Violin Teaching Supplies

Learn about 5 surprising items from the hardware store that can all be used to help teach the violin.

Many of you are preparing for a new school year and this list shares 5 surprising items that you can purchase from the hardware store and use as violin teaching supplies.

The bigger message than the specific 5 items on this list is to think outside the box. This will keep your creative process activated as the violin teacher and will keep the learning process fun and exciting for the violin students. The correlating video demonstrates how to use these supplies for teaching the violin in more detail than the list below.

1- Painters Tape -  A Violin Teacher’s Best Friend.

• Use easy to remove and non-residue marking painters tape to be respectful hanging signs in the spaces you rent. Painters tape can also be used to keep young children safe by marking off staircases or other areas you do not wish for them to go in.

 

• When performing use it make rows on the floor so your students know where to stand and you save time setting-up.

 

• To help keep your students’ bows straight use this to create a “road” underneath the strings between the bridge and fingerboard

 

• Cut into strips to use as fingerboard finger tapes.

2- Paint Roller

• Use rubberbands to secure a new, foam paint roller onto the front of the violin to create a tunnel for the bow to go thru. Have the student use this defined track to train the muscle memory for the bow arm and bow hand to learn how to play violin with a straight bow.

3- Level

• A level makes it fun to teach young beginners how to keep their instruments up high enough and gives parents a tool for using at home to train this technique when practicing with their child.

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• You can purchase pocket size levels that are 3 inches long for under $1.

4- Bathmat

• Using a bathmat for foot charts is better than cardboard because it keeps young wiggling students safe with the non-skid surface. Bathmats are also a great idea for foot charts because they can be used over again with new students which conserves your teaching energy.

5- Paint Mixing Stick

• I forgot to add the paint mixing stick on the video but these are great to make the fingerboard of a box violin for pre-twinkle level students.

What creative items do you use in your teaching? Please share in the comments below, thanks!