How Long Does it Take to Learn Violin?

Guest author Adrian Martinez helps tackle one of the most popular questions - how long does it take to learn how to play the violin?

How long does it take to learn the violin? We’re going to start by responding to this question with what is perhaps the most frustrating answer: it depends. 


First, it depends on what you mean by “learn.” Within a day, you might possibly be able to play a few notes - within a week, you might be able to play those notes in a way that kind-of-sort-of sounds like a song. You might then say you’ve “learned” the violin. On the other hand, if you’re asking how long it takes to master the violin, you might fall back on Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours, or you might be really impish and say that absolute mastery is impossible. After all, music is ever-growing and changing, and even micro-adjustments to technique can produce totally different sounding songs.


We might then look at the extraordinary variety inherent in humankind. There are so many different students, each with different levels of experience. Someone who has played the guitar before might find it easier to develop a left-hand technique than a total novice. On the other hand, another guitarist might find the lack of frets daunting and disorienting, which could curb their progress.

How you’re learning can also be a pretty important factor. Whether or not you’ve got a personal instructor, if you’re taking online music lessons, if you have access to sheet music, or you’re just trying to guess for yourself. 


Other factors include:

• How often the student practices (this is the biggest one)!
• How much the student is enjoying learning the instrument.
• Whether or not the student knows music theory.
• How much they listen to music.
• The way in which they study.

Of course, you’re not here reading this blog post for the answer “it depends” - though elaborating on why it depends can help you narrow down what your goals and potential barriers might be. 


We’re going to make some assumptions, then. We’re going to assume you’ve never played an instrument before, you don’t know any music theory - that you’re basically a complete beginner. We’re also going to assume you practice for around 5-6 hours a week (an hour a day with a day or two off or 45 minutes every day) and that you have a teacher.

Month 1:

The first month is all about the absolute basics. You’ll learn how to hold the violin and the bow (and yourself). You’ll also learn the basic anatomy of a violin. It’s unlikely that you’ll use the fingers on your left hand during the first month; instead, you’ll focus on your bow technique. You will do exercises like this & this (click on the links for some fun YouTube tutorial videos from M4YV). 


You’ll also begin to learn the basics of music theory - mainly how to read sheet music. Learning about music theory is an ongoing discipline. There’s an incredible depth, diversity, and richness to theory, especially once you start going outside of the Western canon, so there’s a lot to learn here.

​Month 2:

At this point, you’ll be growing more comfortable with the basics - posture, holding the instrument, and a simple bowing technique. You’ll now start to incorporate the fingers on your left hand to press down on the violin's strings and produce different notes. You may not be able to string the notes together (yet), but you’re on your way.

​The First Year:

Within the first year, you’ll be able to play several basic songs on your violin - pop songs, folks songs, and more! You’ll start to be able to play basic songs (think Jingle Bells simple) within the first few months of picking up the instrument. They won’t sound perfect, but they’ll be recognizable!

Months after, those basic songs should start sounding quite a bit better, and you’ll have increased your repertoire. You’ll be getting pretty good at the first position (the fingerings you’ll use with your left hand without sliding it up the neck of the violin).

​The Second Year:

Within the second year, you’ll have learned all of the notes in the first position. At this point, you’ll even be able to play several classical solos, and your repertoire will certainly be impressive enough to put on a small show for friends and family. 

​The Third Year:

At this point, you’ll be learning a variety of more complex bowing techniques, as well as left-hand techniques like double stops. Your repertoire will expand pretty quickly in the third year, and you may learn new positions for your left hand.

​Beyond Year 3:

There are so many different ways to play the violin - from using the bow's wooden side to play to learning vibrato. You can continue to learn and master the violin for decades - even the most sophisticated players are always learning something new. By the end of year three, you’ll be quite proficient - keep expanding and honing your technique. At this point, almost everyone will agree that you’ve “learned” the violin

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A heartfelt thank you to Adrian Martinez for authoring this blog post!

Adrian Martinez is the Content Coordinator at Academy Of Music, a music school specializing in both in-home and online music lessons. Academy of Music has been offering quality music lessons at reasonable tuition rates since 1990. Their mission is to offer the highest quality, enjoyable musical education and make them convenient and affordable for everyone!