Is Violin Hard To Learn? (Read This Before Starting) (2023)

FAQs

How hard is it to learn violin by yourself? ›

While the violin is a difficult instrument to learn, it is by no means impossible! With hard work, determination, and lots of practice, you'll find yourself making progress week after week. Learning violin does not take hours of practice every day. Setting aside even 20 minutes a day will help you make progress!

You can make a lot of progress in just a few years if you practice hard and stay committed to learning the violin. It is reasonable to expect to reach a fairly 'professional' level in 10 years. But even after reaching a professional level, you can still improve!

In your third year, you'll solidify all the notes in first position, and become comfortable playing in flat keys. Your bowing will become more complex and varied, and you'll begin to grasp double stops and triplets.

Of course you can! Although I don't recommend it, as long as you know the notes on the instrument, you can play it.

Though there are a variety of resources for learning violin without a teacher, many of those resources will actually advocate for working with a teacher. With enough time, practice, and patience, you can learn violin on your own. However, you will not be able to replicate the role of an experienced teacher.

You are never too old and it is never too late to start learning the violin. While learning the violin can be a lot of fun at any age, there are some important reasons why learning the violin as an adult is even more fun, making right now the perfect time to learn!

The violin can be a challenging instrument to learn, especially as an adult, so it's important that you find a teacher who has experience teaching adult learners.

The Verdict: The Right Age for Violin Lessons

If your child is motivated and able to focus, between the ages of 5-7 is the ideal time to start violin lessons. But don't be put off if your child is a little younger or older. Talk to the music center or teacher and get their recommendation.

As you're first learning to play violin, focus your attention on perfecting your posture and bowing technique. Little details like how your pinky rests on your bow, the shape of your wrist, and the way you stand can have a monumental impact on how you sound.

Is 2 hours violin practice a day enough? ›

One hour will give you enough time to make good progress, as long as your violin practice is deliberate, effective, and not simply a mindless repetition of things. If you're an advanced player and want to make real progress, you can do 1.5 to 2 or more hours a day.

One of the tried and true beginner violin tips is to play simple scales in first position. This trains your fingers to understand where they belong on the fingerboard in relation to the other fingers, and it trains your ear to hear each note as it should be played.

That said, you can affix a practice mute (a piece of rubber or metal) under the bridge of the instrument to significantly reduce the vibration of the strings, and hence the overall volume. This is a good option for those okay with a little bit of sound emanating from the instrument.

The true difficulty of violin playing lies in executing the bow strokes with precision. A violinist must simultaneously control the angle of the bow and pressure applied to its hair. If you add only a tiny bit too much pressure, you will hear a scratching sound.

3 days a week: can work in the very beginning

For very young students with a short concentration span, it can work to practice three times a week to learn the basics. For an adult amateur three quality practice sessions a week might maintain your current level.

Violin is said to be there toughest instrument to play. If one have good dedication in learning violin with pure heart, her/she can learn very soon. Cramping and playing can be learned within 6 months of continues practicing for 1hr daily.

How much does a good violin cost? A good violin for a beginner costs about $500. A good intermediate violin will cost ca. $1,000-2,000 while a good violin for a professional violinist may cost anything between $5,000 and $50,000.

Anyone can learn to play the violin, at any age. Mastering a new skill, regardless of what it is, always involves desire, discipline and determination; and learning violin is no different. Your age does have a factor in how quickly you'll be able to adapt to the instrument.

What is easiest instrument to play? ›

Practicing slowly is crucial, especially when you are learning a new piece. When practicing a particular passage, slow it down enough so that you're able to play everything correctly (no wrong notes, no out-of-tune notes, no fumbling with the bow). Keep your rhythms proportional as you slow down the music.

Playing second violin is more difficult from the musical point of view, because it needs both the ability to sympathise with that lower register and assume that slightly darker colour of the viola, and then the ability to take the soloist's role. '

Physical Benefits of Learning the Violin

And the benefits of learning violin for adults include these physical attributes as well as maintaining muscle memory, posture, fine motor skills, and muscle stimulation. These benefits all contribute to a healthy lifestyle and mind-body alignment.

An instrument's level of difficulty to learn is a significant consideration when choosing a musical instrument. The violin is harder to learn than the piano as the player must learn to play in tune with a pleasant sound. With the keyboard, pitch, and fundamental aspects of sound quality, are built-in.

Playing the violin is not easier than playing the guitar. The reason for that is that even though you are playing only one note at a time (as opposed to multiple notes on the guitar), finding the notes on a violin is a lot harder. There are no frets on the violin, which makes it hard to play in tune.

Piano is much easier than violin to start with. You still need a teacher for good technique, but you can get them in later when you have some basic competence. Piano also sets up a lot of skills (musical score, for instance) which are generally portable to other instruments, so it's a pretty good choice.

Learning to play the violin is a good choice for beginners because it is versatile, can be played solo or in a group, and can be used in a variety of musical genres. Players learn to coordinate both hands at the same time to create the sound, which studies have shown to improve cognitive skills across the board.

The words fiddle and violin are two names for the same stringed instrument—fiddle is just an informal way of referring to the violin. In the context of classical music, it's typically called a violin. In a bluegrass band, it's more likely to be called a fiddle.

If you're a beginner, it's probably a good idea to take at least two lessons per week. If you are an intermediate student or above, one lesson per week is probably enough. But maybe that's not what works for your schedule (or your pocketbook).

Is it better to practice violin sitting or standing? ›

Standing can be good for posture and for exercise. But, it also can be tiring. If you are practicing long hours, you might need to sit for some of that. Sitting might also be necessary to accommodate physical difficulties.

The most common pains involve the upper part of the body: the back, the shoulders and the cervical spine (upper part of the spine). These physical pains result from an unnatural posture adopted by the violinist or the violist. They impose on their body a position and physical constraints that cause pain.

The best violin exercise is to play a whole note on an open string. The open string will be more responsive to any changes in your bow speed, and you'll hear inconsistencies quickly. Practice this exercise on first position notes as well, and with equal attention to up-bows as well as down.

Reduced Stress

Lower levels of depression, anxiety, and other stress related health problems. Playing the violin is an excellent stress reliever and a great way to enlarge your social circle.

If you arrange your violin practice in smarter ways, a regimen that includes at least 30-60 minutes per day will deliver expressive results.

“However, when a violin is not being played, it shuts down. The wood isn't resonating on a regular basis, and it gets harder to coax that wood into resonating. And frankly, when a violin is being played badly, it also shuts down. ”

Learning an instrument on your own isn't an impossible a task, even an instrument as complicated as the violin can be learnt without a violin teacher. Holding the bow, positioning your fingers on a violin string, adopting the right posture... these are all things you can learn.

Violin lessons boost memory and mental capacities.

It can also improve your reading skills, language processing, speech and attention span. Research has found that children and teens who play the violin have stronger verbal and visual pattern abilities than those playing other instruments.

The cello might be slightly easier to learn, due to its repertoire and more natural holding position. However, both instruments have similar difficulties in technique and sound production, and neither have frets. When it comes to mastering an instrument, they both should be considered equally hard.

One hour will give you enough time to make good progress, as long as your violin practice is deliberate, effective, and not simply a mindless repetition of things. If you're an advanced player and want to make real progress, you can do 1.5 to 2 or more hours a day.

How easy is it for adults to learn violin? ›

The violin can be a challenging instrument to learn, especially as an adult, so it's important that you find a teacher who has experience teaching adult learners.

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.

The most effective practice routines include five or more days of practice each week. However, recreational violin players will probably enjoy a more relaxed practice schedule of three to four days a week.

Violin Bow Hold and Posture

As you're first learning to play violin, focus your attention on perfecting your posture and bowing technique. Little details like how your pinky rests on your bow, the shape of your wrist, and the way you stand can have a monumental impact on how you sound.

If you arrange your violin practice in smarter ways, a regimen that includes at least 30-60 minutes per day will deliver expressive results.

1. Violin. The violin is a wooden stringed instrument that's part of a larger family of similar instruments. It's the smallest and highest-pitched instrument in its family and normally has four strings, although some violins can have five.

The true difficulty of violin playing lies in executing the bow strokes with precision. A violinist must simultaneously control the angle of the bow and pressure applied to its hair. If you add only a tiny bit too much pressure, you will hear a scratching sound.

Many students wonder, which instrument is more difficult: the violin or cello? People who have tried both cello and violin tend to say the cello is less difficult due to its more natural position. The position of the violin can feel awkward at first, however advanced violinists insist that it becomes natural over time.