How to Determine What Size Violin for your Child

The beauty of learning to play the violin is that the instrument comes in many different sizes. There is practically a size for every child! Granted, the 1/64 size violin is probably more suited to being bronzed and hung from the rear view mirror of a car like a child's first baby shoes. For a very small or very young child who is taking his or her first violin lessons, this tiny violin is a treasured possession to the child and a frequent reminder to the child's parent of the treasured gift that music lessons will give to the parent and the child.

How does a teacher or parent size the child to determine which violin size will best suit the child?

I recommend that parents seek the advice of the child's teacher first and foremost before making any purchase or rental decision. The teacher may have a preferred method of sizing the child, as I do, and the teacher would therefore appreciate that the parent seeks direction from the teacher. There are many different ways to determine a child's violin size, and I have seen some tools on the market that are designed to help the sizing process. I do not use these tools, and I do not use special fingerboard tapes that have the finger spots already marked on them. My reason is very simple. All violins sizes vary.

Just because a violin bears a label that it is a ¼-size violin does not mean that the violin would fit the typical ¼-size violin student adequately. There are variations within the general size labels. There are "bigger" and "smaller" ¼-size violins. A child may do very well with a smaller ¼-size but have a great deal of difficulty playing well with a larger ¼-size violin. For this reason, I ask my parents to follow my "system" of sizing the child. I demonstrate my instrument sizing method to the parent in the studio during the child's lesson or at a group class when there are many violin sizes available to try. If the parent goes to the violin shop and I cannot be there (which is usually the case since we live in a rural area about an hour's drive from the violin shops), I know that I have been careful to instruct the parent in my preferred method of sizing the child. I have also made sure that the violin shop understands exactly how I wish my students to be measured for a violin sizing.

When I place the violin under the child's chin and stretch out the child's violin arm as far straight out as it will go, I would like the center of the violin's scroll to reach the child's wrist. If the violin is a little bit too big, then I opt for a smaller size. The child should not have to "grow into" a violin size. That "grow into" philosophy might work well for clothing sizes, but it does not work for violin sizing. If a child is asked to play for a time on an instrument that is too big, the child will develop some very bad posture habits, such as turning the violin elbow outward instead of under the violin, or tilting the head to the right as if to see "around" the violin. I have one such student now who had been playing on a violin that was too large for over a year. Now that he has come to me, and time has dutifully passed, we are still working two years later on correcting the incorrect posture alignment problems that arose during the "too large" phase.

After checking that the violin and arm length are a good fit, I then hold the violin flat across the student's upper chest and take a look at how the instrument fits with the shoulders. Ideally the instrument should appear as if it "fits" between the shoulders rather than looking as if the instrument dwarfs the child. Some children are from sturdier, stockier family designs, like rugby or defensive football linemen in the making. In these cases, sometimes a smaller instrument would be easier for the child to maneuver his or her muscles around. Measuring the violin across the shoulders would reveal this possibility if it exists.

Other Problems

Tall Students. A very, very tall student may pose an additional sizing problem because the student’s neck may be rather long. In this case, the student may have to scrunch the shoulder up and squeeze the chin down to get a good "fit" in the violin hold. This is quite uncomfortable for the student and may lead to neck and other muscle problems down the road. The first remedy this student might try is to use a taller shoulder rest. The problem is that by building up underneath the violin to fill in the empty space, we are also raising the height level of the violin. A violin that is too high in relation to the rest of the body will also cause muscle problems and unwanted muscle tension.

The better solution is to find a way to build up the violin to the normal specification underneath and then to provide the student with a way to fill up the empty space from the top of the instrument. We might try a higher chin rest, or in the case of one student I knew years ago, use something under the chin rest to raise the chin rest height in relation to the instrument.

Short or Stocky Students.

Irregular Finger Length. Occasionally I run into a student whose fingers seem to be irregular in length. For instance the pinkie finger may be a tad shorter in length with regard to the other fingers or one of the other fingers is longer than is typical. There is not much that a teacher can do to accommodate the unusual sizing in these cases except to encourage the student to find an instrument size that works best for the student.

Inconsistent Growth. A growing student will not grow evenly all around. The student may gain a quarter inch on one side and an eighth inch on the other. The student’s neck may lengthen, but the student’s body may stay the same. I like to use the wedge sponges as shoulder rests to accommodate growing students. The sponges come in six sizes, and I can easily switch from one size to another in a lesson. If a student's violin hold tends to tip the violin “upward,” I try a larger size sponge. Sometimes a small child may be playing on a size 6 wedge sponge (the largest size!) while playing on a ¼-size violin. When a student moves up to the next larger size, we might try a smaller sponge to accommodate the increased instrument width between the shoulder and the chin.

My sizing method may not be the same as your method. I recognize that there are many ways to do this. This is my preferred method. Keep in mind that there may be other factors that will impact a sizing decision, such as the child’s body size overall, the child's hand size, irregular finger length, and inconsistent growth. My key points are these:

• Develop a sizing method for your studio that produces the type of results that work for you.
• Make sure that your instrument provider or dealer understands your method of sizing your students. In other words, make sure that you and your shop owner are “on the same page” when it comes to sizing your students.
• Make sure the parent takes the child to the violin shop in order to be there for the proper sizing process.
• Do not allow your students to choose instruments that are too big. Students will not “grow into” the correct size without other unnecessary posture problems that may be difficult to correct later.
• Follow your teacher’s advice about sizing!

Please feel free to share your particular method for determining what size instrument a student needs.

Where to Get an Instrument for Your Child

Recently, I received a request to raise and comment on the issue of where a parent might obtain a good quality violin for their child. This question also raises other important questions: should I rent or purchase my child's instrument? Where should I rent or purchase my child's instrument? What size instrument should I get?

We have several youth string programs at Texas State University, and parents raise this discussion annually. Here are a few of the informational points I discuss with the parents of new string students.


Where Should I Get an Instrument for my Child?

A parent should be careful when getting an instrument for their child. I highly recommend that you follow the advice and suggestions of your teacher first and foremost, because your teacher is the expert in this field and has the experience to back up any recommendations. Still, there is some advice I can offer to help you avoid future problems.

EBay is a wonderful and fun tool for purchasing many different things, but for buying a violin or other stringed instrument, in my opinion EBay is the worst place to go! Anyone who knows anything about good musical instruments will NEVER sell them on EBay. You are more likely to get a poor instrument or an instrument that will need much repair in order to be put into working order. The main problem is that you will have little or no idea whether the instrument is any good. You cannot tell what the instrument's quality is without examining it in person. You cannot tell what prior repair work has been done, and despite the ability to resolve any dispute through EBay, who would want to take the time and trouble to do that?

There are many retail music stores that sell violins, however, a retail store may not be what you are looking for either because they may not be generally equipped with the experienced personnel to adjust the instruments properly for easy playing. Many stores offer their violin inventory and do not understand how to adjust the instrument to its best possible playing condition. Adjusting an instrument involves numerous items to check for and make adjustments about the instrument. For example, I offer here a link to a sample 15-point checklist that might be used when adjusting an instrument: http://www.henrystrobel.com/adjust.htm.

When a parent ignores my advice concerning which shops to rent or purchase an instrument from, I am usually faced with an instrument that has not been properly adjusted. The pegs might not fit, the bridge and sound post might be out of alignment, the nut and fingerboard may have issues concerning improper height, the instrument may need minor repair, and the chin rest might not properly fit.

I might struggle with the new instrument for a few weeks. Usually the issue is that I cannot tune the violin very well the because the pegs will not hold. Another common issue is that the bridge is way too high for a student to play comfortably. Of course, the parent winds up struggling with these same issues every other day of the week. Each week I struggle some more and make a point of saying, "this violin just needs to be adjusted. I'm surprised the shop did not do that for you before letting you leave the store." I say that enough times, and then the parent actually goes to the store and asks the shop to adjust the instrument. At that point the parent also realizes that the shop does not understand what "adjust the instrument" means. The parent then quietly returns the violin and then heads over to one of the stores I recommended.

Note to teachers: I think it is crucial that a teacher build a good report with the violin shops in the area. I know everything about the shops in my locale: I know which shops have deservedly high reputations and in which shops I need to be careful in my dealings. I have visited with the shops that I would recommend to my students and their parents, and I have also explained to the shop what my sizing policy is. My relationship with the shops has grown to the extent that in many cases the shop employees also remember that I like my students to have real wooded bows rather than fiberglass, wherever possible. One shop even understands my color coding preferences for finger tapes.

The BEST place to purchase a violin or other stringed instrument in my opinion is a specialized fine string instrument shop that has a luthier available to repair the instruments properly and to see that the instrument is properly made ready for easy playing. A luthier is someone who has typically completed a special apprenticeship program to learn how to work with wood to craft violins and other stringed instruments. This is not a skill that can be learned via the Internet or by working in the back of a shop. Luthiers are highly trained individuals; some have learned their skill in foreign countries.

If the child's instrument sounds lovely, your child will be more encouraged to practice because it is a pleasure to listen to the music he or she is making. As a parent you will enjoy the beginning sounds your child makes, so you will be providing the necessary encouragement and appreciation your child needs to spur him or her on to practice even more (to please you more). Conversely, if your child is not producing pleasant sounds, you and your child will not enjoy the music learning experience quite as much.

I recall an instance when one of my young students outgrew her 1/8 size violin. I explained to her father that she needed a 1/4 size violin. For some reason, the father delayed going to the violin store, until finally the situation became untenable for the young student. Her violin was so tiny, and she had grown so quickly and so much, that she had trouble crowding her fingers into the proper positions to play correct intonation. Every week I would remind the father that she needed a new size violin, but every week the child returned to her lesson with the old size violin.

Finally, frustrated as much as the child seemed to be, I drug out an old 1/4 size violin from my closet, which we happily refer to as the "camping violin." One of my other students had been camping once somewhere in Texas and while hiking a herd of wild horses had raced through the campsite and trampled everything in its path. Fortunately, my student had not taken her violin along on this camping trip.

The violin in my closet was a dog. It sounded terrible, and I inherited it somewhere along the way from someone, but I do not recall how I came to own it. It had a horrible, thin, scratchy tone, and there was nothing that anyone could do to improve the sound. I mostly kept it around in order to have a 1/4 size violin available to check my student's violin size. We call this the camping violin because if a student borrowed it to go camping and a herd of wild horses ran through the campsite, I would not shed a tear if the violin was destroyed under thundering hooves.

So to hand over this violin to a student would almost be a gesture of abuse, but, I could not think of any other solution until the father went to the violin store. Perhaps it was a financial decision on the parent's part, but I did not know the reason.

At first the student was excited because the violin felt right and fit the student's size. That probably lasted a few days. At the child's next lesson, dad was disheartened to report that he had some difficulty getting his child to practice. She had no interest. She said it sounded "scratchy," and she did not enjoy the sounds she made. I understood, because that was the problem with the violin. We limped along like this for several lessons, until the child practically stopped playing altogether. At that point dad became really concerned. He finally went to the store and got her a new instrument.

At the child's next lesson, her face was all lit up like it was Christmas Day. She could not wait to show me what she had been playing on her new violin. She was literally jumping up and down with excitement as she made me look at her pretty new violin. Dad was smiling too, because practicing no longer was an issue in his home. His daughter looked for opportunities to practice and enjoy her sweet violin sounds.

Should I Rent or Buy my Child's Instrument?

Some families will prefer to rent, some to buy. If a parent is unsure whether the parent or the child will continue his or her interest in studying music, the parent might consider renting the child's instrument initially. The shops that your teacher might recommend usually have very affordable rental programs. Most of these programs also offer the option of purchasing insurance for the instrument, which might cost a few dollars per month. These shops can also set up the parent and child with a purchase-to-buy program as well, so the parent  is able to choose a plan to fit the family's budget. One difference in renting versus buying is that over the long haul, renting will benefit the shop more than purchasing. The advantage in renting is that usually the shop will provide basic maintenance and care, such as providing new strings or replacing bows with worn out bow hair, without additional charge. Be sure to ask the shop what you will be getting.

If you buy the instrument, the shop often provides you with a trade-in value when you go in for a larger size, and you can pay the difference between the trade-in value and the cost of the new instrument. Many of my students have traded up their violins size by size until they reach the day when they can purchase a full size (4/4) instrument. With the purchase option, these students built up equity for the cost of the future full size violin.

Sizing is special topic, so I will save the discussion of that topic for a future post.

Parents, please follow your teacher's advice. After all, you attend lessons with the teacher you have chosen because they have this expertise. Teachers, take the bull by the horns and provide your students and their parents with the information they need to make wise decisions about obtaining an instrument.

Happy Practicing!