The violin is a special instrument that produces some of the coolest sounds in music. It is also not so difficult to learn if you have a knowledgeable and qualified music teacher as well as the right violin book to help you learn.
Violin books typically have all the tutorials and instructions that make the early steps of learning to play the violin so much easier. By combining a good violin book with a skilled teacher, it becomes easy mastering the string instrument.
What are the Best Books to Learn Violin?
2) Essential Elements for Strings: Book 1 with EEi (Violin)
- Popular Choice
- Solid Foundation
- Online Music Materials
1) Suzuki Violin School: Violin Part, Vol 1
- Comprehensive
- Theoretical Aspects
- Fundamental Skills
- Exercises
3) The ABCs of Violin for the Absolute Beginner, Book 1
- Creative Violin Instruction
- Practice Tracks
- Cover Fundamental Techniques
How do you know which violin book is right for you? There are certain things to look out for when you are trying to buy a violin book either for yourself or for your loved ones who are learning how to play the violin.
- Easy to understand – When choosing a violin book to buy, you should find one that is easy to understand. A good violin book will have all the early steps that any student needs to know, such as how to make a tone, how to count beats or keep rhythms when playing the violin. Easy to understand also does not mean that there is a lack of content.
- Comprehensive content – Learning through a violin book requires being able to have as much information as possible so that there is a good chance that when you are then with a human teacher or guide, it is easier to learn. Violin history and music can be read from books and they provide the foundation for further training. When buying a violin book, you should choose one that goes further than just playing technique but further into music history and other deeper aspects of violin knowledge.
- Compact – Despite the wealth of knowledge that is around the world, nobody wants to be carrying around a really large book about. When buying a violin book, you don’t want to buy one that is bulky so that it could fit into the violin carrying case easily. This reduces the number of things to carry when going for rehearsals and music practice.
Here are some of the best violin books that you should consider buying.
15 Best Violin Book Reviews
1) Suzuki Violin School: Violin Part, Vol 1
As far as violin books go, this is one of the most comprehensive books that you can get. Not only does it cover everything you need to know about the theoretical aspects of music as a whole, this violin book offers so many tips about how to play the violin that it makes it worthwhile.
The Suzuki method is a very interesting process and this violin book has several pages dedicated to fundamental skills such as bowing and finger positioning. With so many extra exercises and comments for both students and teachers, there is enough for you to learn with. The violin book also features a CD with many recordings that can be used for practice.
2) Essential Elements for Strings: Book 1 with EEi (Violin)
When you are trying to learn a new musical instrument, it is important to choose the materials you learn with carefully. The Essential Elements for Strings puts together exercises that are specifically tailored to the instrument of choice and gives both students and instructors materials that they can utilize to become better musicians the right way, a solid foundation of the basics of music.
One of the best features of this violin book is that it also contains a lot of online music materials that students can make use no matter where they find themselves. With so much content and practice exercises curated for both classroom and other learning environments, it is easy to use this violin book to develop true well-grounded musicians. The online materials and the availability in digital version also make it perfect for today’s modern musician and teacher.
3) The ABCs of Violin for the Absolute Beginner, Book 1
Janice Tucker Rhoda is well known for this violin book that brings plenty of creative violin instruction materials and popular tunes for everyone to learn. One of the key reasons why the ABCs of Violin is such a popular book is because of the high number of digital materials that comes with the book.
You get a lot of trainer DVDs, violin solo tracks and other performance tracks to practice with. The book also covers fundamental techniques such as tuning, counting a musical metronome, rosining techniques and string plucking which are little things that make the difference between average and skilled violin players.
This violin book is highly recommended for any aspiring musician or anyone looking to gain some skill playing the violin either as an amateur or performer.
4) Franz Wohlfahrt – 60 Studies, Op. 45 Complete: Books 1 and 2 for Violin
Studying how to play the violins and its intricacies sometimes pose challenges for learners when they are trying to learn the violin from top to bottom rather than starting from the foundation.
This set of books takes the pain to start the violin lessons from the basics. It is popularly used by a lot of violin instructors and is also highly recommended for new players of the violin. It teaches the simple things that will help to improve playing technique.
The print of the book is quite easy to read, and it is suitable for both beginners who want to start learning how to play the violin and also intermediate players who want to perfect their bowing technique.
5) Introducing the Positions for Violin: Volume 1 – Third and Fifth Position
You cannot become a truly talented violin or other stringed instruments if you do not understand positioning. Learning how to play positions is the only way that a violin player can transcend the skill levels from beginner to intermediate or expert.
The author of the book, Harvey Whistler, goes in depth into the various positions that are commonly used for string instruments and explains them in great detail and clarity.
The first volume of the book focuses on the third and fifth positions which are crucial to playing the violin either as a serious amateur or as a professional. In fact, this is one of the most recommended books for students of stringed instruments.
6) I Can Read Music, Vol 1: Violin
I can Read Music (Violin edition) is an easy-to-read set of musical exercise that is guaranteed to improve a violin learner’s music reading capabilities from the fundamentals to more advanced things.
These musical exercises make use of repetition to help students learn how to read notes for stringed instruments. The book is particularly important for learners of the Suzuki Method who need to practice their note reading.
I Can Read Music is written in a way that all the ideas are easy to assimilate, simple enough to follow and use as a teaching guide at home as a violin book.
7) Violin For Dummies, 2nd Edition
If you are looking for the best and most comprehensive violin books for teaching violin playing to beginners, Violin For Dummies is one of them. It is filled with so many details about everything you need to know about playing the violin.
It starts from the basics like the correct ways for holding your violin to playing many of the well-known violin tunes and perfecting them. What this violin does well is improved on all the strong points of the first edition and add more materials for both tutors and students alike.
This includes new music for practising, teaching aids for violin instructors and digital resources that can be downloaded after purchase.
8) Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching
Ivan Galamian was a fantastic violin teacher who developed a system of teaching violin to people that were easy to understand and straightforward. The Principles of violin book is designed in such a way that the talent level of the student doesn’t matter and the techniques can be applied to virtually anybody.
The book contains all of Galamian’s tips and tricks for developing your violin game. This includes finger positioning, how to get around difficult tones and understanding the interactions between the speed of the playing bow, its weight, and sounding points. The book contains more than enough lessons and insight into playing the violin that it is highly recommended for all skill levels.
9) String Builder Violin Book 1 (Belwin Course for Strings)
Samuel Applebaum wrote the String Builder tutorial to violins. The book can actually be applicable to other string instruments. One of the distinguishing factors of this book is that the content of the material is arranged in a clear and concise manner so that self-teaching is encouraged.
All the lessons are also arranged in such a way that the difficulty increases as you advance further in the book. The String Builder provides an easy way to learn how to read musical notes and also learn some theoretical knowledge.
The learning pace is good for learners of all ages and there are loads of practicing content to help in sharpening the basics and increasing competence with ease. The book also comes in both a Kindle and paperback format which provides flexibility for students.
10) The Ultimate Songbook for Beginner Violinists: 50+ Easy Violin Arrangements with Violin Tabs
Having a teacher for your first violin lessons is one of the best ways to learn how to play the violin. However, this book is an easy remedy for those who have access to a violin without understanding music totally.
What the songbook for violins contains is over 50 songs for new violin players to learn with. The violin tabs are included so that students can have a stress-free way of learning and practicing.
There is also a level system that allows beginners to identify songs that correspond to their level of expertise. The easy violin tab system which the book uses makes violin learning easy and with constant practice, you will be sure to become a maestro in no time.
11) 84VN – All For Strings Theory Book 1: Violin
Learning the theoretical aspects of music can be quite difficult if you don’t have the correct materials. The All For Strings Theory Book is made up of most of the important musical fundamentals that any beginner should have a strong grasp of.
The theory aspect of music is critical to having a total understanding of the key concepts of violin playing and music. The violin book contains about 120 color-coded flash memory cards that have proven to be a highly capable learning aid.
These flashcards help to test the key features and concepts that are discussed in the book. The answers for all the questions on the flashcards are contained on the reverse side of the card for students to review with their instructors or by themselves.
12) Easy Pop Melodies for Violin
Some of the most popular pop songs that you can play are in this collection. Because the songs are the ones that most beginners are familiar with, it makes the violin lessons easier to relate to and learn.
Songs like “Blowing in the Wind” and “You’ve Got a Friend” are listed for young learners to pay for their initial lessons. There’s a great combination of easy to medium difficult songs so the Easy Pop violin book for learners to practice either alone or with an instructor.
The book is also available as both Kindle digital format and paperback by the author, Hal Leonard LLC. The amount of variety of music in this violin makes it ideal as a gift to both young children and adults. For beginners, there are easy ones and for intermediate players, there are also songs in A Major which could provide a challenge.
13) Orchestra Expressions, Book One Student Edition: Violin
If you are a music instructor and you are looking for the perfect book to use in teaching violin classes. The lessons are prepared in line with the latest National Standards for the Arts in Music guidelines.
The Student Edition is created in a clear and colorful format with easy-to-read text. There is also a CD included that provides all the lessons for you. Violin history and notes are included to give students a well-rounded knowledge of what music and violins are about.
You also have a comprehensive glossary that contains most of the musical words and expressions that are necessary as part of music training. The colorful pictures and drawings also make the book easy to use by young kids and teenagers.
14) A Tune a Day – Violin: Book 1 (Music Sales America)
Taking violin lessons with A Time A Day – Book 1 is easy and allows you to learn a wide range of music. You can even recommend this book for as young as preschoolers.
As a beginners’ book, it covers everything you ever need to know about violins such as the parts of the instrument and how to take care of them, how to tune your violin and also positioning tips in order to be able to play with comfort and develop quickly.
Asides from the basic information that is contained in the book, it also goes deep into illustrated lectures, fingering charts and other useful materials. You also have easy evaluation materials in the book such as daily practice registers, practice questions to test theoretical knowledge and manuscript sheets for home exercise.
15) Fiddle Primer
Excellent violin players are those who are able to use to use the fiddle to exact all kinds of music styles from their violin no matter the genre. Fiddle Primer pays attention specifically to bowing and its techniques.
When you have done all the exercises for the fundamentals of violin bowing, Fiddle Primer then gets you into the more difficult fiddling techniques with popular tunes, each with its own peculiarities.
The book includes a CD that features songs in two different speeds. There is also a DVD that shows exact fiddling techniques, hand positions for many of the included tunes and on-screen commentary on hand positions for effective fiddling.
Choosing the Best Book to Learn Violin
There are many violin books that focus on different aspects of playing the violin. In order to get the best out of your violin, you should make sure that you buy different violin books for a more rounded approach.
2) Essential Elements for Strings: Book 1 with EEi (Violin)
- Popular Choice
- Solid Foundation
- Online Music Materials
1) Suzuki Violin School: Violin Part, Vol 1
- Comprehensive
- Theoretical Aspects
- Fundamental Skills
- Exercises
3) The ABCs of Violin for the Absolute Beginner, Book 1
- Creative Violin Instruction
- Practice Tracks
- Cover Fundamental Techniques
There are books that give a solid insight into music history, these help to build the fundamentals. You should also have a fiddling book that will help you to understand the different hand positions for different types of tunes.
When buying a violin book, you should also check for the number of free resources that are included. A violin book is any violin beginner’s best friend so you should look for one that is not too bulky to avoid the inconvenience of carrying it around.