Our fantastic list of string instruments with pictures is the perfect resource to help expand your child's musical knowledge. Encourage an early interest in

Knowing which violin string is best can be confusing. This article clears up any questions you might have and helps you find the right strings for you.

Improve your violin bowing with these free mini open string workouts. Work on bow control, tone, string crossing, and more.

This article describes what notes are on the E string on the violin. It is illustrated with charts, which can be downloaded.

I've recently started to make some fun coloring pages for my young beginners as a take-home reenforcement for what they have been learning in the lessons. These are partly just for fun, but there is some educational benefit as well. I'd like to share a free printable coloring page with you today. This coloring page helps teach the letter names of the violin strings using animals for each string, as follows: G: Giraffe D: Dolphin A: Ape E: Eagle I chose these particular animals because I thought they would be familiar to most young kids. (I decided against using an eastern quoll.) I also chose animals with beginning sounds similar to how the name of the actual letter sounds. For example, I chose giraffe (instead of gorilla) because it has a soft "G" at the beginning, similar to the way the name of the letter "G" is pronounced. I chose eagle (instead of elephant) because the beginning sound is a long "E", like we would pronounce the name of the letter. This seems to pose less confusion to very young pre-reading students who are not as familiar with alternative sounds that letters can make. Additionally, I chose animals that might be useful in explaining the size relationship of the strings. For example, giraffes are very big and tall! Just like the G is the biggest string. Eagles are the smallest of those four animals, and E string is the smallest string. Also, Eagles fly way up high in the sky, and the E string note is way up high. I hope your students enjoy this as much as mine have. I don't know any young kids who don't love coloring, and this is a great way to reenforce what was taught in the lesson and help the kids remember the names of the strings. Click here to download your own violin strings coloring page! Enjoy!

String players need to constantly evaluate their technique to ensure that correct posture and ergonomics are in place to alleviate force, stress, or tension.

In this blog, let’s discuss some of the best violin strings by level so that you can find the right string for your instrument!

The Violin Note Speller for Beginners includes 26 worksheets and an answer key. Notes are introduced one string at a time. Master note names with beginners!

String bass adds distinctive rhythm and harmonic elements to every kind of music–from classical to jazz to rock–making it one of the coolest instruments around!

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It's finally finished - my book for teaching shifting in string orchestra! I started working on this last year because I HATED teaching shifting in my orchestra class. The method books I used had shifting exercises for my 2nd year players, but I found that my students would get frustrated trying to play those pages because they weren't ready. Students need time to internalize the motions for shifting and they needed simple exercises to help them learn to read notes in a new position. I haven't been able to depend on standard method books for teaching shifting because the exercises in those books move too quickly. They contain tricky rhythms which draw student focus away from the task at hand...shifting! I found myself skipping sections about shifting and feeling guilty that my students were not proficient in that area. My frustrations with teaching shifting changed last year when I started using many of the exercises in this book with my 2nd year students. I also switched method books...I now use String Explorer book 1 for my beginners because that book takes students further in technique than any other book. For my 2nd year players, I use String Basics book 2. It's not very hard...we get through the book in about 1/2 a year. Students get really good at playing flats and extensions - which is my goal for them during their 2nd year. Then we have time to take a break from our method book and focus on shifting for a term. I didn't spend tons of time each day....maybe 5-10 minutes. It didn't take long for my students to play in 3rd position with great intonation. My 3rd year students are using String Basics book 3 -which contains a lot of 3rd position. After using the exercises in 'Exploring Shifting for String Orchestra,' I feel my students will now be well-prepared to easily master the shifting regimen in book 3. Here's my favorite part about teaching shifting to my 2nd year players.....it helps the students stay super motivated! I purchased a couple of pieces for them to play that had some shifting: 'American Princess' by Bob Phillips and 'Impact' by Bob Phillips. Both pieces are gorgeous and I played the audio for my students so they would really want to learn the music. My class fell in love with both pieces and they were willing to work hard to master them to sound amazing. The great thing about those pieces is that every section of the orchestra gets to shift and the melodies and harmonies are fun to play in position! I even got out a cello and learned the cello part myself because the music is so beautiful. Thanks to the shifting work we had done, my students excelled at learning our concert music. It was a lot of work..don't get me wrong....but they were able to do it with great intonation and musical phrasing. When we performed, I was in tears, the audience was in tears, and students felt such a sense of accomplishment. It is now one of my happiest performance memories and I'm so proud of my students....and it all started with a willingness to teach shifting in a way that all students could achieve success. My book contains a 50 page teacher manual with tips for teaching shifting and 18 page student books for violin, viola, cello and bass (123 pages total). I am not selling a hard printed copy of this book. You can purchase a PDF downloadable version HERE or HERE. The beauty of a printable book is that you can print as many as you need for your entire class at a very low price. You can also pick and choose which pages to do if you don't want to use the entire book. It is a lot cheaper to print your own shifting workbook than to buy a hard copy of a book for every student. Also if you find any errors, feel free to email me and I will fix it and re-send the file. I'm the first to admit that I'm not a bass player. Bass shifting can get pretty crazy. I have some really smart bass students in my class who enjoyed figuring out higher positions. For my bass players that are slower learners, I allowed them to change fingerings and play more in 1st position. As a teacher, you can change/adjust fingerings as needed depending on student ability levels. Read the preface for more info about the book and a sample of the first couple pages below:

In this blog, let’s discuss some of the best violin strings by level so that you can find the right string for your instrument!

Work your shoulder weight to gain speed, accuracy, and powerby Laurel Thomsen The Problem: You’re not getting power in your strokes after sloppy string crossings. The Solution: Sharpen your awarene…

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Download 8 FREE violin fingering charts in PDF to get an overview. Click here for charts that show all violin fingerings, notes and more!

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Professor of violin at Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, with some exercises to improve your left-hand articulation

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While string instruments are often considered classical, musicians have found new ways to create unique sounds. Read on and see how string music is evolving.

Scaled to fit 4/4 size violin with a playing length of 13 inches (328mm), these medium tension strings are optimized to the needs of a majority of players. Packaged in uniquely-designed sealed pouches providing unparalleled protection from the elements that cause corrosion. Prelude violin strings are manufactured using a solid steel core. Unaffected by temperature and humidity changes, they have excellent bow response. Prelude strings have the warmest sound available in an affordable, solid steel core string design. Prelude is the educator's preferred choice for student strings due to their unique blend of warm tone, durability, and value.

Left Hand Agility for Beginner Violinists in just 10 Minutes.

This Beginner bow hand strategy focus's on opening up the entire righ hand to, softening the fingers, and creating a nice open tunnel through the hand and thumb area. Having an open tunnel area gives the fingers and hand room to be flexible for smooth bow changes, bow bouncing, and fast bowing.

Minor maintenance of violins, violas and cellos can and should be done by the player. Know what you’re doing – including when to call a professional. All stringed instruments – violins, cellos

In the beginning, you learned the basics of violin bowing. Now that you’ve arrived at the intermediate-advanced level, here's how to step up your game.

Learn the difference between student and professional grade strings, and which one is right for your proficiency level to create the best possible sound. Sponsored by @Thomastik.Infeld.

I thought I would quickly share this fingering chart I made. I have been loving my dry erase packets and have been using them a lot in my class. (You can read about them HERE) I have a paper with a large staff inside my pockets right now, and I am going to use this fingering chart on the opposite side to help me teach new notes and to check for understanding. I realize that I did not leave a spot for all possible naturals and accidentals. That is because my beginners have tapes on their instruments and I want students to see how to find notes in relation to their tapes. If I ask them to label a C natural on the A string, I want them to see that the note is NOT on a tape and it requires an adjustment. Students will draw their own circles for those notes.

In the beginning, my cello lessons felt more like question and answer sessions because I would arrive at my lessons with a list of questions which would take up the entire lesson. I discovered that I was actually "leading" the lessons because of this! Not to say, that it's a bad idea to come with a list of questions, but to take up the entire lesson doing a question and answer session, lesson after lesson, wasn't very beneficial or efficient for the both of us. I decided that I wasn't going to ask a single question during one of my lessons. I don't know why I came up with that idea, I just did, I still wonder why I did that... I arrived at my lesson and said, "so what's the plan for today?" My guess is that he had been waiting to be given the reins because he dived right it! The lesson was well thought out and flowed very nicely! Anyway, that lesson (Lesson #11) was completely awesome! I learned more from that lesson than any other lesson I had up to that point. The next couple lessons were fun and informative as well. I was loving the flow of the lessons and enjoying my lessons so much, I decided to schedule one extra lesson per month just to go over my questions so I wouldn't interrupt the lesson flow with my big mouth! My lessons are so much more enjoyable now that my teacher has been able to lead my lesson progressions. Despite my thoughts of thinking I knew what I wanted from each lesson and how I should be taught, my teacher absolutely had a better idea on what I should be working on, which is probably the reason I’ve been able to learn and enjoy my lessons more. I found that a lot of my questions were eventually answered without my prompting. However, the questions that weren't answered, I've saved up and cover during my extra one-hour lesson per month. Lesson Notes: The questions I saved up were mostly from the Technique books & Theory Workbook I was working on. I requested to record some videos on some exercises I was working on so I could watch and listen to how the rhythm is played. We recorded the exercises of him doing them. 1) Finger Exercises for the Cello, Book One Exercises 2 and 4. Exercise # 3 was similar to the first so we didn’t record that one. Adam recommended that I use a metronome - have I mentioned I have real difficulty using a metronome? It confuses me even more! We went over Bow Rhythms for Week 2 – I’m still really weak on rhythm, or at least reading it and getting it into my cello. 2) Beginning Technique for Cello From Week 2 (Sliding Practice) - Sliding on the cello or Glissando was new to me so we went over how to do this: Keep the elbow high enough so it can easily pass over the cello, but not too high. Questions from the book All For Strings Theory Workbook 1: Ack... music theory makes my brain hurt! I don't think I'm quite ready for this information yet. I think I'll have to hear it a few more times before I can understand it! I definitely did not understand everything we went over. I’m also not 100% certain that my notes below are correct…. 1) What are “Whole Steps and Half Steps” or “Whole Tones and Semi Tones (Half Tone)” These terms mean the same thing: Whole Steps are the same as Whole Tones. Half Steps are the same as Semi Tones and Half Tones. Why use different terms to mean the same thing? It's a consipiracy to confuse me even more! :) I’ll use the terms Whole Tone and Semi Tone since that is what my teacher uses. How do I know if it's a Whole Tone versus a Semi Tone? Without looking at a keybaord, I can apply this to all Major Scales, I just need to remember: WT, WT, ST, WT, WT, WT, ST WT = Whole Tone ST = Semi Tone/Half Tone Also, remember that E to F sharp and E to C sharp is a Whole Tone A whole tone is made up of two half steps and is the distance from one key to another with one key in between. With a keyboard: Count how many times before I can get to the next white key to determine if it is a Whole Tone or Semi Tone. A whole tone is made up of two half steps, and is the distance from one key to another with one key in between. If I count 2 keys, than its a Whole Tone (WT). If I can count only 1 key, going from a white key to another white key, than it's a Semi Tone (ST) Counting left to right below: 2) What is a Tetrachord? A tetrachord is a four note scale. A major tetrachord has a 1/2 step between the 3rd and 4th notes and forms the first four or last four notes of a major scale. Below is the C Major Scale. If I divide it down the middle, the first section makes one tetrachord and the other half becomes the second tetrachord: 3) How do I write in notes for a 4/4 signature? Incorrect – the half note cannot be in the middle (not the proper form). Correct – 3 ways this can be written: Miscellaneous Questions: 1) Getting to the C String I was having some issues reaching my C string and found that my wrist was bending too much, which I knew was wrong. He recommended that I raise my elbow more to reach the C-String. Do not move my elbow forward - it should move upward towards the ceiling. Imagine that I have a steel rod through my wrist and it cannot bend. 2) Finger Chart In a previous lesson he recommended that I get familiar with the cello finger chart because it would help as I progress through my studies. If going up (moving from C to A string) – then the notes will be the same. If going down (moving from A to C string) – than the note will be the next octave. Cellists use different fingerings on the cello to “color” their playing. He also said 2nd Position and 3rd Position are debatable because cellists may start with different notes than the one listed above.

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Glissando is a fun technique used in many music genres. The violin glissando is an expressive ornament where the performer slides from one pitch to another.

Download 8 FREE violin fingering charts in PDF to get an overview. Click here for charts that show all violin fingerings, notes and more!

All major aspects of violin chords, from understanding what chords are, to recommended practice techniques to learn them, with PDF charts.