Best beginner violins: measure first, then buy

Orchestral strings are the one family on this site where the size question has to be settled before any shopping happens, because a violin one size too big is not awkward — it is unplayable. The left arm has to reach around the instrument with the hand in a specific position, and if the arm is too short the hand simply cannot get there.

So: the measurement first, then the instrument. Our method, and the fact that we have not played this violin, is on how we pick.

The sizing chart

How to measure. Have the player extend their left arm straight out to the side, palm up. Measure from where the neck meets the shoulder to the middle of the palm. That number, not their birthday, selects the size. A tall seven-year-old may need a 3/4 while a small eleven-year-old is still on a 1/2, and both are normal.

When in doubt, size down. A slightly small violin is playable and slightly cramped. A slightly large one puts the hand out of position, which builds a technique that has to be dismantled later.

The specification that matters most: workshop setup

A violin arrives from a factory as an assembled instrument that is not ready to play. The bridge is unfitted — its feet have to be carved to match the curve of that specific instrument’s top — the soundpost inside has to be positioned, the pegs have to be fitted so they turn smoothly and hold, the nut and bridge string grooves have to be cut to the right depth, and the whole thing has to be strung and settled.

That work is skilled and it takes time, which is why the cheapest violins do not have it done. An unset-up violin has pegs that slip so it cannot be tuned, a bridge that may fall over, and string heights that make it painful to press down.

Stentor states that the Student II is individually set up and prepared for play in a workshop. That, rather than the wood, is what you are paying for at this level — and a shop setup after the fact costs more than the very cheapest instruments do in the first place.

The other specifications

Solid carved wood, not laminate. A carved spruce top and maple back rather than pressed plywood. Laminate violins exist and sound noticeably worse; the difference is larger on a violin than on any other instrument we cover.

Ebony fittings. Specifically the fingerboard and pegs. Cheap violins use stained softwood that looks like ebony until it wears through, and soft pegs will not hold a tuning no matter how well they were fitted.

What comes in the outfit. A violin needs a bow, rosin and a case to be usable. Bought separately those are a meaningful fraction of the instrument price, so a complete outfit is usually the sensible purchase.

What to skip

The very cheap complete violin outfit from an unnamed brand. These arrive unset-up: the bridge is loose in the case with no instruction on where it goes, the pegs slip, and the bow is unusable. A parent with no violin experience cannot fix any of that, so the child’s first experience is an instrument that cannot be tuned.

Buying a size up to last longer. On a violin this is not a comfort compromise. If the arm cannot reach the correct hand position, the player compensates by rotating the shoulder and collapsing the wrist, and that becomes the habit. Rent through the growth years if buying repeatedly is the concern.

What you also need

A shoulder rest. Not in most outfits and needed by almost every player. It fills the gap between the instrument and the collarbone so the violin can be held without clamping it with the chin.

Rosin, usually included. The bow makes no sound without it.

A teacher, and here more than anywhere else on this site. Violin posture and bow hold are close to impossible to self-correct because the player cannot see what they are doing. This is the instrument where an hour of instruction is worth the most.

If a violin is proving to be the wrong fit, our cross-instrument comparison for children works through the alternatives on the same physical-fit basis.