Lessons

All right, so you want to learn to play the violin! First things first, you must make sure you are properly set up!

  • Purchase a violin – You won’t get far without one of these! Here you can purchase starter violins ranging 49.95 and up. Now, obviously a $50 dollar violin won’t sound and play like a $500, $5,000 or even a $50,000 instrument, but we aren’t ready for an expensive instrument yet anyways! Sometimes you can really luck out, I have come across violins purchased at anywhere from $12-$100 that sounded as good or better than some $300 violins that I used to retail at a music store!
  • Find a local violin shop and ask them to set up a “Don’t Fret” for you. The “Don’t Fret” system is an easy way to mark finger tape positions, so that you won’t have to do so much guess work in the beginning.
  • Find either a musician friend or the same violin shop to tune your instrument for you.

You’re all set! You are now ready to begin your first lesson!

Lesson 1 – You don’t need your violin for this one, just some basics.

Lesson 2 – String names, pizzicato (plucking) and some basic theory.

Lesson 3 – Fingered notes on the D string and bow hold.

Lesson 4 – Fingered notes on the A string and bow exercises.

Lesson 5 – Review Dreidel and introduce familiar tunes. The bow is right around the corner!

Lesson 6 – Introduction to Bowing.

Lesson 7 – Bowing Exercises

Lesson 8 – Eighth Notes

Lesson 9 – Half Notes, 1st and 2nd Endings, Left Hand Pizzicato

Lesson 10 – Introduction to the 4th Finger

Lesson 11 – Song Demos and Notes on the G String – Coming Soon!

Bonus!

Bonus 1 – How to Set up a Kun Shoulder Rest

Bonus 2 – Allison Krause – Now That I Found You Solo

Bonus 3 – How to Use a Korg MA-30 Metronome

Bonus 4 – Question Response: Stop Unwanted Bouncing of the Bow

Bonus 5 – Question Response: Keep all the Fingers Down?

Bonus 6 – How to Tune Your Instrument (Coming Soon!)