You’re NOT too old and it’s NOT too late!

You can learn to play the violin beautifully as an adult beginner

I’ll help you every step along the way. On this page you’ll learn to buy your first violin, tune your violin, hold the violin and bow properly, play scales and beginner songs. You can learn all online by yourself at your own pace.

What do you need to start playing the violin?

You need a violin (duh) with a chinrest and shoulder rest, violin bow, rosin, violin case and music stand.

Best cheap beginner violins to buy online

Most violins you buy online come with a chinrest, case, bow and rosin. You need to buy the shoulder rest and music stand separately (or play without).

As an adult beginner, look for a 4/4 size violin

From my experience working in a violin shop for over 12 years and teaching the violin for over 15 years, I’ve selected the best beginner violins:

• Here’s how I play the Bruch concerto on a $ 29 violin showing you can get a violin within any budget
• Can YOU hear the difference between this cheap, but awesome $ 67 violin and my antique violin?
• Here’s a good quality $ 200 violin that sounds great and you can play for years
• For $ 500 this is absolutely the best beginner violin I’ve found online

Oh no, my new violin doesn’t sound!

No worries! First tighten your violin bow, rosin it and tune your violin:

As a beginner violinist tuning might seem a bit intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be.

With my free online violin tuner you can learn to tune your violin easily. As it has a microphone, it recognizes the string and tells you if it’s too high or too low. You can tune small increments with the fine tuners and if your violin is very out of tune you can use the pegs.

On this page I explain exactly how to do it. Also you can read all about other ways of tuning like with tuning notes or with a tuning fork and what the pros and cons are of each.

I’ve made a complete beginner violin course that teaches you step by step from scratch to your first concerto including video lessons, sheet music and violin tabs.

You’ll learn Mary has a little lamb, Father Jacob, Twinkle twinkle, Old MacDonald, Lightly row and the Ode to Joy theme by Beethoven. Also I teach you scale exercises, so you can play them all beautifully in tune.

Yes, you can learn yourself to play the violin

Not everybody has access to a private teacher. Sure, a teacher gives you faster progress and can prevent you from learning bad habits. As a private teacher myself I want the violin to be accessible for everyone, so I do my best to teach you with my free online violin lessons.

#1 Spend plenty of time on proper violin hold and bow hold

This will save you a lot of struggles and time in the future. The hold of your violin and bow determine if you can make progress.

#2 Practice on open strings

Don’t move to placing your fingers on the strings too early. First make sure that you can get a good sound from the violin on open strings. This is hard to correct if your attention is divided. Lots of self learning violin beginners get stuck, because they move on too quickly. Hold your horses!

#3 Follow a step by step plan with scales, exercises and songs

You can find thousands of violin lessons online on YouTube, but if you don’t know in which order to take them, you’ll only feel overwhelmed and stuck.

In my free online beginner course I give you a step by step plan from a century long European tradition. It teaches you from scratch ALL the way to your first concerto. Click here to join 12,500 students from 50+ countries in my free beginner violin lessons.

More practice tips:

• More self study tips to play the violin fast
• 10 mins or 5 hours? How much should you practice the violin?
• Note reading crash course
• 20 best violin teachers on YouTube

Free Violin Fingering Chart

Explore the whole fingerboard of the violin:

You’re an advanced violinist when you’re comfortable with:

• Vibrato
• Shifting also to higher positions
• Different bow techniques like spiccato and staccato

Download my violin lesson library:

Traditional Tunes Violin Lessons

• Are you Sleeping? (Father Jacob)
• Happy Birthday
• Lightly Row with extra pinky practice and normal Suzuki version
• Old MacDonald had a Farm
• Peter Cottontail (here comes)
• Shenandoah
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Pop Music Violin Lessons

• La Vie en Rose by Edith Piaf
• Masquerade by Lindsey Stirling

Hymns Violin Lessons

• Amazing Grace mini lesson
• Amazing Grace full tutorial
• Amazing Grace (intermediate version)
• Blessed Assurance
• Holy, Holy, Holy
• Just as I Am
• Nearer my God to Thee

Fiddle Tunes Violin Lessons

• Morisson’s Jig
• Ashokan Farewell by Jay Ungar
• Bandura Waltz Ukrainian fiddle tune

Christmas Songs Violin Lessons

• Angels we have Heard on High (easy version)
• Angels we have Heard on High (intermediate version)
• Away in a Manger
• 12 Days of Christmas
• God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (easy version)
• God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (intermediate version)
• Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
• I wish you a Merry Christmas
• Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring
• Jingle Bells
• Joy to the World
• Let it Snow by Frank Sinatra
• Mary, Did You Know?
• O Christmas Tree
• Oh Holy Night
• Silent Night
• We Three Kings
• What Child is This? (easy version)
• What Child is This? (Intermediate version)
• While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

I’m adding new online violin lessons almost daily, so make sure to SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube channel: