In this post we will be discussing your primary options, along with the pros and cons of each.

There are two main categories, and a couple of options below each.  The first category is self-taught.  The second is taught by a teacher or instructor in person.

Self Taught

Those who are looking into these options will generally be faced with more personal challenges and fewer financial ones.  For self taught you only need to buy one set of materials and you never need to pay for them again.  The individual lesson costs otherwise can rack up some serious dollars over time.  The personal problems come when you need to be disciplined in your scheduling and practicing, not giving up.

With these you can practice or review what you’ve learned any time and any where.

The options under this category include various books and manuals, videotapes (for those who still have VHS), DVDs (slightly more expensive) and online violin lessons.

How to learn violin cheapest overall is through violin lessons online, as they can be complete courses covering a wide range of topics and skills.  To learn about some of the best options for these, visit our home page below.

Reviews of the Top Violin Lessons Online

Pro/Con Bullet Summary

Pro:

-Cheapest option

-Can be reviewed and practiced any time

-Convenient

Con:

-You have to judge your own progress

-You have to motivate yourself (or at least be creative)

Teacher Taught (in person)

With this option, you have direct, immediate feedback for private lessons.  This is often of less benefit in groups, though the group option is cheaper, often at about half the price.  These help to keep you scheduled and on the right track.  Teachers can help to keep you from getting discouraged while you’re trying to learn.  Generally you have to drive to and from your lessons at a specific place though.  You can theoretically learn via webcam, but that’s rare.

For more information on finding personal violin teachers, you may find this site useful.

How to Find a Violin Teacher

Pro/Con Bullet Summary

Pro:

-Immediate feedback from a professional (or whatever skill level of teacher you’ve chosen)

-Paced expectations and some help with motivation

Con:

-Expensive over time

-Can only be reviewed in memory (or notes)

-Have to be in a certain place to learn

The basics are violin are quickly picked up with a little practice and in most cases you don’t need a lot of reinforcement to get them down.  In fact basics can be absorbed quite easily through video lessons.

Check Out My Top Recommendation for Violin Lessons for Beginners Online Here

This recommendation covers all of the basics, as well as intermediate to advanced lessons.  It is available for $27 currently, and the teacher is Eric Lewis of the Manhattan String Quartet.  Don’t even bother trying to get private lessons from this guy.

So, after I’ve thrust that in your face, if you’re still reading, here is the actual list of things you should want to have covered by your beginner’s violin lessons in some manner.

1. Instrument care.  If you’re serious, you’ll be carrying your violin around with you for some time.  And even if you aren’t, a violin is an investment.
2. Detailed instructions about how to play.
3. Music theory – it isn’t enough to know what to play you have to know why you should be playing it
4. You should be able to trust in the experience of the person you’re learning from.  If you don’t trust them and like their playing style, you are far less likely to follow their instructions exactly, and that may mess up your progress.
5. They should cover how to read music if you don’t already know.

This can be a lot to expect from private lessons alone, so if you’re going that route, you may want to purchase some extra materials to help you with instrument care, music reading, and music theory.  Numbers two and four are key for during the actual lesson though.

There are some additional options to look for, but with dedication and practice you will pick up a lot of things.  You can gain an ear for music in time, or there are techniques where it can be taught more easily and more quickly.  And have you ever heard of a guarantee as to results if you practice with someone’s program or lessons before?  I haven’t with the exception of one place.

Again, Here’s My Recommendation That Covers All the Criteria and Then Some

In order to teach yourself violin effectively you need to be one of three things: driven, disciplined, or creative.  These are things that can’t be taught or picked up overnight, but you can get better at them.  If you aren’t good at one of these or aren’t willing to improve at them, you will inevitably fail before you reach any level of proficiency with the fiddle.

Drive is something that stems from your reason to learn.  For most, wanting to be good, cool, or simply liking the music is rarely enough.  You need a vivid image and hard reason that makes you want to learn and practice no matter what obstacles you face.  This will be different for everyone so I can’t tell you the specifics.

Discipline, when you have it, will reinforce itself.  If you lack that discipline, it will also become harder and harder to do something over time.  Discipline helps to create habits, and once playing is a habit, you no longer need to be driven.

The last option is creativity.  Suppose you have flimsy drive and poor discipline, but you still want to become good at playing violin, you can still do it if you’re creative enough.  For example, you could pay someone to lock you in an empty room with your violin a few times per week.  That way you’re either going to play or waste a lot of time and money.

Teaching yourself violin is a poor choice of words in most cases because you’re still learning from a reference or program of some sort.  The only difference is lack of someone right there with you for reinforcement and correction.

Books work okay, but they come in behind other resources.  Video programs work best because you still get the benefit of the other person’s experience and how the movements, set up, and sounds work in conjunction with each other.  Books should be additional, not a stand alone material.

I have a favoritism towards digital programs as you get more value due to the medium of delivery.  There are no additional costs that require the product to be marked up for, so you pay just for the value.

My top recommendation to start with is Violin Master Pro, which you can check out below.  It costs about $30 and is a full course for self-taught violinists.  You also get instant access to it.

Teach Yourself Violin With Violin Master Pro Here

The other thing I hear people ranting and raving about is the Suzuki Violin Method.  You can check out some of those materials below.

Learn More About Suzuki Violin Method Resources

The only other option is another digital violin program but is quickly fading in popularity.  You can learn more about it on our review homepage.

Online Violin Lessons

No violin teacher could make a living trying to keep up with such rates, but suppose they tried. Most aren’t of the teaching caliber you’ll find online. As a fair representation, let’s say traditional violin lessons run from about 20 to 100 dollars per half hour (sometimes slightly less from someone who teaches as a hobby or significantly more if you’re learning from someone who carries a lot of clout in the field); that would mean the average teacher charges 20% of what the master does. Applying this rate to online violin lessons would mean the average teacher would charge $6 to teach a student how to master the violin. Even if taking twenty at a time that’s not enough to pay the rent for one month, and he or she would be tied up for possibly years.

Why would I so fervently shout about the opportunity of online violin lessons if it’s going to be so harsh on violin teachers? The bottom line is I love music, so I choose the student’s side over the teacher’s. I’m sure there are many who would love to learn how to play violin, but can’t afford to get quality lessons, so they never learn. Other would-be violin players lack the time to learn how to play. Learning from home will free up some time for the student to play by eliminating the commute. I want to see more violinists, and there’s no longer a question of where to find the best lesson quality or if it fits your budget. Am I on the wrong side, or is my thinking flawed? Comment and let me know what your thoughts are.

Learn more about opportunities for online violin lessons here.

1. How many hours a week do you plan on spending to learn how to play violin?
2. Do you deem the effort towards your desired result worth your time?

If you have a real plan to execute, you’ll learn how to play violin in time. You simply have to be dedicated to allotting that amount of time every week practicing. If you don’t have a plan, your violin may just end up as a dust collector in the corner. The second question concerns not whether you can, but whether you should learn how to play violin. I never advise anyone to pursue something they do not truly want.

Truthfully, I’ve heard 13 year olds ask if they’re too old to play violin, and I wanted to slap the people in their life that taught them to think there might be things they can’t do. Vision and persistence pave the road to anything you wish to achieve. If you want to learn how to play violin, the only thing stopping you is doubt, or worry. People may judge you, call you a fool, but I believe it is the fool lives in other people’s reality; a wise man creates his own.

If money is an issue in your persuit, you can visit the main site to learn how to get cheap violin lessons.

I bring news of one of the hottest new things to hit the music education market, online violin lessons. Stick with me; I’m going places with this, and furthermore, you’ll thank me for it. “So what do online violin lessons have to offer me,” you ask. Well, you don’t get any of the perks of traditional violin lessons, like having to spend money on gas, battle traffic, spend more money for each lesson, keep a rigid schedule, and having to wonder if you’re messing something up when you get back home. Online violin lessons allow you to practice whenever you want and review lessons as needed. These are video violin lessons, so you’re not stuck reading some tedious e-book.

Using this medium, you can also learn to play violin from a master that you probably couldn’t afford to take lessons from in a traditional environment. This kind of program is designed to help you master the violin, so you only have to pay once, generally under $30. How many traditional lessons would that be? My sources tell me that on average violin lessons cost a buck a minute, so you could get a complete course guaranteed to make you MASTER the violin, or you could buy one violin lesson. It wasn’t a tough choice in my book.

Thus far, I’ve only found two quality programs like this. If you’re ready to find a better way to learn violin, check out my review website comparing them. Good luck and happy violin playing!

If you’re tired of wasting time and money on traditional violin lessons and ready to try online violin lessons, click the one of the text links to learn which program best suits your needs.