Getting Started

Getting Started

How Often Should My Child Practice?

For the first term, 3 or 4 times a week for 5 - 10 minutes each session would be adequate.

For the second term, 3 or 4 times a week and aim for 12 - 15 minutes each session.

By the end of the first year your child should be doing 20 minute practice sessions, 3 or 4 times a week. 10 or 15 mins every day would be even better. Little and often is always better than 1 or 2 longer practices.
Avoid the long pre lesson panic practice!  This often happens when no other practice has been done earlier in the week.
Try to practice as soon after the lesson as possible. The lesson material will be fresh in his/her mind and your child will feel more confident.

Having difficulty building in regular practice sessions during the week?

Here's a tool I have found to be very successful. Sit your child down with paper and pencil and ask him/her tomake their own practice schedule.

Take an A4 piece of paper, write the days of the week across the top in columns with all the scheduled activities listed below on the appropriate days.  

These might include sporting activities, additional tuition, dance lessons etc. Ask your child to identify some windows of time to work violin practice into the weekly routine and write them in the schedule.  

If there are younger brothers or sisters at home then you may need to offer to occupy them to avoid your budding violinst from being distracted.

Here's an example of a practice schedule made by one of my 7 year old piano pupils.
The more you can encourage your child to make this practice schedule their own creation the better. So lots of color, stickers or drawings will help to make it fun and appealing to look at and follow. 

Put it up in a prominent place at eye level for your child and give rewards/stickers for following the week's practice schedule. Keep up with the stickers and rewards. It's important to give praise!

At the end of each practice session encourage your child to play some of the easier tunes earlier in the book that they have enjoyed in the past. After all, learning the violin should be fun!

Here are a couple of practice schedules for you choose from. Click on your preferred choice to download.

This practice aid was very popular with the parents who trialed this program. They had tremendous success with it.  IT WORKS!

 Click on your preferred schedule to download

Violin & Bow At The Ready

I want to guide you through the steps your child needs to do in order to prepare the violin for a practice session and put it away when finished. It's essential to follow these steps as it affects the condition of the violin and bow. 
Unzip the case and take out the violin and bow.

 Put the shoulder rest on. A shoulder rest is very important. It enables your child to support the violin between the shoulder and jaw comfortably without needing the help of the left hand which should be free and relaxed. There are many different types and styles of shoulder rest.  

This is what my shoulder rest looks like. It attaches securely to the rim at the sides of the violin. The main thing is to avoid the common sponge and elastic band which so many children get given which provides no real support at all.
Take the bow and turn the screw at the end of the bow clockwise to tighten the bow hair which should raise the bow hair to approximately 1cm from the centre of the wood when tightened. Avoid tightening any more as over time this will damage the bow wood and cause it to loose it's shape.
Put rosin on the bow if necessary, (once a week should be adequate). Rosin or resin as it's sometimes known gives the bow grip on the strings. It's a bit like gritting the pavement to stop you slipping on the ice. When your child applies the rosin it's best to rest the bow on the knee - hair pointing upwards. Rub the resin along the hair evenly. Press fairly hard.
Check if you have enough resin on the bow by gently stroking the back of your hand with a small part of the bow. If it leaves a film of white powder it's fine. If no white powder shows up then the bow needs more.
When putting it all away it's very important to remove the shoulder rest from the violin. If your child doesn't do this - and I've seen plenty of children who haven't - the violin will be too high to fit into the case properly and the lid will press down too hard on the bridge of the violin and cause damage.

Also very important, is to unwind the bow hair. Loosen the screw at the end of the bow to release the tension of the bow hair. If this isn't done the bow will lose the curve it should have and cause damage. You might need to replace the bow sooner than you think!

Don't forget to zip up the case! I have seen too many children pick up their violin cases without doing it up...the violin falls out!

  • Always use the shoulder rest when playing
  • Remember to tighten the bow to play and loosen to put away
  • Careful not to over tighten the bow
  • Avoid touching the bow hair - only use the back of your hand to check if you have enough resin
  • Always check that the case is securely zipped up/closed 

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How To Tune The Violin

Playing on an out of tune violin is no fun at all. Everything sounds different and wrong. If your child's violin hasn't gone out of tune yet, I can assure you that at some point it . It's very common.

There are several reasons why this happens.

1. The instrument gets knocked, either in the case or out of the case.
2. The violin is exposed to temperature changes. This can still apply even if the violin is in the case.
3. The peg slips. (The four pegs are at the top of the violin just below the curly scroll).

The four strings are named G D A and E. G being the thickest string on the left and E being the thinnest string to the right.

To be able to fix the tuning you need to hear the correct sound that string should have.
If you have a piano or keyboard you can use that. If not then you should consider purchasing one of the many violin tuners that are available. There is also a phone app which gives you the notes to tune to! 

The four pegs near the scroll should be used to tighten the string. Turn clockwise and the sound gets higher (string gets tighter). Turn anticlockwise and the sound gets lower, (string gets looser).
As you turn the peg it's important to push it in at the same time. The peg fits into the hole and has a tapered shape. It needs to fit tightly to avoid it slipping and unwinding the string again.

At the other end of the violin you should see four small black adjusters - most beginner violins have one for each string. These are used to tighten or loosen the string by a small amount, they look like screws.

Use these adjusters if the strings are only slightly out of tune. If you've had to use the pegs then turn the adjusters afterwards to enable you to get a more accurate sound.

If it's your first time tuning a violin you are bound to be a bit nervous, but give it a go. There's nothing worse than practising on an out of tune violin. Trust me!

  • Always check the tuning if you can before practising
  • Take care not to knock the violin (even in the case) as this may cause it to go out of tune
  • Avoid placing the violin near a heater or in a cold area as this may also cause it to go out of tune
  • Try not to touch the violin pegs (unless you are tuning the violin) as they can easily slip and loosen a string
  • Have a go at tuning the violin and getting confident with using the pegs and adjusters

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How To Hold The Violin & Bow

The violin is much harder to master in the early stages than any other instrument.

 It's essential to learn the correct violin/bow hold from the outset. An incorrect hold leads to difficulties at later stages.

It's very difficult to change a child's violin/bow hold once they have become used to doing it incorrectly. Trust me. I have taken on various violin pupils who have needed to revise how he/she holds the instrument and for many it becomes a lost cause...very few children are able to adapt and change their violin/bow hold and maintain that change.

So this section is going to give you a clear understanding of how your child should be holding his/her violin and bow. Let's start with the violin.

Firstly I highly recommend your child uses a violin shoulder rest. It fits onto the back of the violin and allows your child to support the violin with his/her shoulder and jaw, comfortably and securely. Without requiring the help of the left hand to support the weight of the violin.

Shoulder rests come in various shapes and sizes. Your child's teacher will advise. Basically your child needs to be able to hold the violin securely without the support of the left hand. The left hand is not meant to take the weight of the violin at all. It is the shoulder and jaw which should secure the violin in a stable position.
The left hand should not grip the violin but have a loose hold. The fingers press down on the strings with the finger tip NOT the pad. There should be a small tunnel under the fingers where they arch on to the string. Finger nails clearly need to be kept reasonably short. If they are too long the finger has no choice but to press with the pad. Keep an eye on length of nails!
The bow hold must be very lose, no gripping. Fingers, thumb and knuckles must all be free to bend with the movement of the bow. Notice the position of each finger and how the hand twists to lean on to the bow.
This image shows the thumb position and inner hand shape. Notice how the finger and thumb knuckles bend. The bow hold must be loose and relaxed to allow movement in the knuckles to bend and straighten.
  • Take the time to get the bow hold and violin hold right from the outset. It will save time in the long run
  • Always use the shoulder rest when playing/practising
  • Be sure to place the shoulder rest and violin on the shoulder not the chest
  • Remember that the left hand is NOT for supporting the weight of the violin. The shoulder and jaw should do that
  • Use the finger TIPS to press down on the strings NOT the soft pad of the finger
  • Keep nails short
  • Hold the bow loosely. Don't grip it

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Ending Practice Sessions On A Positive Note

Your child will resist practice if it becomes a chore.

It's vital that your child gets some pleasure from violin practice and always ends it on a positive note.

If you notice your child's mood change for the worse or if you have been working on a tricky part of the music and you feel he/she has is ready to stop it's best to cut your losses and consider bringing the session to a close. Here are a few suggestions as to how you can raise your child's mood and end on a positive note.

Try ending the practice session by suggesting your child play an old favorite from earlier in the book or another book. It doesn't matter if he/she makes mistakes, the purpose of playing it is to simply have fun.

If you are feeling adventurous you could clap or sing along to it. You could take a couple of photos/videos to lift the mood while your child plays...children often love posing for the camera and looking at the pictures afterwards.

Suggest performing the piece to another family member before finishing the practice session.

It's important to remember to allow your child to play the piece that he/she is working on all the way through before you stop to point out errors, it helps to give your child confidence and also allows you spot where the weaknesses are. You can then address them one at time and work to improve each one.  

Don't forget to offer to point to the notes as your child goes along. If there is resistance, suggest that you point the first time through. He/she can play it a second time without you pointing.  
A little bit of compromise can go a long way with violin practice!
  • Observe your child's mood when practising. If you can't see a way to raise the mood - bring the session to a positive close
  • Use easier tunes that your child likes to raise the mood
  • Distinguish between having fun and allowing a few mistakes to go uncorrected, from practising a piece to improve it
  • Remember to point to notes as your child plays when learning a new piece.

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