Details of playing the violin. This page explains violin hold, violin bow hold, violin intonation, violin bowing techniques, and violin position. See our techniques to get the violin bow hold and violin bowing correct. Check some of the good violin tutor lessons online and violin instruction books available on how to play the violin.

Playing the violin starts with two important steps, the violin hold and the violin bow hold. It's very important to pay attention to good posture and right technique at your onset before it is too late to correct. 

Before holding the violin bow,  here  is a detailed drawing of the the bow. Furthermore, refer the figure below where the fingers are numbered.

Step 1: Hold the violin bow with your left hand so that your right hand is free.

Step 2: Start by placing the bent thumb to the bottom of the stick. The tip of thumb touches near the cutout of frog where the frog and the stick meet. 

Step 3: The middle finger is dropped across the stick, wherein the second joint of middle finger rests on or is very close to the metal wound part of the lower bow. For proper balance of the bow, it is important that the thumb and middle finger are opposite, and they form a circle.

Step 4: Place the ring finger close to the middle finger and dropped over the stick. The tip of the ring finger should be in contact with side of the frog.

Step 5: Place index finger on the bow at 1st joint. The index finger is used to add pressure to the bow strokes or release the pressure.

Step 6: The little finger also known as the pinkie should rest next to the ring finger and  remains rounded and in contact with the bow. In modern style of bowing (as shown in the figure below), the pinkie should not rest on the screw whereas in russian style, the pinkie rests on the screw.

If you are a beginner violinist having started the violin lessons in one or two years, you may find it to difficult even to attempt many of the famous violin concertos or pieces.

Here is a list of easy violin solo pieces for you to start with. 

1) Twinkle  and Bach minuette from suzuki book 1. Suzuki violin books

2) Air on G string by Bach. Air on G string by Bach3) Most of the violin notes from Suzuki book 2

4) Oskar Rieding's Concerto in B minor. Oskar Rieding's Concerto in B minor

5)  Solo Time for Strings by Forest Etling. Solo Time for Strings by Forest Etling   


 Intonation and Rhythm

Two factors that are vital for playing the violin are intonation and rhythm. Intonation is the sense of tone or realization of correct pitch and rhythm can be roughly said as teh beat of the music. The speed of the beat is the tempo. The tempo is usually measured in "beats per minute" (bpm). 120 bpm means a speed of two beats per second. Many people finds it difficult to memorize the beat mentioned in violin music while simultaneously working on the correct intonation using their left hand fingures. Metronomes are used to provide a steady beat throughout the music. Earlier metronomes where based on the pendulum clock principle. The pendulum rod swings back and forth like that of a clock and the metronome produce a clicking sound on each swing of the rod. Wittner Wood Metronome Mahogany is a nice pendulum type metronome available for those interested in the mechanical type. Most other metronomes are electronic. Boss DB-30 Dr. Beat Metronome,Sabine Zipbeat-6000 Digital Metronome, Korg MA-30 Digital Metronome, Qwik Time QT-7 Quartz Metronome ( this is  good except  battery down problems), Korg MM-1     MetroGnome ( so small - can be clipped to the ear)  Korg TM-40 Digital Tuner Metronome ( this is a tuner and a metronome) are all recommended.

When learning how to play the violin, beginner violinists and students who do not have the sense of perfect tone can use tapes or markings placed on the fingerboard for correct placement of the left hand fingers when they start. More experienced violin players depend on their sense of tone (intonation) to position the fingers at the exact place. Violin positions refers to the placement of left hand fingers on the finger board. The following figure shows the First position which is used by most beginners. Intial violin studies would be based on the first position. Further study brings the student to the second and third positions. Second positiion refers to moving the hand up the neck so that first finger takes the place of second finger. Moving the first finger to the position of the third finger in first-position brings the third position. Violin Wall Chart is recommended as a quick reference of finger positions. It provides finger-pattern drawings for all twelve major scales in first position and movable patterns for higher positions.


The Following resources are recommended for beginner to intermediate level violinists.   


 Basics by Simon Fischer  is for every type of violinist, a beginner or an intermediate or an advanced. If you have to buy a single book for violin, Basics by Simon Fischer might be the one. Great photos and illustration with focussing on specific areas of violin technique.
                                      
ABCs of violin for the absolute beginner violin book 1  by Janice Tucker Rhoda.
This book is highly recommended for a beginner violinist, but is complete  with the performance and play-along CD from same author (listed above)

"Any one can play violin"  by Carol White.
This one is exceptional in the way it explains the violin positioning and bowing techniques.

"First Lessons violin book+CD+DVD"   by Craig Duncan. This book is also good and it has the compositions by great classical composers . 



For intermediate to advanced violinists and teachers the "Art of practicing violin by Robert Gerle is a valuable book .The author details the important aspects in practicing violin such as intonation, left hand practice, bowing, sight reading in high positions, mind control, memorization etc.

"Introducing The Positions, Volume 1"- Violin is a great book for an intermediate vioinist. This book introduces first,
thrid and fifth positions.

"Introducing The Positions, Volume 2"- Introduces Second, Fourth, Sixth and Seventh Positions

The Ultimate collection of violin methods and studies CDrom is a collection of studies based on popular method books, such as the Hohmann Practical Violin Method which is a series of exercises and studies to help you become a better violin player. This is a great CD which has 2000 printable pages, is rather inexpensive for the stuff and is highly recommended for any intermediate or advanced violinists.

Scale Studies For The Violin: This book is for intermediate students. It has 1 to 3 octave scales and arpegios in different keys.

Carl Flesch: Scale System If you are an advanced violinist this is one of the few books that you want. It has scales, arpeggios, double stops, and much more. This book is really  challenging for any intermediate violinists