25 violin goals for beginners, daily practice and your first concert

Violin goals for beginners

Beginner goals are about a relaxed bow hold, a straight bow and the first notes that sound like a tune.

• Play on 30 of the next 40 days, even for 10 minutes.
• Draw 20 straight bows on each open string, from the frog to the tip.
• Play a one octave D major scale in tune, checked with a tuner.
• Tune all 4 strings yourself with the fine tuners, at the start of 20 practices.
• Play your first whole tune with the bow, such as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.

Daily violin practice goals

Daily practice goals count days and minutes. Marking each day on a calendar is the old method called don't break the chain, and a total of days does the same job without falling apart after one missed day.

• Practise on 200 days this year. That is about 4 days a week.
• Start every practice with 2 minutes of slow bows on the open strings, for 6 weeks.
• Play your scales against a drone for 5 minutes a day, for 30 days.
• Record one minute of every practice for 2 weeks, and listen back the same day.
• Fix one out-of-tune note a day for 30 days: find it, mark it, play it in tune 10 times.

Violin technique goals: scales, shifting, vibrato and the bow

Technique goals are scales, shifts, vibrato and the bow, and each one can be checked with a tuner, a drone or a timer.

• Play a two octave G major scale and arpeggio from memory.
• Shift from first to third position and back 20 times on the A string, landing in tune.
• Play a three octave G major scale.
• Do vibrato exercises for 5 minutes a day for 8 weeks, then use vibrato in one slow piece.
• Draw one whole bow over 20 seconds with no break in the sound.

Violin repertoire goals

Repertoire goals count finished pieces. When a piece has a piano part, rehearsing with the pianist is where violin and piano goals meet.

• Finish your first method book, such as Suzuki Book 1, from the first page to the last.
• Learn one piece from each of a grade's three lists: A, B and C.
• Play the first movement of Vivaldi's A minor concerto.
• Learn 5 fiddle tunes by ear.
• Play 3 pieces from memory, with no music stand in front of you.

Violin performance goals: orchestra, recitals and playing with others

Performance goals put a listener in the room. A shaky bow on stage is the same nerve an actor feels before an entrance, and acting goals count auditions the way these count performances.

• Play one piece for 3 people at home, with no restarts.
• Play a solo at a student recital.
• Play every concert of one season with a community orchestra.
• Play the first movement of Bach's Double Violin Concerto with a second violinist.
• Pass one graded exam this year, at any level from Initial Grade to Grade 8.

What is a good violin goal?

A good violin goal is one your ears can check. A review of 35 years of goal research found that specific, hard goals lead to higher performance than being told to do your best. "Play more in tune" gives you nothing to test. "A two octave G major scale in tune against a drone" does, and you hear the answer on the first note.

The violin has no frets, so every note is placed by ear. That is why so many goals on this list are about listening: a tuner, a drone, one minute of practice played back. Practice matters, and it is not the whole story. A large review of practice studies found that deliberate practice explained about 21 percent of the differences in music performance. Spend the minutes on the notes that are out of tune, not on the piece that already sounds good.

Graded exams give you a ready-made ladder. ABRSM, a British exam board, runs violin exams at nine levels, from Initial Grade to Grade 8. Each Practical Grade asks for three pieces, scales and arpeggios, sight-reading and aural tests, so a grade is a goal that already lists its own smaller goals.

How to track violin goals

Tick off the day when the violin goes back in its case. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that the effect was larger when progress was written down.

Practice days are a day count, and most of this list is built on them. Pieces, scales and hours are amounts. If 200 days in a year feels far away, start with a 100 day challenge: begin on 1 January and it ends in April.

A violin sounds rough for months, and you are too close to it to hear the change. A recording from your first week and a picture that fills with every day you open the case both show how far you have come.

Frequently asked questions

What are good violin goals for adult beginners?

Play on 30 of the next 40 days, even for 10 minutes. Draw 20 straight bows on each open string. Then finish one whole tune. Each one can be checked at the end of the week.

What are the ABRSM violin grades?

ABRSM offers violin exams from Initial Grade to Grade 8, nine levels in all. A Practical Grade is played face to face: three pieces, scales and arpeggios, sight-reading and aural tests. A Performance Grade is filmed: four pieces, three from the lists and one of your own choice.

How do I know if my violin playing is in tune?

Check with a tuner, play against a drone, and record yourself. When you play a G, D, A or E in tune, the open string with the same name rings along with it. Fix one note at a time.