Learning to play the violin or viola can be an incredibly rewarding experience. However, it can also be challenging-especially for beginners! Listed below are books that I have used regularly over the last ten years of teaching. 

1. Suzuki Violin Book 1 is a staple in many teacher’s libraries. Even if you don’t teach the Suzuki method, there are many good and fun songs for beginners in this book. One of the reasons I like this book is that it often comes with a CD (or check out Cadenza Strings on Youtube) and has several folk songs as well as songs by other well known composers, such as J.S. Bach, F.J. Gossec, and R.  Schumann. Many Suzuki teachers only teach by ear for the first few songs to make it easier to learn technique. This helps emphasizes listening and imitation, a skill which will help with tuning and musicality in years to come.

2. I Can Read Music gives you an excellent foundation by giving you pages of lessons that are broken down into separate Pitch and Rhythm pages. The first lesson only consists of two notes in the Pitch Lesson, and only consists of open A string rhythms in the Rhythm Lesson. This book emphasizes the importance of rhythms early in the learning process and will help you have a rounded violin approach, regardless of age. I have taught this book to 4 year olds through adults!

3. Quick Steps To Note Reading is another note reading book but this one goes quite a bit faster than the I Can Read Music book listed above does. The first two pages are only on the E string, but you use fingers 1-3 right from the first line. This book helps with fluency but I would not introduce this to a student as their first foray into note reading while they’re still learning basic violin technique.

4. No book list would be complete without a theory book! The All for Strings Theory Workbook also has an accompanying lesson book that many teachers also use. I personally only use the theory book as there are very few good beginning violin theory books available. With the other books that I assign students to get makes getting the comprehensive lesson book a little redundant and can also be overwhelming to students. Use whatever works best for you and your students! I know several teachers who love using both.

5. Sassmannshaus is my favorite book for young violinists! The way this book starts with open strings and slowly builds finger strength by adding one finger at a time makes it invaluable for little hands. I use this book with my 4 year old student, who loves the pictures in it! Her parents find the flashcards in the back very helpful in learning and memorizing note names. I also use this with a few students who have different learning disabilities, especially dyslexia as the notes are larger than most violin books. Kurt Sassmannshaus, the author of the book, also includes words. I have a non-verbal autistic student who can’t alway communicate clearly with me, but who loves to sing the words. This has been invaluable in her learning journey.

6. Essential Elements is popular in both private and group lessons. Many teachers in the classroom use this for its versatility across instruments. This book also has an audio option which makes learning the songs easier. These books have a very easy step by step progression, which could almost make it self paced for older beginners. There are a total of three books in this series, from beginner to intermediate. This isn’t a great book for young beginners, but anyone 3rd grade or above can easily handle the setup. There are illustrations of both the fingerboard of the instrument and the violin being held and played which is so helpful. Essential Elements is famous for a “top down” left hand approach, which saves time in the future when students have to play the dreaded 4th finger. 

7. Basic Fiddlers Philharmonic Celtic Fiddle Tunes are great for learning fiddling, both solo and in an ensemble! This book gives a brief history lesson before introducing the basic tune with all the letter names written in! When you’re still working on your letter name fluency, this is incredibly helpful. The Basic Tune includes the note name inside of the note head to help with reading. There is also an advanced tune and back-up part to teach part independence. 

Whether you are just starting your musical journey or picking it back up after a break, these books are a great place to work on taking your musical journey to the next level.

Happy practicing. ❤️🎻