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How Hard is it to Learn Violin?

Do you want to starting playing the violin?

It’s known as the most difficult musical instrument to play

How difficult is it really and why?

Violin Difficulty nr 1: Find the notes on the fingerboard

Playing in tune is one of the biggest challenges on the violin. On the piano you can hit a key and the note is in tune. On the guitar you can place your finger on the fret and you have the right note.

On the violin you’ll have to find your way on an empty fingerboard. The notes are quite close together and the higher notes on the string are even closer together. Do you want to know how that looks like exactly? Download my violin fingering chart with the exact spots of all notes on the violin.

Why don’t we just put frets or stickers on the violin fingerboard?

Well, a guitar and piano are always a tiny bit out of tune and can’t be adjusted to create subtle changes in intonation based on the music you play.

When you would do this on a violin, with it’s characteristic sound, it would sound off.

How to learn the notes on the violin?

This starts with learning finger by finger in the first position, which is lowest on the string. Practicing a lot of scales and position shift exercises you start to get to know the whole fingerboard better and better.

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Hi! I'm Zlata

Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.

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Violin Difficulty nr 2: Make a good sound with the bow

The bow is the breath, voice and lips of the violin

A typical beginner sound is caused by not knowing exactly how to move the bow fluently over the string on exactly the right spot with exactly the right pressure and speed.

Changing from upbow and downbow fluently is also a real challenge in the beginning and can sound scratchy.

You might think finding the notes is most difficult, but it’s the bowing that causes the feared ‘cat being tortured’ sound.

Now that’s just creating a decent sound quality. I didn’t even talk about the 24 different bowing techniques that are possible or all the subtle ways to colour your sound.

You can learn it!

Don’t get discouraged. If you’re willing to practice daily, invest in lessons (online or offline) and be consistent for years, you can learn to play the violin beautifully at every age.

Will you start to learn the violin?

Leave a comment below! Also check out my free beginner course right here.

What’s the Price of a Good Beginner Violin?

How much does a violin cost?

How much should you spend as a beginner violinist?

Beginner violins range from $ 30 to $ 3,000

What on earth should you spend for a good violin? This article helps you decide about the best violin for you to buy.

Why can violins be so expensive?

You might step into a violin shop as a beginner and the classy old luthier recommends you student violins of around $ 2,000 and $ 3,000. Wait a second… you don’t even know if you want to play!

Yup, a good sounding violin requires expensive aged wood and many hours of skilled craftsmanship to be ‘born’. Ebony, 30 years old spruce and maple high class tonewood… the bridge itself is a piece of art and the soundbox is carved by hand to have the exact right thickness at every point. This instrument can sound for centuries.

But… do you need that as beginner?

Why can violins be so cheap?

Your next step might be to Google… and suddenly you find violins from $ 30. Can that be any good? You’re a bit sceptic, but at the same time you have no idea what price would be suitable for a decent beginner violin.

I’ll tell you exactly what you can expect of a violin for what price:

You can decide what’s best for your ears and your wallet.

Below $ 100

Also known as violin shaped objects 😉

It’s impossible to use good strings and good materials for this price. Also you can’t get a skilled craftsman to work on the violin for this price.

Below $ 100 you get a factory violin out of poor wood with poor adjustment. Tuning it and playing in tune on it are enormous challenges. Here you can hear me, a professional classical violinist, play on a $ 50 violin, show you what’s right and wrong, so you can judge for yourself.

Things might be broken or break soon once you start playing. Having anything replaced or repaired will quickly cost more than the instrument.

If you’re serious about learning to play the violin, I suggest you spend more. However, if you just want to dip your toe in the water and tinker around a bit with a violin, go for it.

Around $ 200

It’s certainly possible to get a decent violin, but for this price most violins will still be poor factory violins with poor adjustment. There are certainly exceptions and I was positively surprised to try out this violin. As a violin teacher I would actually recommend it to students who are a bit tight on their budget.

However, you really have to see it as a beginner violin that you will upgrade after one or some years. When you’re getting a bit more serious about tone production, you really need to upgrade. It’s not a long term investment.

Violins around $ 500

This is where you can get a very nice, maybe European, student violin with good craftsmanship, quality parts and strings and a great sound.

Yup, these are still beginner violins, as you might not get all the subtleties you’ll want in the long run, but you can enjoy violins in this price class very much for your first two to five years.

It all depends on your progress and what you want of course. I compare some brands around this price in this article.

Renting a violin

Usually if you rent a violin at your local violin shop, the violin will be of this price range. You’ll have a great beginner violin and if you rent it, you don’t have to do any big investment. If you’re not sure if you’ll stick to the violin, renting one is a great option.

Remember that kids change size about every two years, so if you’re looking to get a violin for your child, renting one is great!

What's the price of a good beginner violin? #violinist #violin Share on X

Hi! I'm Zlata

Let me help you find a great bow for your violin, so you can improve your bowing technique and sound quality:

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Hi! I'm Zlata

Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.

READ MORE

Violins around $ 1,000

This is where you start to leave the ‘beginner’ or ‘student’ range and you can get a hand made instrument with a great sound, good craftsmanship and some real character. This violin could be your musical friend for many years.

Violins around $ 3,000

I know this is a big jump, but just wanted to point out here that around this price it starts to become possible to buy a violin hand made by one European skilled luthier from the beginning to end. This instrument will have a personality and something special in the sound colours. Actually this is where violins start made the traditional way.

Your taste and sensitivity

As a beginner violinist you might not notice the difference if you play on a $ 500, $ 1,000 or $ 3,000 violin. Some beginners do. It all depends how sensitive you are to sound colors and how demanding you are.

If you’re open to any price range as long as it’s worth it, just try some violins out at your local violin shop

Compare the collection different shops, preferably on the same day. There are also online shops that offer the possible to try out or return instruments.

So what do you chose?

I’d love to read in the comments what violin you play and how you picked it

Curious what violin I play? Read all about my antique German friend here.

You also might find my article with 32 checks to buy a violin interesting.

How Many Hours a Day should you Practice the Violin?

What progress and level of violin playing can you expect at 10 mins, 1 hour or 5 hours a day?

Read all about it and discover how much YOU should practice

After teaching hundreds of students offline and online, it’s easy to see that students who practiced most got the fastest progress.

These days talent is overestimated and practice is underestimated

Yup, that nine year old virtuoso you see on YouTube, probably practiced for thousands of hours already.

When you practice enough, you get good progress, get motivated, join fun ensembles and orchestra’s, enjoy your own playing and you just can’t stop playing anymore.

If you’re practicing starts to slack, you feel frustrated when playing, you don’t see the progress you want, you can’t get in that orchestra you like and you feel like giving up.

Practicing daily is more important than practicing a marathon

The students who get good results in the long run are consistent. For your brain and hands to remember what you learn, daily repetition is very important.

It’s way better to have a short practice session every day when you’re fresh and focussed than that you leave your violin in it’s case for days and have practice marathon. You’ll lose your skill in between those marathons and will not build up your technique.

Whatever practice length you choose, pick something that you can manage to do daily. Yes, you can always practice longer, but this daily routine is most important.

Here’s the violin progress you can expect related to your daily practice time

10 to 20 minutes

Not so fast progress… 20 minute daily practice time would be suitable to very young (5-8 years) beginning students or adults in the very beginning.

When 10 to 20 minutes feels like ‘enough’ to you, consider carving out time in your schedule for a second practice session in each day.

Of course there are days that you’re busy or tired. If you don’t have time, just put the violin under your chin for 10 minutes and at least you keep up with the so important daily routine.

20 to 40 minutes

Great for young or beginning students. You can split up the 40 minutes in two 20 minute sessions with a break in between or at the beginning and end of each day.

In my violin studio I’ve noticed that ‘over 30 minutes’ makes a big difference

Here you can already make a practice schedule like the one Itzhak Perlman recommends: 10 minutes of scales, 10 minutes of etude or exercise and 10 minutes of pieces.

1 hour a day

This is really the minimum you need when you want to maintain your current level and want to improve in the long run.

Very young children or adults with some physical challenges should practice less or divide up the hour into two or three chunks divided over the day.

1,5 to 2 hours a day

Great to get good progress on your instrument. You can do scales, exercises and etudes and have enough time to work on your repertoire and orchestra scores.

Serious teenagers who prepare for a professional career, but are still in school, can practice something like this.

Lots of great concert violinists, like Janine Jansen don’t practice more than 2 hours a day, but please note that they probably don’t count concert and rehearsals as ‘practice time’. Their ‘play time’ is probably longer.

“Practice with your fingers and you need all day. Practice with your mind and you will do as much in 1 1/2 hours.” – Leopold Auer

Auer was the teacher of Milstein, Heifetz and more great violin soloists. Yup, that’s a big disclaimer that practice time only ‘counts’ when it’s quality focussed practice and your brain is fresh enough to correct yourself and learn.

Mindless practice can even make your playing worse

Don’t just count hours and don’t feel guilty if you had a short, but super intense, practice session.

How many hours a day should you practice the violin? Here's how it relates to your progress: #violinist #violin Share on X

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Hi! I'm Zlata

Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.

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3 to 4 hours a day

Heifetz, probably the best violinist who ever lived, practiced no more than 3 hours a day and said excessive practice is just as bad as practicing too little.

Perlman, one of the best violinists of our time, advices a 3 hour practice schedule and advices against practicing more than 5 hours.

Average conservatory students practice 2 to 4 hours a day. Often they say they practice more of course ;).

When you’re practicing as long as this, it’s even more important to:

  • Take breaks so you refresh your brain and body to learn faster
  • Have a good practice schedule, where your scales, etudes and repertoire are related to each other
  • You’re fresh enough to analyze your mistakes, correct yourself and be creative in the ways you practice something. Not only endless mindless repetitions that will just make your mistakes more permanent. Be your own teacher!
  • You’re not hurting your body! In conservatory I sometimes practiced so long that things just got worse, because my brain and body were exhausted.

As soon as you notice you’re not improving things, but getting stuck or worse, just stop. Maybe it’s enough for the day or maybe you can continue after some stretching and a cup of cofffee.

Over 5 hours a day

Just let the quotes from Auer, Heifetz and Perlman above sink in and probably you’ll see you’ll have to work on the quality of your practice over the quantity.

Practicing longer doesn’t mean you’re working harder

You can do an extremely intense two hours session, where you thoroughly analyse your problems, make specific exercises for yourself and are super focussed on what you’re doing. You might be completely tired after those two hours.

You can also mindlessly repeat stuff you know without a clear purpose for five hours, post a picture of your horribly looking finger tips on Instagram and celebrate how ‘productive’ you’ve been.

Is your practice really focussed? Are you really stopping and correcting yourself while practicing?

When you have more time to spend, you can also listen to recordings with the sheet music at hand and work on your interpretation without your violin at hand.

What do you count as practice time?

Sometimes I have a day where I do my practice routine in the morning of two hours, have a three hour orchestra rehearsal in the afternoon and a two hour concert in the evening. Have I practiced for seven hours that day? No, I just count the two hours.

Of course you gain important experience in orchestra rehearsals and concerts, but you’re not really improving your own technique. You’re actually applying what you’ve learned in your practice sessions.

How much do YOU practice?

Share in the comments below how much you currently practice every day! Is something going to change after reading this article?

Wood vs Carbon Fiber Violin Bow: What’s the Best to Buy?

For centuries wood was the ONLY material available for making violin bows

Only in the last decades we discovered the possibilities of carbon fiber

Buying a bow is something very personal and just as important as buying a good violin

A bow can improve your sound quality, make developing your bowing technique easier and is an important tool of expression.

Your personal preference is very important. Some like a very jumpy and lively bow, because it’s more agile. Others like a ‘calmer’ bow that easily plays long even notes and doesn’t play you. Read my article about what to play when you’re selecting a bow for yourself. You might also like my other article with 19 (general!) checks to buy a violin bow.

There’s not ONE carbon bows feeling or sound vs ONE wood bow feeling or sound

When reading the following keep in mind that wood as well as carbon fiber bows are available in a variety of characters, feelings, makers, types and price classes. I’ll dive deeper into that below.

Now let’s dive into the differences between wood and carbon fiber, so you can find out what’s best to buy for you:

You might think violin bows are made of wood, because it was the best material

Nope! It was simply the ONLY available material for centuries

Mainly pernambuco wood was very popular, because it’s light, stiff and flexible. 

Currently pernambuco is an endangered tree

Pernambuco is not allowed to be chopped down anymore! Wood bows become lower and lower in quality and higher in price.

Besides the prices going up and up, there are some downsides to pernambuco and wood in general:

  • Wood reacts to changes in temperature and humidity by expanding, contracting and/or warping
  • Over time the shape of the bow can lose it’s camber, making lots of bowing techniques very hard to impossible
  • Wood bows are fragile and can break more easily than carbon fiber (for example a snap at the tip when it accidentally falls, which recently happened to the concert master of the orchestra I play in. Yup, in the dressing room right before a concert… ouch!)
  • Decent resonance, but not as good as high density carbon fiber (more on that below)

The other wood used for bows is called ‘brazil’ which doesn’t mean much and can be any kind of wood used in cheaper bows. The price is lower, but the downsides of wood are even more applicable to this lower quality wood.

However since 1900 there’s an entirely different problem with wood bows…

 

 

The REAL reason why wood bows are becoming less and less popular

A short history of violin bows

The wood bows that are still widely used today stem from a time when pure gut strings with NO windings were played. The first steel strings were made at the end of the 19th Century, when metal windings became available which allowed to play much more powerful. They became necessary because concerts were no longer played in the small halls of the nobility but in the new large public halls that were being built in the western world at the time. Steel strings became possible only with the technological advances at the end of the 19th Century high tensile steel wires became available.

These new strings were much heavier than gut strings and allowed a much stronger technique. While pure gut violin strings can stand a force of only 2 Newton (200 grams), metal wound strings can take about 3 Newton. But that was not what the Tourte bows were designed for.

When gut strings were replaced by metal winded strings around 1900, violinists had to make up all kinds of work arounds to perform the bowing techniques they want

Soft bows with hard strings… very difficult!

All through the 19th and 20th centuries great efforts were made to develop a stronger bow. Vuillaume developed a metal tube bow of wich his workshop made and sold several thousand pieces and was also the preferred bow of Nicolo Paganini. This and later metal bows proved to be too fragile because the walls were only paper-thin.

Read more about the history of the violin bow in this article.

Wood vs Carbon Fiber Violin Bow: What's the Best to Buy? #violinbow #carbonfiberviolinbow #violinist #violin Share on X

Hi! I'm Zlata

Let me help you find a great bow for your violin, so you can improve your bowing technique and sound quality:

Learn More

Hi! I'm Zlata

Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.

READ MORE

Luckily in the last decades there’ve been some very interesting developments in carbon fiber

We can make bows that are lighter, stiffer and better resonating than was ever possible with wood

A tube made from high-density carbon fiber could provide significant improvements over pernambuco.

Not ALL carbon fiber bows are better than wood bows!

Some carbon bows are made for 25% out of carbon fiber. The other materials are mainly epoxy. That doesn’t resonate well and causes a dull sound lacking badly in overtones.

Good quality carbon fiber bows are made for around 60% of carbon fiber and offer much better resonance. They offer better quality bows for a lot less money than wood bows. Think of brands like CodaBow, JonPaul and Müsing.

Only high-density carbon fiber bows, with 80% carbon fiber like Arcus bows, offer better sound and playability than pernambuco. They offer something extra and special above wood bows.

Ideal weight of a violin bow

A violin bow with a clip in frog like those used until the early 19th Century weighs only about 40 grams. Its agility allows Bach and Mozart to be played with the appropriate delicacy. The heavy romantic Tourte bows ended up with a weight of about 60 grams. The ideal weight that allows a violinist to play the entire repertoire is half way between the two extremes, at around 50 grams.

We think a light bow is weak and wobbly. With wood bows we are used to compromise between light and wobbly or stiff and heavy. With carbon fiber we can make bows that are light AND stiff, making it easy to perform all bowing techniques and all repertoire.

General characteristics of carbon fiber violin bows:

  • Great value for money compared to wood bows. Below $ 100 you can have a decent bow like this one and for around $ 1,000 you can get an all round performance bow, like this one. This is unthinkable with wood bows.
  • They won’t expand, contract, warp or break as easily as wood bows. They are much stronger and less influenced by temperature and humidity.
  • You don’t lack character or feeling. Carbon fiber bows come in just as much types and classes as wood bows.
  • Higher range carbon bows like Arcus offer a combination of resonance, weight and stiffness you can’t find in wood bows. This makes jumping bowing techniques, arpeggio’s and fast string crossings much easier.

Yeah, Zlata, this theory all sounds nice, but I want to hear it before I believe it!

As a curious classically trained violinist I wanted to put all this to the test

I’ve tested and reviewed carbon fiber violin bows from $ 29 up to $ 8,000 and everything in between by the brands Fiddlerman, CodaBow, Müsing, JonPaul and Arcus. Yup, all the big makers and innovators! (and a random eBay bow)

I hired a cameraman and found the amazing concert violinist Giedrė Mundinaitė-Leenhouwers (who has an exquisite bowing technique and a great nose for good bows) available to demonstrate and discuss all of these bows.

The result is a beautiful e-book with tons of information, reviews and demonstration videos. It

Get my FREE Guide to Buying a Violin Bow

Top 3 Violin Practice Mutes to Study Silently

A lot of violin players struggle that they can’t find the right time to practice and are afraid they bother others

A practice mute is the perfect solution!

By placing the mute on the bridge of your violin, you add some weight and block the resonance. You can reduce the sound quite a bit.

There are two types of mutes: practice mutes and orchestra mutes

Practice mutes are heavier and made to study without bothering your neighbours with your playing. Orchestra mutes are made for gentle muting when playing ‘con sordino’ in an orchestra. This article is about practice mutes. Check out my review video on orchestra mutes right here.

How about a silent violin?

Silent violins are electric violins that aren’t silent at all ;). You’ll always hear the sound of the bow over the strings and the instrument will always have some sort of resonance. A normal (acoustic) violin with a heavy mute is just as ‘silent’ as a silent violin. A mute costs around $ 5 to $ 15, while a decent electric violin starts at around $ 500.

Don’t buy a silent violin to practice as it’s an unnecesarily expensive solution. Of course if you’d like to use effects and amplify yourself in a band, knock yourself out with an electric violin.

Disclaimer: Don’t practice with a mute all the time!

Your ‘situation normal’ on the violin should be to play without mute. Your bowing and tone creation skills should be based on the normal sound of the violin. A mute muffles away little mistakes and you might start playing too rough or too loud.

When the sound of your violin without mute starts to surprise you, it’s time to practice more without mute

Some beginners aren’t used to the loud sound of the violin right under your ear. They start muting from the beginning and in this way you don’t learn to play well. Yup, you need to get used to some decibels right under your ear when you’re violin player. And yes, you need to learn to color your sound so it pleases your ears.

Don’t use a mute when you just don’t like how your violin sounds

This is not a good solution. How will you perform? When your violin is too loud or shrill, consider experimenting with warm sounding strings, getting yourself another bow or perhaps even getting a different violin.

Get my violin fingering chart with the exact spots of ALL notes for FREE!

Yes, send it to me!

Hi! I'm Zlata

Classical violinist helping you overcome technical struggles and play with feeling by improving your bow technique.

READ MORE

No 1 Fiddlerman Iron Violin Practice Mute

fiddlerman violin practice muteDon’t be scared by the iron, because it’s covered in a layer of rubber. However, always adjust the mute to the thickness of your bridge and make sure that it’s placed firmly (not too firm). The mute can shake off of your violin because of the vibrations and it can damage your instrument when falling. Be a bit careful.

This is a heavy mute, but you’ll still have a realistic sound from your violin, so you can use it very well to practice. It’s not as muffled as a rubber mute (see below) or as shrill sounding as a brass or metal mute.

Buy the Fiddlerman Mute

No 2 Ultra Violin Practice Mute

ultra violin practice muteIt gives your violin a nice warm and mellow sound and it mutes quite well. Considering the low price of around $ 5, this is one of the most popular violin practice mutes. As it’s made completely out of rubber, it can’t damage your instrument.

It’s great if you just want to try out playing with a mute and it doesn’t mute too heavy.

A bit of a warning here: it makes the sound of your violin quite different, so don’t get used to this sound by practicing enough without the mute.

If you notice you need more heavy muting, go for the Fiddlerman mute or a full metal mute.

Buy the Ultra Mute

No 3 Brass Violin Practice Mute

brass metal violin practice muteIf you need the highest level of muting, go for a full metal or brass mute.

Please note that metal can easily slide off of your bridge and damage your instrument. It doesn’t ‘stick’ like rubber. Be careful when using this type of mute.

Personally I don’t like the sound of these mutes, because it can sound very soft, but shrill. It’s isn’t that much softer than the Fiddlerman mute, which gives a very natural sound, so please think if you really need this high level of muting.

Because it makes the sound of your violin different and mutes heavily, don’t practice too much with a mute like this. It can really mess up your bowing and tone creation.

However, if you really need to practice some scales for intonation purposes, you can use this one.

Buy a Brass Mute
Top 3 Violin Practice Mutes to Study Silently #violinist #violin Share on X

Do you use a practice mute?

I’d love to read all about what mute you chose and your experiences in the comments below!