Easy violin playing basics for beginners!

Its great that you have decided to play the violin.

But then you want some practical tips right? You can't wait to get started right?

Some violin playing basics you will need to get to grips with are

• Learning to hold the violin
• Learning to tune the violin
• Learning to put rosin on the bow
• Learning to hold the bow
• Learning to read music (although remember that some traditional players never learn to read music)

There are some great (free) resources on Youtube and a picture says a thousand words so I am giving the links to a selection of videos and some reading that will help you.

Hopefully the order of the Youtube videos sense to you. If you follow religiously, you will have given yourself you first violin lesson!

How to hold the Violin

Putting rosin on the bow

Before attempting to play with a bow you will need to put some rosin on it. This will be particularly so if it is new or has just been rehaired. The bow will not sound on the string properly unless you do this.

Learning how to hold the violin bow

Now carry on and get yourself some lessons if you can. There are great online resources to help like the lessons below! What a lot of fun lies ahead!

Read our Learning to Play page for some ideas about how to find a teacher. There are great books for beginners, CDs and DVDs around for all levels of playing. Here are some of recommendations for beginners below. You should find something you like.

How to read music

Finally, you will probably also want to learn to read music. This is a little trickier and will take a little time.

The good news is there are some great resources out there and I have recommended a book below to start you on the right track.

We have given links to the UK and USA Amazon sites so no excuses wherever you live!

You can get it from Amazon for a few $s or £s and it is very easy to understand (but possibly more for adults). It focuses mainly on the treble clef which is fine for the violin. But it also touches on the base and alto clefs as well. Its good for you to know they all relate to each other! Good reading! - the book and the music!!

And check out our page on tuning the violin which tells all you need to know.