Theory

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Violin String Notes

Violin String Notes

This article will attempt to explain how the violin string notes work. The violin strings each have basic notes and more advanced notes, but for a beginner violinist, it’s important to understand the basic string notes and how they work with sheet music.

Your violin strings are the notes G, D, A and E. And on each one of those strings, each finger you place on a string represents another note. I highly suggest that you have a look at my article on finger positions to familiarize yourself with the violin finger positions before attempting to understand the violin string notes and how to read them.

The notes on the music scale are written in the trebble cleff, and for a basic violin lesson, in D Major. The violin string notes will therefore look like this on paper except that there are two sharps, not three:

Each string’s finger position has been marked above the note. So for the G String, you will have G, A, B and C# (keeping in mind that the basic violin scale is in D major. D major has two sharps. The image shows it as three sharps, but take the G sharp out, it’s only F and C sharp that you need to deal with.

For D, you have D, E, F# and G. In the same way, you can read the other two string notes. There are more notes on each string, still following the basic violin scale, but those are notes in position which we will not deal with in this article. For all our purposes, the notes we are dealing with here are for the first position of the violin.

It is also important to note that the music stave has lines and spaces. Therefore, some of your notes fall on lines, and other s fall on spaces. An easy way to remember which notes are on the lines are to say the sentence “Eat good bread dear father” and the spaces being “F A C E spells Face”. That way, if you need to know which note is on the third line, you just say the sentence, counting from the bottom line as you go, “eat good bread”. The third line falls on B for bread, therefore the third line’s note is bread.

Those are the violin string notes. for more info on these, please remember to go to my YouTube channel or browse my articles about this topic on violin string notes. It is important to grasp the violin string notes before embarking on playing the violin.

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How to read violin notes on sheet music

An Easy way to learn how to read violin notes on sheet music

If you are looking for an easy way to learn how to read violin notes on sheet music, I can provide one. Violin is one of the most complicated instruments to learn but with enough concentration, determination and practice, you can start learning relatively fast.

The way we learn how to read violin notes on sheet music is by starting to learn the actual notes. Musical scores have different clefs. You get the trebble clef, base cleff and the F cleff. Violas use the F Cleff so we are going to ignore that one. Instead, we are going to focus on the base cleff and the trebble cleff. You need a basic understanding of the base cleff to understand that some of the trebble cleff notes on the violin are borrowed from the base cleff. So without much more to say about this, let’s dive into how to read violin notes on sheet music.

Your trebble cleff has five lines and four spaces. But some of the notes of the base cleff extend on the trebble clef, making the trebble clef the only cleff that violin sheet music is written in.

The five lines on the trebble cleff is easily remembered by a sentence, “eat good bread dear father”, each word representing a letter, in other words, E, G, B, D, F. In the same way, the spaces (those places in between the lines) are named “F A C E spells Face”, each note on a space being F, A, C, E. See the image below.

Now, below the line, the notes go down. You get D and then middle C. Middle C is the note that separates the two cleffs, Base and Trebble. Now you are going to borrow notes for the violin front he base cleff. Go down with the lines as in the image to get to G.

The next image will show you the finger positions associated with the violin notes on the sheet music.

This is how the violin notes on sheet music works and how to read them. If you are still wondering more about how to read violin motes on sheet music, feel free to browse the rest of the site for information pertaining to how to read violin notes on sheet music and so on.

Click here to see my lesson on how to do finger positions on the violin

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Violin String Notes

Violin String Notes

The violin string notes are written across two octaves, three and four sometimes. But for basic beginner violin, you will play across three strings only.

As with any music, musical notes go from A to G only. So A, B, C, D, E, F, G and then it starts again with A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C etc. In between these notes, there are half tones as well which makes up sharps or flats.

The violin string notes are ordered according to standard music theory. In other words, your notes are still A B C D E F G, but you start on the G string. Each finger is a different note. The notes on your strings are as follows:

  • G String: G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#/li>
  • D String: D. D#, E, F, F#, G, G#
  • A String: A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#
  • E String: E, F, F#, G, G#, A

    • Of course if you are a beginner player, your violin string notes to start with will be in the scale of D Major. And for that to work, your fingers will be placed in the standard violin finger positions. To find out more about the finger positions, click on this link or watch my video here.

    It is advisable to get a fretboard or mark your violin so you have the correct string positions to learn with the correct placement for the violin string notes to begin with.

    In this case, your string notes will be as follows:

  • G string: First finger, A, second finger B, third finger C#
  • D string: First finger, D, second finger E, third finger F#
  • A string: First finger, B, second finger, C#, third finger D
  • E string: First finger F#, second finger G, third finger A

    • These are the basic violin string notes and names. Some of these are sharps because the first basic violin scale that everyone learns is D Major. D Major contains two sharps namely F and C. Thus, your violin string notes to start with will have these two sharps.

    Click here for my video on the violin finger positions

    Click here for where to place the finger positions.

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    Violin Finger Positions

    Violin Finger Positions and how to do it

    One of the complicated things about the violin is to get your head around the violin finger positions. It can be confusing, especially in the beginning, especially when you don’t have a musical background and this is the first instrument that you are attempting.

    Violin finger positions on the strings need to be in the exact place so that your note pitch is not off. The slightest incorrect spacing and your notes will sound false. So before you attempt to put your fingers on the positions, you need to put some sort of a marker on your violin fingerboard. Click here to go to the violin finger positions and see how to mark your violin properly.

    When you have done the marking of the finger positions, you need to remember your violin fingering. Your pointing finger is your first finger, middle finger is your second finger, ring finger is your third finger and pinky is your forth finger.

    The basic violin fingering works with the scale of D Major. D Major has two sharps, F, C sharps. Therefore, your notes that fall on these will be sharps. Below is an image of how the violin notes work.

    So in other words, for the G string positioning, first gfinger will fall on A, second finger on B, third finger on C#.

    For D string, first finger will fall on E, second on F#, third on G and so on.

    For A string, first ginger will fall on B, second on C#, third on D

    E string: first ginger on F#, second on G and third on A

    Below is an image of how to position the fingers on the violin fingerboard. The tips of your fingers need to be pushing down on the strings, your fingers need to be curled and your pulse need to be out.

    For more on violin finger positions, please read my article on the placements or watch my YouTube video on the finger positions for the violin.

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    Can I teach myself the violin?

    Can I teach myself the violin is a frequently asked question

    Many people wonder this exact question. Can I teach myself the violin. The answer is hard to give. It is yes and it is no.

    Violin is a very difficult instrument to master. For some, it will be nearly impossible. For others, it will be as easy as pie to learn. But whether you can teach yourself the violin depends entirely upon you.

    My answer to the question “Can I teach myself the violin” is a definite yes. I do believe it is possible. With enough dedication and an online tutor, it is possible. It is not the best, but it is possible. If you just want to learn for the sake of playing for your own enjoyment, then my answer is definitely yes, I believe you can teach yourself the violin. But if you want to learn to play professionally or you want to enter for violin exams, then my answer is no, I don’t think you can teach yourself.

    Of course, to further answer the question “Can I teach myself the violin?” one needs to look at your own dedication and commitment. How much endurance do you have? How easy is it for you to grasp a new concept? How much time do you have to practice?

    My answer is yes to the question. You can teach yourself the violin. I, myself have learned how to ride a horse just by watching others. You won’t get exam ready, and you probably won’t get qualified, but I do believe the answer to the question “Can I teach myself the violin ” is a yes. With correct help along the way, such as good course material and videos to watch, it is possible to teach yourself just for the fun of it.

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    Easy violin lessons?

    Is there such a thing as easy violin lessons? This will be explored in this post. Do we get such a thing considering violin is one of the top ten most difficult instruments in the world to play. Easy? Really?

    Many people think that having a couple of violin lessons is easy. It may be easy in the beginning, but the more advanced you become, and the more you learn, the more difficult it becomes. Yes, while easy violin lessons are out there, it usually is not what you think. Violin is not an easy instrument to learn.

    Much technique goes into the violin. A lot of your lesson time will be dedicated to learning all about technique and practicing the technique. Another part of your lesson time will be dedicated to theory. And while it’s easy to take in information, it’s not so easy to apply the information into what we do ourselves.

    Mastering the technique of the violin depends on the dedication and effort you put into the violin. But also in how well you listen when you do start out learning how to play the violin. This is not easy and does not happen fast.

    Easy violin lessons is not something that really exists. But if you put enough time and effort into it, you may actually find that you are learning it relatively easily. For the beginner stages anyway. When you get to positions and more complicated pieces, easy goes out the window and that’s when hours and hours of practice starts to happen. No longer is it easy, now it’s downright hard and frustrating at times.

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    Why is it important to learn to count with music

    Counting is one of the most important, basic things in life. And learning how to count with music is just as important. Imagine a simple song such as “Mary had a little lamb” but your tones were all the same length. This would sound funny. Instead, when the tones are stretched out, and the word “lamb” is held for a longer period than the “Mary had a” part, it involves counting, believe it or not.

    Counting with music is vital to provide the right kind of sound for the song that you want to play. It is important to avoid every word and every note being the same length. Counting can be challenging, especially in some orchestral pieces and some rock songs. Having a solid foundation in the basics of music theory and especially learning how to count with music is vital to the success of any music.

    There are several ways that you can learn to count with music. One is obviously learning the theory behind it. But once you have the theory under your belt, counting out loud while you sing or play for example: “one, two, three, one, two, three” is extremely helpful.

    Another helpful way to learn to count with music is by investing in a metronome. A metronome is piece of music equipment, or accessory if you wish to call it that, which helps you to count by having a beat at regular intervals while you count out loud and play the notes to the length that it’s supposed to be. There are several metronomes on the market. Some are manual wind up Metronomes and others are electrical. You can even download a metronome app if you don’t want to pay for a Metronome, but apps tend to be softer and less audible.

    I hope this has answered your questions as to why it is important to count with music so that next time you encounter music notes and theory, you know the answer to this vital question.