low 2?” Sign up for my newsletter to get a copy of the free scale book.

The typical finger patter that beginners start out on can be found in the D major and G major one octave scales. In both of these scales, the 2nd finger is “high” or right next to 3rd finger. If you are just starting out, start with the D major and G major one octave scales.

C major has “low” 2nd fingers. Which means the 2nd finger is touching the 1st finger (a.k.a half steps).

A major has sharp 3rd fingers on the G and D strings. And E major has sharp 3rd fingers all the way.

Download the free sheet music for Scales and Arpeggios for Violin First Position Sharps.

Flat scales generally involve a lot of low 1st fingers. For F major, all 1st fingers will be low. With B flat, there will be low 2s, low 1s, and low 4s. Watch out you can’t always use your open string in flat scales since the open string might be flat in the key signature.

Download the free sheet music for Scales and Arpeggios for Violin First Position Flats.

There are three different types of minor scales: natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor. Melodic is more typically played but it’s great practice to play all three types of minor scales. In melodic minor scales, you always raise the 6th and 7th notes (scale degrees) on the way up the scale, and then lower them on the way down.

Download the Free Sheet Music for Melodic Minor Scales and Arpeggios for Violin First Position.

To be able to play scales faster, use this warm-up guide.

Download the Free Sheet Music for Daily Warm-Ups For Violin Scales.

Once you are ready for more of a challenge, add in these bowings to your scales. For this warm-up, I included a little turn at the beginning. Notice how the notes go up to the third scale degree, then go back down to the first note before starting the scale as normal. This is a typical scale pattern that many intermediate and advanced players use.

Download the Free Sheet Music for Bowings, Rhythms, and Dynamics for Violin Scales.

Scales in Harmony

Playing scales as a duet can do wonders for your intonation. I’ve recorded the major scales that a violinists uses with a teacher duet part in harmony. Play the normal scale along with these recordings and try to adjust your pitch to be in harmony with my notes. It’s lots of fun!

To follow along, you can download these free scales sheets for scales in harmony. You will play the notes on these pages. Play along with me using the videos below. Have fun!

Download the sheet music for Scales in Harmony: C major + Sharps

Download the sheet music for Scales in Harmony: Flats

What scales would you like to practice more? Higher positions? More minor scales? Leave a comment below!

Helpful Resources

• Best Fiddle Books

• Best Beginner violin books

• Scale books

• Hymn books

• Top 10 Violins For Beginner and Intermediate Players

Happy Practicing!

Devil's Dream Free Violin Sheet Music

Devil’s Dream is a classic, easy fiddle tune for the violin. Start slow and gradually get the song faster and faster. Keeping it clean at fast tempos can be a challenge with the string crossings, making this simple fiddle tune a great song that you can continually improve. I’ve included two versions, one in D major which can be easier to read for beginners, and one in A major that starts on the E string. Enjoy this free violin sheet music Devil’s Dream!

Plus, watch my video lesson and play-along on Devil’s Dream to get practice tips and help learning this awesome fiddle song!

All of these songs are available for download on my Sheet Music Library as part of my online studio membership. Click here to learn more.

Devil’s Dream Free Violin Sheet Music in D Major

Join my online violin studio to download the free pdf sheet music for Devil’s Dream in D Major here.

Devil’s Dream Free Violin Sheet Music in A Major

Download the sheet music for Devil’s Dream in A Major by joining my online studio membership.

Helpful Resources

• Best Fiddle Books

• Best Beginner violin books

• Scale books

• Hymn books

• Top 10 Violins For Beginner and Intermediate Players

When Can I Learn Violin Vibrato?

Vibrato is perhaps one of the skills that gives the violin its quintessential gorgeous sound. Of course, when it’s done correctly. And there’s the rub for most beginner violinists.

If you’ve been playing violin for a few minutes, you might already be wondering, “when can I learn vibrato?”

Everyone wants to learn vibrato but most teachers want to wait until a student has reached more intermediate levels before introducing this skill. There are two reasons for this.

1. Vibrato is icing on the cake

It really isn’t what makes someone sound “good” on the violin. A violinist sounds “good” because they have an even, rich tone, consistent intonation, and good rhythm. If you don’t have these basics under control, adding vibrato isn’t going to help. In fact, it could make your playing sound…worse! Before you start adding icing, you want to make sure you have a cake to put it on.

2. When students learn vibrato, it’s ALL they want to do

I think beginner violinists should be introduced to the basics of vibrato, but often the problem lies in how students divide their practice time once they get a taste of the glorious vibrato. Instead of dedicating a few focused minutes to vibrato, they start trying to add vibrato to everything all at once. They are no longer focusing on bow control, tone, or intonation. All they’re thinking about is vibrato, which can hinder progress.

As long as students are aware of those first two warnings, I think the basic building blocks of vibrato should be taught to advanced beginners. Vibrato is all about being relaxed and if you don’t start practicing being relaxed as a beginner, then when you do get ready to learn vibrato, it will be much harder and take longer.

So if you are asking yourself, “can I be too early to learn vibrato?” The answer is…NO! Here’s my list of 10 things you can start working on NOW. Follow these practice tips and you’ll not only be learning vibrato sooner, you’ll master it in less time as well!

3 Rules of Violin Vibrato Practice

If you want to learn how to play vibrato on the violin, you need to be familiar with these 3 rules of vibrato practice. Follow these 3 rules and you will ensure that you learn violin vibrato the right way!

1. Practice Vibrato By Itself. Don't practice vibrato while you're also trying to perfect intonation, rhythm, or bow issues. Focus on just the vibrato when you're first learning.

2. Practice vibrato less than you practice scales and open strings. For how ever much you practice vibrato, practice three times as much on scales.

3. There are certain areas of your practice time where vibrato is never allowed--it will only hurt your progress. Don't practice vibrato during scales or when you are learning something new.

1. Get Your Violin Hold Stable

If you aren’t comfortable holding your violin, you’re probably dealing with tension which will inhibit learning violin vibrato. Make sure you aren’t trying to hold the violin up with your arm or hunching up your left shoulder to get comfortable. It might be worth changing shoulder rests or chin rests to get that tension-free hold. Check out my video on adjusting your shoulder rest for the most comfortable hold here.

2. Fix That Left Wrist!

Is your left wrist crooked? Is the palm touching the fingerboard? Pretty much every single beginner (and some intermediate students) I’ve had have dealt with this issue. Keep your wrist straight. Don’t let the violin neck rest on your palm or wrist. This incorrect hand position will make it impossible to do vibrato on the violin…so fix it now!

3. Be Aware of Tension

The first step to getting relaxed so you can learn violin vibrato is being of aware of tension. Most beginner violinists don’t realize how much tension they are holding and you can’t relax until you realize you are tense. Our bodies are symmetrical so if you are tensing up your bow hand, that tension could translate to your left hand. So be aware of ANY tension ANYWHERE in your body and try to relax it!

4. Do Your Stretches

Stretching will help your muscles relax and help you be aware of where your tension is lingering. Don’t skip this step. It’s very important when it comes to learning vibrato on the violin.

5. Don’t Grip or Squeeze with the Left Hand

If you have a death grip with your left hand, there’s no way you are going to be able to vibrate that thing. So relax!

6. Use the Least Amount of Pressure Possible to Press the String Down

This will not only help you do vibrato, it will help you play more in tune because you’ll be able to adjust your fingers to the right pitch faster.

7. Practice Slides

Warm-up everyday with slides. I’ll show you how here. Put one finger down on the string and slide it up and down the violin (bringing your thumb with you). Do this with all fingers on all strings. This is essentially the same motion vibrato, just slower and more drawn out. If you have trouble sliding up and down the fingerboard, learning violin vibrato will be very difficult.

8. Relax Your Left Hand Knuckles

The knuckle closest to the fingernail must be relaxed and have some “give” in it for vibrato. Without a violin, you can push on these knuckles with your opposite hand to get them to start moving the way you want to for vibrato.

9. Practice Your Rhythms

Use a metronome. Get comfortable with quarter notes, eight notes, sixteenth notes, and all variations of rhythm. Vibrato should be rhythmic and the best way to learn vibrato involves slowing the motion down and speeding it up gradually using…a metronome and rhythms! This rhythm exercise is essential to building a natural and relaxed vibrato on the violin.

10. Focus on Good Intonation

Intonation means putting your finger down in the correct place for the correct pitch (or being able to adjust it quickly to the right pitch). When students can play something in first position hitting the right pitch about 90% of the time, I know learning to play vibrato is around the corner. The sooner you perfect your intonation, the sooner you can really learn vibrato. If you aren’t playing in tune, vibrato isn’t going to help your sound…it will make it worse! So make intonation practice and relaxing your body your primary practice goal! My Everyday Exercises Course helps with getting notes in tune all the time!

FAQ’s About Vibrato

Here’s the most frequently asked questions I receive about vibrato.

Is vibrato difficult to learn?

Vibrato is an awkward skill. You just don’t use the motion in any other avenue of life. So yes, it can be difficult. One reason violin vibrato is difficult is because students try to rush the process. It takes time to teach your muscles what to do. Learning violin vibrato is a process that takes several months on average.

Vibrato can also be difficult to learn if violin students are tense while playing. It’s difficult to learn to relax and learn vibrato at the same time. Learning to identify tension and understanding how to relax will make vibrato much easier to learn.

Is vibrato natural or learned?

For 99.9% of violin students, vibrato is a learned skill. I’ve taught violin vibrato to hundreds of students. Only one student picked it up “naturally” without having to dedicate the practice time to learn vibrato like the rest of us. Learning how to ply vibrato can be an awkward motion for beginners and requires dedicated practice time to make it feel “natural.”

How long does it take to learn vibrato?

Learning vibrato on the violin can take a few weeks or months to learn the basic technique. However, mastering vibrato and being able to incorporate it effortlessly in your playing can take much longer. Depending on you much you practice, plan on spending 6 months to a year before your vibrato feels natural.

When should I learn vibrato?

Wait to learn vibrato until you can play in a variety of keys and be in tune the majority of the time. However, an introduction into the basics of learning violin vibrato can also help you ensure that you aren’t playing with tension or gripping the fingerboard. So I say it’s okay to learn the basics to play violin vibrato as a beginner.

Can I be too early to learn vibrato?

Yes and no. You’re never to early to start learning the necessary building blocks of vibrato, like relaxed left hand technique. However, if you start trying to learn vibrato before you have consistent bow control or good intonation, you may be slowing your progress and learning incorrect techniques that will take you more time to unlearn once you are ready for vibrato.

To sum it all up…relax! Focus on relaxing while you are playing, making a good tone with your bow, and having good intonation and you’ll be ready to learn vibrato in no time!

Learn How to Master Vibrato with My Vibrato Course!

Get all of my tips and tricks on vibrato. I’ll start from scratch and give you all the tools you need to build a beautiful, natural vibrato. Learn more!

Happy Practicing!

10 Reasons Why Your Violin Bow is Bouncing and How to Stop It!

If you are starting to learn the violin, you may be asking yourself the question that all students ask at some point: “Why is my violin bow bouncing?” Or perhaps, “How do I bow smoothly on the violin?” Or “how do I stop my violin bow from shaking?” 

If those thoughts have come to mind, you’re not alone! All violinists deal with unintentional bouncing bows. Violinists often blame bouncing bows on nerves when performing, but many of my violin students complain about bouncing, shaky bows when they are practicing by themselves in the comfort of their own homes! 

There’s a reason bouncing bows affect nervous performers and beginners alike. Tension. 

Just trying to relax is harder than it sounds. If you want to fix your bouncing violin bow, I’m going to cover 10 reasons why your violin bow is bouncing and how you can make it stop!

First, let’s cover 3 reasons why your violin bow is bouncing that don’t have to do with tension.

Why Does My Violin Bow Bounce When I Play

1. Not Using Good Equipment

It might not be you. If your violin bow is bouncing when you play, it could be poor quality equipment. A cheap violin outfit (anything under $200-$500) means a cheap violin bow, a cheap violin, and cheap strings—all of which can contribute to a shaky violin bow and prevent you from bowing smoothly.

Check out my top picks for violins and strings here.

2. Not Starting From The String

Before you start playing, make sure your violin bow is set on the string. Then move the bow. If you are coming down to the string and want to play a note as soon as your bow hits the string, that speed you have coming down is going to translate into a BOUNCE! Think about a bouncy ball or landing an airplane. Excess speed and descent rate= bouncing bows.

3. Not Starting or Playing in the Right Place in the Bow

Some parts of the violin bow are bouncier than others (like the middle). To stop the violin bow  from bouncing, try bowing in a different area, like the lower half.

Why Tension Makes Your Violin Bow Bounce

4. Not Warming-up or Stretching Before You Play Violin

Any tension, anywhere in your body, can create stiffness which leads to a shaky violin bow. Stretch before you play the same way you would stretch before you go for a run.

Warming-up includes open strings and scales. This is vital to warming-up your muscles so you can bow smoothly on the violin.

Are your scales getting boring? Or perhaps you don’t practice scales at all (*gasp*). Download my free violin scale book here! It’s got lots of different exercises to keep you engaged.

5. Using Pressure Not Weight To Get A Good Tone

You can’t let your violin bow gloss over the strings. You have to apply some sort of downward force to “dig into” the string to produce a tone. You want to use the relaxed weight of your shoulder and arm to produce this tone. The weight should transfer from your relaxed shoulder through your bow arm through your wrist and fingers into the bow. 

What you don’t want to use is pressure. Pressure is using just your hand or fingers to “press” the bow into the string. This always results in tension as well as bouncing bows, shaky bows, scratchy sounds and a myriad of other unwanted noises. 

6. Tensing Up Your Bow Hold

If your bow hold is not formed correctly, or if you are gripping the bow, it’s impossible to transfer that relaxed weight from the shoulder and arms to the fingers. That relaxed sound will stop as soon as it reaches your fingers and your violin bow will shake, wobble, and roll. Okay, it might not roll, but it will do things you don’t want it to do…

In my Complete Beginner’s Course, I’ll show you the right way to hold the bow, and the common mistakes people often make with the bow hold that lead to bow bouncing.

7. Having Improper Right Arm Position

Relaxed weight is like gravity. It can only go one way: down. If your elbow is below your wrist while you are playing, you can’t transfer the relaxed weight up your arm to your wrist and fingers. So position your bow elbow so it is even with your wrist (it can be slightly below your wrist but not too much). Also make sure your wrist is above your fingers so all the weight can be transferred down. This will help stop shaky violin bow.

8. Not Transferring the Right Amount of Weight into the Bow

Depending on where you are playing (upper, middle, or lower half), you have to transfer the right amount of weight into the bow. Too much or too little weight can cause the violin bow to bounce while you are playing. The amount of weight also differs depending on what string you are playing. I know, I know…it’s complicated. If you are getting overwhelmed or confused, keep reading. I’m going to tell you how fix all of these problems.

9. Tensing Up During Changes in Bow Direction

While you are chaging bow directions, the weight must be transferred to the bow smoothly on the violin. Students tend to add too much weight when going from an up bow to a down bow, which makes the violin bow bounce. Imagine throwing a bouncy ball down on the ground. This is the same thing that happens when you add too much weight or you tense up when change directions.

A common problem I see is the violin bow bouncing when students change from an up bow to a down bow. (Watch this video to learn why the bow bounces here and how to fix it).

10. Not Playing Long Enough, Being Out of Practice, Getting Frustrated While You Play

Bowing smoothly on the violin takes time. Your muscles have to learn how to control bow bounces on the violin. You wouldn’t expect a newbie weight-lifter to be able to lift hundreds of pounds without effort? Those muscles must be conditioned and trained. It’s no different when learning not to bounce your bow on the violin. Give yourself time!

If it’s been a while since you’ve played, that might be a reason your violin bow is bouncing. Your muscles simply aren’t warmed-up and relaxed. 

And last of all, if you keep asking yourself over and over again “why does my violin bow bounce when I play?” You are probably getting frustrated during your practice time. Frustration leads to tension which causes your violin bow to bounce. When you get frustrated, walk away and come back when you are more relaxed.

How Do I Stop My Violin Bow From Bouncing?

Now that you know the 10 reasons why your violin bow is bouncing, how do you stop the violin bow from bouncing?

Here’s the best practice routine to prevent tension, shaky bows, and develop a relaxed tone.

1. Practice regularly

2. Stretch Before You Play

3. Warm-up on open strings and scales

4. Experiment

Experimenting is probably the most important way you are going to stop your violin bow from bouncing. You must take time to experiment. I can’t tell you exactly what muscle you need to relax to stop your bow from bouncing, you have experiment to find out what you need to do to stop the bounce. Play lots of open strings with varying weight. Practice bow changes on open strings. Practice long bows, short bows, you name it!

So go ahead, let your bow bounce! Then try to figure out why it bounced. Go through the 10 reasons your bow is bouncing then try again. If you take time each day to experiment, let yourself make mistakes and learn from them, I promise you will stop your violin bow from bouncing!

The Best Thing You Can Do To Stop Your Violin Bow From Bouncing

What’s my number one piece of advice when helping students stop bouncing violin bows? Learn to make the bow bounce on purpose! When you intentionally bounce the bow, it’s called spiccato. You don’t have to be an advanced violinist to learn the basics of spiccato. In fact, learning the basics will help you understand the physics behind why your bow bounces and will help your muscles to learn how NOT to bounce.

In my course, The Secret to Better Bow Control, I’ll show you how to play spiccato. Not only will it teach you better bow control, it will help you to stop letting your bow bounce. The course is part of my Online Studio Membership. Learn more here.

Happy Practicing!

Buying a Violin For the First Time

Buying your first violin is a big decision. Although it might not involve as much money, it’s something like buying your first house or car. You want something suitable to your needs. Not too cheap, not too expensive. If you are looking for a beginner violin, here are some tips to help you find the perfect one.

You can also check out my top picks for beginner violins here.

How much money do I spend on my first violin?

That’s the question I get asked the most when new students are realizing just how expensive violins can get. Beginner violin outfits will range from $200-$500. Does the more expensive violin actually sound better? Will I progress faster? What about new versus used violins?

Buying Used Violins

Shopping for beginner violins can be similar to shopping for a car. If you buy a used car, you generally get it for cheaper than a new one since you’re accepting dings, scratches, and maybe other unknown problems. With violins, if you buy a used beginner violin (from a reputable source, not Ebay or the thrift store) the first thing you’ll want to do is change the strings (around $40 plus installation) and get the bow re-haired ($40 to $75). When you take those things into account, the used violin might not be cheaper.

Side note: I do have a student who found a very nice violin at a thrift store for $30. Finding jewels like that does happen (never to me!) but it is rare. More often, I see worthless violins at antique stores and thrift shops with outrageous price tags. These violins are usually useful only as wall decorations, so be wary!

Buying New Violins

If you are buying a new violin from a dealer or an online company, how much money is enough? Back to the car analogy. If you are shopping for a new car you have a couple options. You can buy a budget car that gets the job done just fine. But you might only make it to 60,000 miles before problems start creeping up and you either have to pay a lot for repairs, or buy a new car. Instead of purchasing a budget car, you could pay a little more and get a car that will get you past 100,000 miles so you won’t have to worry about buying another car anytime soon.

Good quality “budget” violins will get the job done but you will grow out of them quicker. If you buy a higher end beginner violin or an intermediate violin ($400-$1000) you won’t have to worry about upgrading as soon. Budget violin outfits come with budget bows. Bows on the lower end of the scale can be very heavy or have an annoying wobble when you draw the bow on the string.

You will also be able to do more with a better quality violin. Some of the upgrades you might get are better tuning pegs for easier tuning, a lighter bow or a more stable bow, and better sound production. Learning to produce a good tone on a violin is possibly one of the hardest tasks beginning violinists must overcome. Having good equipment makes it so much easier.

What’s your mission?

Another thing to consider is what you are buying the violin for. If you want to see if you like the violin, then get the budget version or rent. If you will be playing in church or performing, go for something a little nicer. Cheap violins will not project as well when performing. With a better violin, you’ll sound better without having to work so hard. Are you buying a full size violin for a child? Will the child take this violin through high school, orchestra rehearsals, auditions, and the rest of their adult life? Pay a little more. If you’re going on a long road trip, you’d want them to have a good, reliable car, right? You can’t win Nascar races with run-of-the-mill budget cars.

Getting Your Money's Worth

Another question I’m frequently asked is, “If I sell my violin, will I be able to get back what I paid for it?” That’s a very hard question to answer since it depends on what you paid for it, what condition it’s in, where you live, and what the market is like in your area. Keep in mind, beginner violins are not one-of-a-kind Ferraris. They’re more like a basic, stock, Ford Focus. Companies like Shar will be turning out beginner violins until the end of time so if you want to sell your violin, you’ll have to take that into consideration. You wouldn’t buy a new car, put 5,000 miles on it and expect to get exactly what you paid for it. Why? Because your potential buyer could go to the dealer and buy a new car for the same price.

Trade-In Policies

This is the best way to insure you’ll get something out of your old violin. Violin shops often have trade-in policies. If you buy a violin from them and later want to upgrade to a better violin, they will give you money back on your old violin as long as the old violin and the new violin come from their store. Ask your local dealer what their trade-in policy is.

If you are looking for online options, Fiddlershop has a great trade-in policy.

Until you start paying big bucks, violins aren’t really investments. If you take good care of them, they’ll at least hold their value but you probably won’t get more for a beginner violin than what you paid for it. Like other hobbies and activities you do for fun, it’s about the amount of enjoyment you get out of the violin, not how much it will be worth in ten years.

Affording the Better Violin

So you want the better violin, but how do you afford it? Ask your music store what their financing options are. Fiddlershop has a financing option as well as the option to pay in installments.

Should I Rent or Buy My First Violin?

With so many options on the internet these days, choosing a beginner violin can be a difficult task. Use this guide to make choosing your first beginner violin hassle-free! You can also check out my top picks for beginner violins here.

Violin Size

Violins come in many different sizes. The size is notated by a fraction ranging from 4/4 for a full size, adult violin to 1/32 size for young children. Choosing the right size for a beginner is essential to success. Having a violin that is not the right size can make it nearly impossible to learn the basics. The best way to find the right fit is to visit a shop and hold many different sizes. One way to determine the correct size is to have the student hold the violin in the shoulder position and extend the left arm and cup the palm around the scroll. The elbow should be slightly bent. If the student cannot reach the scroll or if the arm is straight, the violin is probably too big. Remember, it is always best to go with a smaller size if you are unsure. If you are ordering a violin online, you can measure from the neck to the left wrist for an approximate size. Here is a link with violin size charts and measurements.
 How To Determine the Proper Instrument Size

Buying vs. Renting

Since young students change violin sizes as they grow, many parents prefer renting a violin. Support your local violin shop if you can. The great thing about rentals is that you can exchange the violin fairly easily if the size is not right.

Buying a violin costs more up front, but then you always have the option of reselling it if you take care of it. It is a great idea if your student has younger siblings that will one day want to learn to play the violin as well. I once taught a family of 8 children who all played the violin. Over the years, they had accumulated every size of violin and simply passed them on to the next child when the older child outgrew them.

Is a more expensive violin better?

If you go into a violin shop, the most expensive violin might not always be the best sounding violin. Sometimes, you pay more for the violin's pedigree even if a cheaper violin sounds better. But, with beginner violins at companies like Shar and Southwest Strings, you generally get what you pay for. The more expensive violin will generally be better quality. However, when you start to get into a higher price range, don't just buy the more expensive violin, try several violins out. The sound and tone of the cheaper violin might appeal to you more. It's all about tastes and preferences!

Will a more expensive violin make me sound better?

Better quality violins will give you a better sound. You also have more room to grow musically with the violin. If you have a young child playing on a fractional size violin, you might not be ready to spend more money since you know the child will have to get a bigger violin eventually. However, if you are buying a full size violin, I recommend spending a little more money to get a better quality fiddle. As you progress on violin, you will need a violin that delivers all you're asking of it. Buying a better violin from the start gives you more room to explore and push your own limits. 

What about used violins?

If you buy a used violin let a professional look it over first to insure there are no problems with it. The first thing I would do with a used violin is put a new set of strings on it, since you don't know how long the old set has been on there. A decent set of strings will run you $30-$40. If you don't know how to put the strings on, you'll have to pay someone to do it. If there are other things damaged with the violin, you'll have to pay to get those fixed. Unless it is an unbeatable deal, a cheap, used violin might be more hassle than it's worth.

Never buy a violin from sites like Ebay and be wary of violins for under $100. These instruments are cheaply made and often unplayable. I once had a student with an Ebay violin. The pegs were plastic and therefore, would not keep the string in tune. Playing violin in tune is hard when the strings are in tune! Imagine if the strings are constantly changing. It's impossible!

What else do I buy?

Most beginner violins come as outfits with a case, violin bow, and sometimes rosin. Make sure your purchase comes with all of these. If not, buy them separately. You will also need a shoulder rest that matches the size of your violin. Buying a music stand is also essential to promoting good posture. Here's a list of things you may need.

Don’t let the process of choosing a violin be intimidating! Feel free to contact me any time with any questions you may have.

Half Steps, Whole Steps, and Why They Are Important for the Violin

Most beginner violinists have a big fear: knowing where to put their fingers. While there are no frets, keys, or markers of any kind on a fingerboard, that doesn’t mean we aren’t using a framework to help us. That framework is built out of…you guessed it, half steps and whole steps.

What is a half step and whole step? First, let’s start with intervals which are measured distances between one note and another note. These distances are measured using half steps and whole steps. A half step is the smallest distance between one note and the next. On the violin, a half step is when your fingers are basically touching each other. A whole step is two half steps.

Half and whole steps are a lot easier to see on the piano. A piano keyboard is made up of white and black keys.

Do you see how there is a repetition of 2 black keys then 3 black keys? This pattern continues all the way up and down the keyboard. A half step is the distance from a white key to the black key that touches it. If you move to the right, the closest black key is a sharp. If you move to the left, the closest black key is a flat. Take the note D. If you move up a half step, you’ve reached D#. If you move down (left) a half step from D, you have D flat. On the violin, moving up towards your bridge makes a note sharp and moving back towards your scroll makes it flat. On the piano, if you go from one black key to its nearest white key, you are also traveling a half step. D# to E is a half step.

If you study the keyboard you’ll notice there are two instances where white keys are touching each other with no black key in between them. These two instances occur between B and C and between E and F. That’s because B and C and E and F are half steps apart from each other respectively. If you go up a half step from B you get C (not B#). Other than these two instances, if you travel from one note to the next note in the musical alphabet you are traveling a whole step. For instance, G to A is a whole step (you can also see how you’ve traveled two half steps: G to G# and G# to A).

It’s very important to remember those two sets of half steps between white keys. It’s going to make a lot of sense once we start talking about scales. For now remember B and C and E and F. I use the mnemonic “Buy Chocolate” and “Eat Fudge” to help my students remember.

So how does this help your violin playing? Two ways. Half steps and whole steps make up your invisible framework on your fingerboard and they also help with intonation. This is where ear training can really come in handy. All intervals can be associated with certain songs to help you identify them. A half step sounds like the beginning of the theme song from Jaws.

Choose any note on the violin and play “Jaws” using one note and a half step above that note. Your fingers should really be touching. Almost all beginners have trouble with their half steps being too far apart. Try playing “Jaws” again but this time scoot your half step finger up a little from the first. It doesn’t quite sound right, does it?

Now let’s talk about how half steps and whole steps make up your invisible frame work. Your half steps and whole steps will change depending on what key you are in. Let’s say you’re playing in the Key of C. There are no sharps or flats in the Key of C so your only half steps will be between B and C and between E and F (remember Buy Chocolate and Eat Fugde?) Here’s what the Key of C looks like on a violin in first position.

You can see the half steps, they’re the notes that are touching each other. You see how there are fewer half steps than whole steps. In fact there is usually only one pair of half steps for each string. Whatever key you are playing in, don’t worry about the whole steps, concentrate on remembering where the half steps are. This is how you build up your framework.

If I’m playing in the Key of C, all I have to remember is where the half steps are for each string. My framework looks something like this.

G string= B and C (2 and 3)
D string= E and F (1 and 2)
A string= B and C (1 and 2)
E string= No half steps (but your F is lower than your other first fingers since it is natural (not sharp or flat)

So when I am playing in the Key of C, I simply remember where my fingers touch on each string. Starting from the G string, I say to myself, 2-3, 1-2, 1-2, low 1. This way you don’t have to think, “Is that second finger high or low?”

As your fingers develop more and more muscle memory, you don’t necessarily have to think about these numbers, your fingers will naturally find where they need to be. But until then, practice thinking in terms of half steps.

Now you try. Let’s say we’re in the Key of G which has one sharp, F# (we’ll talk about why there’s an F# there in the next lesson). Your violin fingerboard is going to look almost the exact same except all of your F’s are going to move up one half step. What is your framework going to look like now? What are the numbers you are going to remember for each string?

Here’s the answer for your half steps in the Key of G:

G string= 2 and 3 (B and C)
D string= 2 and 3 (F# and G)
A string= 1 and 2  (B and C)
E string= 1 and 2 (F# and G)

Try playing through a G scale starting at your open G string and going to your high G on the E string. Play it as fast as you can. You’re not thinking about notes, sharps, “high” 2s or “low” 2s. All you are thinking is 2 and 3, 2 and 3, 1 and 2, 1 and 2. Make those half steps fingers on each string super tight.

Can you play through the scale faster than you could if you were just thinking note to note? Keep working on it, just thinking about the half steps. The more you do it, the quicker it gets!

Try thinking of half steps in all of your scales. If you aren’t practicing scales, you should be! Check out my free scale sheets or order some of my favorite scale books. Scales really are the secret to better playing.

Embrace your half steps! They are the tiny building blocks for your left hand technique. Later we'll discuss  using half steps to help you play notes that span big leaps across the fingerboard, but first let’s talk a little about key signatures and scales.

Happy practicing!

To learn more about music theory and how it applies to the violin, check out my course Music Theory for Violinists: Everything You Need to Know. It’s part of my Online Studio Membership. Learn more here.

Perfect Intervals on the Violin

You might hear the term “interval” a lot in music. Knowing intervals can really help your violin playing since certain intervals always have the same fingerings. If you know how these intervals sound and what finger patterns go with them, you can cut out a lot of heartache and make learning the violin much, much easier. Are you convinced? Okay, let’s dig into music intervals for the violin.

Intervals are the differences between pitches. I like to think of them as the way we measure distances between pitches.

 Let’s look at our C major scale again. 

Don’t worry too much about all those fancy names for notes in a scale. Think about the numbers. What if you skipped the second scale degree (or second note) and went straight from C to E? That would be the interval of a third. To determine the size of the interval, count the note you are starting on then count all the notes in between your two notes including the note you want to stop on. C to E is a third (C=1 D=2 E=3). What is the interval from C to B? A seventh. (CDEFGAB= 7 notes= interval of seventh).

We’ve already talked about half steps and whole steps. C to D is a whole step but it’s also known as a major second—a second equals two notes apart. (C=1 D=2). Major seconds sound happy. But what if you had C# to D? That’s also a second but it’s obviously a smaller interval than C to D. C# to D is a half step. Half steps are the smallest intervals but they are also known as minor seconds. Minor intervals tend to sound sad or angry.

This is the basic way to count intervals but it gets a little more complicated than that. What is the interval between the low C and the high C of our major scale? There are 8 steps. We call that an octave. Octaves are the same notes but the second octave occurs at a higher frequency therefore it sounds at a higher pitch. 

We can play intervals one after the other or we can play them at the same time. On the violin, try playing your open D string while playing the third finger D on the A string. These two Ds are an octave apart. Do you hear how they have a very open sound? We call octaves perfect intervals. If you divided the string perfectly in half, you would get an octave—a perfect interval. It’s neither major nor minor. There are four perfect intervals in a scale: unisons, perfect fourths, perfect fifths, and octaves. What’s a unison? It’s the same pitch played at the same time. 

It’s a little hard to do this on violin but try playing a fourth finger A on your D string while playing your open A string. These two pitches are the same (or should be if they’re in tune!). Now try playing a perfect fourth on your violin. Play your open D string and now jump to 3rd finger G on your D string. Playing an open string and then playing 3rd finger in first positions always results in a perfect fourth.

 These notes are 4 steps apart (D E F G=4). Do you hear how it has a very open sound? It also sounds like the first two notes in the song, “Here Comes the Bride.”

Now try playing a perfect fifth. These are easy because we tune our violin in perfect fifths so all of your strings are perfect fifths apart. Try playing two open strings at the same time. Do you hear that open, clear, perfect quality? If you don’t quite yet, wait until we start talking about dissonances and that perfect quality will sound more obvious.

The great thing about intervals is that we can use them to help our intonation. We can associate the beginnings of certain songs with certain intervals to help us hear the interval. For instance, a perfect fifth is the beginning interval for the Star Wars theme song. Next time you are playing a note and the note following it is a fifth away, you don’t have to guess what the second note sounds like. If you can hum the Star Wars theme, you know what the second pitch will sound like. Knowing what something sounds like before you play it is one of the keys to playing in tune! I love this handy chart for picking out songs to associate with intervals. 

Practice playing these perfect intervals on your violin. Practice singing them. Try to identify them as you are listening to music. 

Next, we’ll discuss those imperfect intervals. 

Major Scales and Key Signatures for the Violin

It would be pretty boring we played all music in the same key. But we can rearrange where the half steps are in a scale and get 12 different major keys. (Do you know how many half steps there are in a scale? That’s right, 12!) A major key can be built off of every half step in a scale.

C   D♭  D   E♭  E   F   F#   G   A♭  A   B♭  B  

You might be wondering why I sharped some notes and made others flat. That’s because you will play something in B♭ a lot more than you will play something in the key of A#. Look at the piano, B♭ and A# are the same note. That means they are enharmonic equivalents: the same note written two different ways.

Major Scales

How do major scales work? Well it all depends on the arrangement of whole and half steps. Start with C major. Can you write half or whole in between each note? Remember “Buy Chocolate” and “Eat Fudge". Half steps are going to be between those two pairs of white keys that touch on the piano keyboard.

This is the order you get. Whole Whole Half Whole Whole Whole Half. I sum it up like this: WWHWWWH.

That’s the order of half and whole steps for all major scales which is why major scales sound the same. They have the same relationship between the notes. Try this exercise. Print out some blank sheet music. Notate an E (the first line on the treble staff). Without looking at a scale book and without thinking about your key signature for E, begin writing the scale just by the order of whole and half steps. Now compare your scale to an E major scale in your scale book. If you really  want to give yourself a workout, try doing this for the more complicated scales like A#.

So if you’ve ever wondered why the Key of G major has one sharp—F#, this is why. Start on a G, follow your half step whole step pattern for the major scale and you will end up with F#.

All scales have two sets of half steps. Think of the Key of C as your vanilla scale with your basic BC and EF half steps. Every time you add one sharp, you are changing these two sets of half steps. In the key of G, you haven’t changed anything with B or C so they are still half steps. But E and F are no longer half steps because you had to sharp that F. Now F# and G are half steps.

What’s up with all those sharps and flats? They look like they are completely random but they always occur in a certain order. If you have one sharp, it will always be F#. If you have two sharps they will always be F# and C#. The order goes like this:

F# C# G# D# A# E# B#

Use the mnemonic “Fat Cats Go Down Allies Eating Birds” to help you remember the order.

For flats, the order is the reverse of what it is for sharps.

B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ F♭

Remember “Bead Go Catch Fish” for flats.

You can number each note in your scale. We call these scale degrees. The numbers above the notes are the scale degrees.  Each note in a scale also has a name which are written below the note in the following picture.

Don't worry about remembering the name for each scale degree. The most important ones are tonic, dominant, and the leading tone. Scale degrees and scale names are the same for major and minor keys.

Why do we call the seventh scale degree a leading tone? Because it wants to lead to tonic again. Try playing a scale and stop on the leading tone. You’ll be itching to play the tonic to feel complete. (Legend has it Mozart’s father would play scales in the morning ending on the leading tone. Young Mozart would jump out of bed, run down stairs, and play the tonic. Brilliant idea to get a prodigy up in the morning.)

You know what key you are playing in based on the key signature at the beginning of the music. Here’s a list of all the major (and their relative minor scales). Don’t worry about the minor scales for now. Try to memorize each key signature up through 5 sharps and 5 flats. In the violin, you will spend most of your time playing in the key signatures with 0-5 sharps or flats so focus on those.

Next we'll talk about minor scales!

Happy Practicing!

Easiest Violin Songs EVER (Free Violin Tab Music)

Are you looking for easy violin songs? So easy you don’t have to spend twenty minutes just trying to figure out what the notes are? Do you just want to play an easy song without feeling like you need to take a course in music theory? Then I’ve got the songs for you! Not just any songs, the easiest violin songs ever, with no note reading required!

Why Play Easy Violin Songs Without Note Reading?

Some teachers might snub their noses at playing songs without actually reading the notes. Is that cheating? Absolutely not. In fact, when I start students, no matter their age, I spend several weeks doing songs just like these easy violin songs. Why? Because with violin there is so much going on! Keep your left wrist straight! Higher on those 2nd fingers! Bow pinky curved! Straight bow! It’s frustrating enough as it is. So why make it more complicated with note reading? Spend some time on easy violin songs. Focus on the basics of playing. And when you want to add in note reading, it won’t totally rock your world.

Even if you have been playing for a while and you are comfortable with note reading, these easy violin songs look hard when you look at the sheet music. But once you simplify it into violin tab, you’ll find it’s not that tricky.

How Does This Tab for Violin Work?

Musical tablature indicates fingerings, not notes. So the numbers in these easy violin tablature songs indicate the finger number. The letters indicate which string to play on. For instance: A: 10 D: 312321 means you would play 1st finger then open string all on the A string, then play all the other finger numbers on the D string.

All numbers are using the “normal” finger pattern in which the 2nd finger is next to three. If the finger needs to be lower or higher it will be indicated with an “L” for lower and an “H” for higher. Low 2s will be right next to 1st finger. High 3s will be right above where 3rd finger normally is.

How Does the Rhythm Work in Violin Tab?

Well…it doesn’t. That’s the one drawback to this easy violin tab. There’s really no way to indicate rhythm. It’s best if you know the song. I’ve tried to space out numbers that are longer notes. Some numbers have a dash afterward to indicate a longer note. Other than that, listen to these easy violin songs to know how slow or fast to play the notes on violin!

Also check out my easy violin Christmas songs using this this type of music notation.

Easiest Violin Songs EVER

I try to start with the easiest songs and work my way down to more challenging ones. Try them all!

Dashes after notes mean to hold that note longer (usually hold that note for the same number of dashes)

Hot Cross Buns Violin Music

 Any String:      2 1 0                2 1 0                0 0 0 0             1 1 1 1             2 1 0

Mary Had A Little Lamb for Violin

Any String: 2 1 0 1      2 2 2--     1 1 1--        2 2 2--      2 1 0 1       2 2 2 2 1 1 2 1 0--

Boil Them Cabbage Down

A:  2222 3--3--    2222    1--1--    2222    3--3--     2211    0--0--

 Ending: E: 3230130  A: 320120.  E: 3

Chicken on A Fencepost

Parentheses means play those notes faster.

A: (3333) 33       E: 10103          A: (3333) 33       4310    (3333) 33           E: 1013 4310               A: 333

D: (3333) 33       A: 10103          D: (3333) 33       4310    (3333) 33           A: 1013 4310               D: 333

Frère Jacques

The last “AEA” is open A string, open E string, open A string.

A: 0120 0120 234-- 234--        E: 010   A: 320            E: 010  A: 320             AEA     AEA

Au Clair De La Lune

A: 0001 2--1-- 02110----

A: 0001 2--1-- 02110----

Old MacDonald for Violin

D: 3330 110-- A: 1100 D: 3---0 3330 110-- A: 1100 D: 3---0

D: 3330 3330 3030 3310

D: 3330 110-- A: 1100 D: 3----

Happy Birthday for Violin

L2 means low 2nd finger. Place the 2nd finger right next to the 3rd finger.

 D: 001032--       001043--           00        A: 31    D: 321--  A: L2 L2 1        D: 343--

London Bridge

A: 010 D: 3234-- D: 123-- 234--

A: 010 D: 3234-- 1--4-- 2 0---

Jingle Bells

 Any string: 222--  222--  24012----   3333  3222  21121   4

                   222--  222--  24012----   3333  3222  4431     0----

Can-Can

D: 0 0 1321 A: 0 0 01 D:23 1 1 1321 0 A: 3210 D: 321

D: 0 0 1321 A: 0 0 01 D:23 1 1 1321 0 A: 0 D: 12 0 0

French Folk Song

Hold the notes with dashes for three beats

A: 333 222 123 0---

D: 333 222 111 0---

D:012 012 012 3---

D: 123 123 123 4---

A: 321 0

D: 3210 1 0---

Ode To Joy

Parentheses means play those notes faster.

D: 2234 4321 0012 211-- 2234 4321 0012 100--

D: 1120 1 (23) 20 1 (23) 21 01 G: 1--

D: 2234 4321 0012 100--

Three Blind Mice

I’d like to thank my student, Marae, who helped me figure out a lot of the following songs and gave me some great ideas for new violin songs. Thanks Marae!

A: 2 1 0 2 1 0 

A: 4 33 2 4 33 2

E: 0 3 3 212  3 00 

E: 0 3 3 212  3 00 

A: 3  2  1 0 2 10 

Star Wars Easy Violin Music

H3 means high 3rd finger

D: 111 A: 0- -4--321       E: 3-- 0--A: 321 E: 3-- 0--A: 323 1----

D: 111 A: 0- -4--321       E: 3-- 0--A: 321 E: 3-- 0--A: 323 1----       

D: 112-- 2         A: 3210 0121 D: 2 H3

D: 112-- 2         A: 3210 4-- 1--

D: 112-- 2         A: 3210 0121 D: 2 H3

D: 11 4 3 L2 1 0          G: 3 H21        D: 1

D: 111 A: 0- 4-321       E: 3- 0-A: 321 E: 3- 0-A: 323 1-
D: 22  A:3 1 0

Hey Diddle Diddle

Listen to Hey Diddle Diddle here (you can play along with this version)

A: L2 E: 0 2 0 (do this 2 times)

E: 00 A: 3 L2 3

E: 00 A: 3 L2 3

A: 3 E: 00 L2 L1 0  A:3

E: 0 1111- 01-2 3-

E: 3 4 4+(stretch) 2 1 0 1 A: 3 2

Do You Want to Build A Snowman Easy Violin Music

D: 3 3 3 0 3 A: 1 0 1

D: 3 3 3 0 3 A: 1 0

D: 3 3 3 0 3 A: 1  L2 1 D: 3

A: 1  L2 1 D: 3

D: 3 3 0 3 A: 1 3

A: 33 L2 1 L2 3 D: 3

D: 3 A: 0 1  3

A: 0 1 0 D: 3 A: 0 1 4

D: 3 3 3 0 3 A: 1 0 1

D: 3 2 3-

Toreador Song

A: 3 43 11 101 L2 1-  L2 0 3 1   D: 3 1 4 0 0         A: 0- 4 3 L2 1 0 1 L2 1-  D: 2      A: 1 1 L1 H2     E: 1 

A: 4 H3 4 0 1 L2           1          D: 3      A: 4 3   D: 3 0   A: 2 1 0            D: 3

I’ll be adding more easy violin songs with tab so check back frequently. Let me know which ones you would like to see!

Happy Practicing!

Best (and Worst) Violin Strings for Beginners: A Violin Teacher's Honest Review

I’m going to cut the fluff and get right to the heart of the matter. If you are looking for the best violin strings for beginners, then don’t buy something cheap. Don’t buy violin strings that come in packs of 16, don’t buy violin string sets that are cheaper than a family meal at a fast food restaurant.

Good quality violin strings make an immense difference in tone and ease of playability, as I will show you. The best violin strings can make playing much easier. Even if you have a great violin, having a cheap set of strings can make playing difficult especially for a beginner. If you are playing on a cheap set of strings, you know that ugly, scratchy sound you’re getting? Yep, that might not be your fault. The strings may be the culprit.

If you want an honest review of the best and worst violin string sets for beginners, intermediate, and advanced players, then read on!

What Violin Strings to NOT Buy

Be wary of any violin string set under $20. If you are going to take the time to change the strings on your violin, you want something that will at least sound good when you are finished. So avoid these brands!

• Red Label—Far from the best violin strings! The king of cheap strings.

• Cecilio—get 16 strings for the low price of $15.00…Don’t fall for it!

• Vizcaya Universal—an even better scam. 16 strings for $12! How does that even pay for the paper to wrap them in?

How to Buy Violin Strings for Beginners

Ball End versus Loop End Violin String

You can buy violin strings separately, but it is better to buy them as a set which will include each of the four strings. Make sure the string set matches the size of your violin. Next look at the tailpiece of your violin where the strings are attached to the fine tuners. Are the ends a metal loop? Or are they balls hooked into the holes on the tailpiece? When purchasing the set of violin strings, choose ball-end or loop-end to match what you have.

Tension on violin strings vary from light, to medium, to heavy. But the vast majority of beginner and intermediate violin string sets come as medium tension.

Best Violin String Sets for Beginners

I’ve played all of the violin string sets I’m going to tell you about. I put them on the same violin, let them stretch out for about a two week period, and then made recordings of the same excerpts of songs so you can hear the differences. Okay, here’s my picks for the best violin string sets for beginners!

Ascente Violin Strings Review

My #3 Choice for Beginner Violin Strings

These are the cheapest violin strings for beginners I would purchase. I’m recommending them with a caveat!

When I first put these on my violin, I wasn’t expecting much. However, I was extremely surprised at the resonance of these strings. I’m telling you, they RING! They are bright and lively with a clear, focused tone. While the Ascente violin strings sounded great, I found I had to be on top of my game to make them sound cleanly. If you listen to the sound samples, notice how many times it took me to play an open G string with a clean start. It’s not that hard, but these strings made it more difficult. I put these strings on an EXPENSIVE violin and still had issues, so keep that in mind if you are putting them on a cheaper violin.

 Buy the Ascente violin strings if you are…

• Buying for a very young child that sounds scratchy anyways…

• On a budget

• Want a decent set of backup strings

 Don’t buy the Ascentes if you are…

• Buying for an older child or adult

• If you can afford to pay a little more

 Pros

• Clear, bright, resonant sound

Cons

• Difficult to make clean starts

• Not as responsive as other strings

Helicore Violin Strings Review

My #2 Choice for Beginner Violin Strings

Helicores are a good string set for beginner or intermediate players. I put these on my violin after the Ascentes and I found them to be quite a contrast. The Helicores had a warmer sound, not quite as loud and bright as the Ascentes. They were also easier to play on, a little bit more responsive, and didn’t produce as many extraneous noises. The strings were fairly even sounding, although the G string leaves something to be desired. It lacks a richness of tone and doesn’t quite project the way I feel it should. While the tone on all strings was warm and even, I did find myself missing the complexity and brightness of the Ascentes. Helicores are a good middle of the road kind of string. Responsiveness isn’t bad…but there are more responsive strings out there. Tone isn’t bad, but it’s not phenomenal. Keep in mind, I’m comparing these to my usual strings (keep reading to find out my favorites). 

Even though Helicores fell short of what I would call a perfect sounding violin string, they will suit beginners and intermediate players just fine.

Buy Helicore Violin Strings if you are

• Buying for a child or for adult or teenage beginners

• If you want a decent set of strings without a big price tag

Don’t buy Helicore Violin Strings if you

• Want a richer sound

• Are a little more advanced

• Have a more discerning ear

• If you don’t mind spending a little more for a really nice set of strings

 Pros

• Warm Tone

• Stable, easy to tune

• Easy to play on

Cons

• Dull sound compared to more expensive violin strings

• Not as responsive as they could be 

Dominant Violin Strings Review

My #1 Choice For Beginner Violin Strings

Dominants have a name for themselves as the standard in beginner violin strings. I was interested to see if these violin strings held up to their name—and they do! It did take a few days for Dominants to settle out. For the first few days, they sounded like a tin can. But after that, these strings mellowed into a warm sound with a clear, projecting tone.

Dominant violin strings are responsive, even sounding, and pretty resonant for a beginner-level string. They produced a good, solid tone for those students starting to really focus on producing a clear, rich sound. When doing advanced bow strokes, like colle at the frog, these strings made it more difficult than a more expensive set of strings (like Evah Pirazzis). Quick notes in the middle, like in Swallowtail Jig, produced a little background noise that I don’t notice in nicer strings. I felt that the A lacked a little brightness and resonance compared to the other strings. And the G string, alas, still doesn’t quite meet my standards for something that is truly remarkable. Those are my only reservations. For a beginner or intermediate violin student, these strings fit the bill perfectly!

I would recommend Dominant Violin Strings for ALL beginners, not matter your age! As long as you can afford it, skip Helicores or Ascentes and buy these strings!

*I purchased these violin strings as a set with a Pirastro Gold Label E and found the combination quite enjoyable.

Buy Dominant violin strings if you are

• Any beginner or intermediate level violin student

• Own a violin under $500

Don’t buy Dominant Violin Strings if you are

• Starting to experiment with more advanced bow strokes

• Looking for an even richer, more projecting tone

• Have any violin over $500—if you are paying that much for a violin, spend $30 more dollars and get a great set of strings to match your violin’s potential.

Pros

• Easy to play

• Warm sound with projection and resonance

• Responsive strings

Cons

• Takes a few days to settle in

• Not great for advanced bow strokes

So...what’s my absolute favorite set of violin strings?

Evah Pirazzi. Hands down. I’ve tried even more expensive violin string sets and I always come back to these gems. In fact, I never realized just how easy they made violin playing until I started trying beginner violin strings! Evah Pirazzis, and other violin strings of similar quality, are so much more forgiving than cheaper strings. Not only do they make advanced bow strokes easier to execute, you don’t have to work as hard for a good tone. The sound is beautiful, sweet, yet clear and projecting.

The only downside? They are a little more pricey (but only around $30 more than Dominants). And they tend to lose their brilliance after a couple months. However, I have been known to keep a set on for over a year and still found them enjoyable.

You might not think of a $75-$80 set of strings to be beginner level. BUT if you have the money and are serious about the violin, why not? No one says a beginner can only purchase beginner quality equipment. Nor do you have to play at a certain level before you are “worthy” of more expensive strings. If everyone started on Evah PIrazzi violin strings, you would know very quickly what a good tone sounds like and how enjoyable it is to just play open strings!

Buy Evah Pirazzi Violin Strings if

• You want the best sound you can get

• You want violin playing to be as easy as it can be

• You are playing on a violin over $500

Don’t Buy Evah Pirazzi Violin Strings if

• You are buying for a very young child or a child that just doesn’t give a hoot

• If you are playing on a cheap violin. Even Evahs won’t help you if your violin is a VSO.

Pros

• Beautiful, clear, sweet sound with brilliance and projection and resonance. Need I go on?

• Easy to play

• Forgiving of imperfect technique (cheap strings aren’t!)

Cons

• A little more expensive (around $70-$90 depending on where you buy them)

• Start to lose their brilliance after a couple months

Strings can make such a difference in your playing. They can make the difference between looking forward to practicing, and avoiding practicing all together. So pick out violin strings that are worthy of the time you spend practicing. You want regret it!

Understanding Minor Scales for the Violin

For every major key signature, there is a minor scale that shares that same key signature. We call these minor scales relative minor scales, since they are related to the major key signature. Relative minor scales will have a different starting pitch than their relative major scales. For instance, C major and A minor are relative scales since they both share a key signature (zero sharps or flats).

Minor scales are a little more complex than major scales because minor comes in three flavors: natural, harmonic, and melodic. Before we get to that, let’s figure out the half steps and whole steps in a minor scale.

We’ll start with the A minor scale. Can you determine the order of half steps and whole steps between each note?

Your answer is: Whole Half Whole Whole Half Whole Whole. Sum it up by remembering WHWWHWW

This is a natural minor scale. It’s in it’s “natural” state. Nothing has been changed or altered. Try playing it. It sounds a little strange doesn’t it? Remember how the seventh scale degree or leading tone should lead to tonic? When you have a whole step between the leading tone and tonic (scale degrees 7 and 8) it doesn’t really sound like the leading tone is leading anywhere. What if we raised that seventh scale degree to a G# so that it’s a half step between 7 and 8.

Our scale would look like this.

This sounds a lot more “right” doesn’t it? That’s because the G# really leads to the A. When you raise the seventh scale degree in a minor key you get a harmonic minor scale. Most music written in minor keys has the seventh scale degree raised like in this scale.

The only problem with the harmonic minor scale is that it creates an awkward leap between the sixth and seventh scales degrees. Now, F and G# are three half steps away from each other! Since we are raising scale degrees, let’s just go ahead and raise that sixth scale degree too. That makes the big leap a little less big.

Now we have this:

That’s our melodic minor scale. Well, it’s half of our melodic minor scale. Natural and harmonic minor scales are the same ascending and descending but with melodic minor scales, we change things up on the way down. In a melodic minor scale you raise the sixth and seventh scale degrees on the way up and you naturalize them on the way down.

You might think that rule was created to torture music students but it does make sense. Why did we raise the seventh scale degree to begin with? Because we wanted it to “lead” to tonic. If we are descending and going away from tonic, there’s no need to have it raised. We practice melodic minor scales because that’s what we’ll see in most music written in minor. If we are ascending towards the tonic, the sixth and seventh scale degrees will be raised. If we’re descending, they will be natural. Here’s your complete melodic minor scale.

Now that you know about scales we’ll move onto intervals how they can make a big difference in your violin playing!

Happy (scale) Practicing!

Music I Can't Live Without: A Violin Teacher's Playlist

If you are just discovering the joys of classical music, you might be wondering where to start. There are literally centuries worth of wonderful music. Symphonies, concerti, sonatas. It can be quite overwhelming. 

For a while now, I’ve been compiling my list of music I could never live without out. My guide to the classical music world. It’s a project that never ends because I keep discovering more music I can’t live without. It’s not exhaustive, by any means. And don’t think that just because I wrote down the second movement of one symphony, that the whole symphony is not worth listening to. It definitely is! Scroll down for my favorite pieces (classical and otherwise).

Music I Can’t Live Without

MVT=Movement (Symphonies have 4 movements, concertos have 3, for the most part)

Bold= fun and exciting, easy to listen to for young people

Underlined= quiet and relaxing

Bold, underlined, and italicized- breathtakingly gorgeous!

* Stars for my extra, extra favorites.

Bach

Violin Partita in E major, Preludio, Loure, Gavotte

Violin Sonata in A minor, Andante

Violin Double Concerto (All movements are great but especially mvt 2 and 3)

Brandenburg Concerti 1-6

Barber

*Violin Concerto mvt 1 and 2*

Beethoven

Egmont Overture

Violin Concerto, mvt 2

Piano Concerto No. 1, mvt 2

Piano Concerto No. 4, mvt. 1

Piano Concerto No. 5 mvt 3 “Emperor”

*Symphony 5, mvt 2*

Symphony 3 “Eroica”

Symphony 8 mvt 4

Symphony 7-this whole symphony is wonderful. My favorites are the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th movements.

Symphony 6-especially the mvt 3 and mvt 4

Symphony 9

Choral Fantasy—Just wait for the end.

String Quartet Opus 130 Finale: Allegro

Violin Romance No. 2

Bizet

L'arlesienne Suite No. 1 and No. 2

Brahms

*B minor Piano Trio in B major, mvt 1 and 2*

Violin Concerto (especially mvt 3)

Symphony No. 4 (all the symphonies are great)

Copeland

Fanfare for A Common Man

Billy the Kid Suite

Danish String Quartet

This is a chamber group, but their arrangements of Danish folk songs are amazing.

Woodworks

Last Leaf (especially Shine You No More)

Dvorak

*American String Quartet (No. 12)*

New World Symphony No. 9 *(especially Mvt. 4)* (watch Dudamel conducting) All movements of this symphony are great!

Elgar

Enigma Variations, Nimrod

Symphony 2, (esp. mvt 2)

Hansen

*Symphony No. 2*

Holst

*Planets: Mars, Jupiter, Neptune (all movements are great)*

Gershwin

Rhapsody in Blue

Golijov

Tenebrae

Korngold

Violin Concerto

Mendelssohn

Hebrides Overture

Mozart

Requeim

Symphony 25 

Great Mass in C minor

Violin Concerto No. 5

Violin Concerto No. 4 (especially MVT. 2)

*Sinfonia Concertante (perhaps one of my absolute favorites)*

Piano Concerto No. 22, mvt 3

Piano Concerto No. 20, mvt 2

Serenade for Winds No. 10, Adagio

Ah Tutti Contenti (from Marriage of Figaro)

Clarinet Concerto in A major, mvt. 2 (yes, with a Gypsy Moth!)

Prokofiev

Violin Concerto No. 2

Montagues and Capulets

Ravel

*Piano Concerto, mvt 2*

Pavane for a Dead Princess

Violin No. 2 Sonata, MVT 1 and MVT 2 “The Blues” starts at 8:03

String Quartet in F major

Saint-Saens

Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso

Havanaise

Organ Symphony, MVT 2, MVT. 4

Shubert

Death and the Maiden

Sibelius

*Symphony 5, Finale*

*Symphony 2, Mvt 1 and Mvt 3*

*Violin Concerto*

Tchaikovsky

Serenade for Strings

*Souvenir de Florence, Mvt 3 and Mvt 4*-The 3rd movement begins at 21:00. I melt every time I hear that double cello solo...

Vaughan Williams

The Lark Ascending

Ysaye

Sonata No. 5 “L’Aurore”

Check back often as this list will get update frequently! What are your favorite pieces from classical music? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy…listening!

Best Hymn Books for Violinists: A Violin Teacher's Guide

I’ve been playing violin solos for church services since just about the first day I started learning violin. Okay, I might be exaggerating there, but I have played violin hymns for church more times than I can count. Wherever I’ve moved across the country, churches have welcomed me in. I’ve met some wonderful people, made music with some great musicians, and worshipped God in the best way I know how—playing violin! I’ve been on the constant lookout for hymn arrangements for violin and piano. Whether you are just starting or you’re ready for some advanced violin hymn arrangements, I’ve got something here for you.

Don’t forget to check out my free arrangements of some easy hymns and fiddle songs as well as my top picks for beginner violin books, scale books, and fiddle books!

For even more easy hymns along with intermediate third position parts, join my online studio to download my hymn book, Favorite Hymns for Violin. It has over 50 of my favorite hymns transposed into easy to read key signatures for violin. You’ll get Favorite Hymns for Violin in addition to several other downloadable violin books and over 200+ songs and sheet music for violin.

Violin Hymns for the Beginner

Level: Beginner—Advanced Beginner

This hymn book offers 24 classic hymns that are easily accessible to beginner violinists. This is one of the few beginner level violin hymn books that I’ve been able to find. Some of the choices include Amazing Grace, Come Ye Sinners, and This is My Father’s World. For the advancing beginner, there are also slurs, accidentals, and fermatas to add more of a challenge.

Favorite Hymns Instrumental Solos for Strings

Level: Advanced Beginner—Intermediate Player

This collection features several timeless hymn arrangements for violin and piano. This book offers more advanced rhythms and key changes for those advancing players wanting more of a solo-like arrangement of hymns. I love that it comes with a CD so you can play along with an accompaniment, even if you don’t know a pianist!

100 Gospel Songs and Hymns for Violin and Guitar

Level: Advanced Beginner—Intermediate Player

For those violinist regularly performing in church, it’s nice to have a large selection of hymns in case you are asked to play a special on Sunday—on short notice! I’ve been there and having a large collection of classic hymn arrangements has helped me out. This book offers 100 songs so you have lots of options to choose from. Most selections have a key change so one hymn selection doesn’t sound the exact same for each verse.

Come Thou Fount: Eight American Hymns and Spirituals for Violin and Piano

Level: Advanced Beginner—Intermediate Player

It’s rare that you love every single song in a book, but I absolutely love every song in this fantastic book. In addition to some of the most treasured hymns like Be Thou My Vision, and There is a Fountain, there are also some exciting arrangements of Holy Mana, and Shall We Gather at the River. There also a Spiritual with some fun syncopations!

These arrangements offer a lot of unique elements you don’t hear in many other violin hymn arrangements. There’s double stops, pizzicato sections, along with some interesting counter melodies. Many passages go up into the higher positions, but beginners can always play the first verse of each arrangement which often stay down in first position.

Old English Hymns for Violin Solo by Linda M. Ellis Cummings

Level: Intermediate Player

This was one of the first violin hymn books my mother purchased for me when I first started playing violin, and it’s continued to be a favorite throughout the years. This edition features some of the most beautiful traditional hymns including Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken, and This is My Father’s World.

Many of the hymns have passages that go up into third position and sometimes higher for a few measures, making this book a good challenge for intermediate players who want hymn arrangements that showcase the violin’s beauty.

The book comes with a solo booklet and a piano accompaniment.

And my favorite…Hymn Tunes for Unaccompanied Violin by Marilyn Carlson

Level: Advanced Beginner-Advanced Player

You don’t always have a pianist to accompany you when playing violin in church, and playing arrangements that have piano accompaniment without a piano, well, you can obviously tell something is missing.

For years, I’d been on the prowl searching for good unaccompanied violin hymn arrangements and I finally found the jewel I was looking for. Out of all my favorite violin hymn arrangements, this one is my absolute favorite. I often pull it out to play through the songs just for my own enjoyment.

There’s a beautiful version of Come Thou Fount, a breathtaking arrangement of Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy, a version of Jesus Paid it All chocked full of delicious double stops, and probably the most interesting, most delightful arrangement of Amazing Grace I’ve ever found.

There are quadruple stops, grace notes, lovely runs, and lots of what I call “noodling.” You know, when you go back and forth between two strings really quickly. There are double stops galore, but don’t worry if you aren’t great at intentionally playing two strings at once. These double stops are generally pretty easy (playing one open string while you place fingers on another string). If you are beginning, you can leave out the double stops and just play the top note. It’s great for advanced players who want something different when it comes to hymn arrangements for violin, but beginner violinists will also be able to find many playable passages.

Enjoy these great hymn arrangements for violin and when you’re ready to add some fiddling to your repertoire, I have the perfect recommendations!