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Note Reading for Beginners –
How to Read Sheet Music on
the Violin

Violin Note
Reading for
28

Beginners –
How to Read
Sheet Music on
the Violin

So you’d like to learn to read

violin notes? I hear you!

Learning how to read sheet

music unlocks a whole new
world on the violin.

Imagine what it would be like

if you could put a random
piece of sheet music on the
music stand – and start
playing!

Learning to recognize notes

is not as hard as some may
think.

If you only know a few key

concepts about note reading,
you’ll be able to recognize
most notes on the violin.

And if you keep practicing,

you’ll eventually even be able
to sight-read. This means
reading the notes while
you’re playing.

Are you already getting

excited about learning violin
notes?

Keep reading to learn

everything you need to know
about reading sheet music
on the violin.

Table of content [ hide ]

1. How to Read Violin Notes

for Beginners
2. 3 Tips to Learning Music
Notation Quicker
3. Last Note

How to Read
Violin Notes for
Beginners

Step 1: Learn the Sta>

Layout

The Irst step to reading violin

notes is understanding the
basic symbols.

The Sta>
First of all, let’s have a look at
the staK:

The staK is the

foundation upon which
you can draw notes.
The staK consists of
Ive lines and four
spaces.

Each line or space

represents a note on
the violin.

Bar Lines
Bar lines divide the staK into
measures (also called “bars”).

Here you can see an example

of a staK that is split into two
measures by one bar line
placed in the middle:

Bar lines help us keep track

of where we are in the violin
music, and to keep the right
timing.

The Treble Clef

The treble clef is also
sometimes called the G clef.
Note that the shape of the
treble clef itself resembles a
stylized G.

The staK that the treble clef

wraps around represents the
G.

You might have seen other

musical clefs as well, but
luckily, there is no need to
learn them as a violinist! All
violin music is always written
in the treble clef.

Music notes are named after

the Irst seven letters of the
alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G.
Each line or space represents
one of the notes.

After the note G, there is

another set of the same 7
notes.

Ledger Lines
Have a look at the last note of
my last image. Do you see
that after the last “G”, there is
no extra line to put a note
upon?

To solve this problem, we can

create “ledger lines”. A ledger
line is a short line used to
write notes which would
otherwise be too high or too
low for the staK.

Have a look at the new note

we added to the following.
The last A in this image has a
“ledger line”.

We can also add ledger lines

for notes that are too low for
the staK.

The Key Signature

A key signature is a set of

sharp ( ♯ ) and \at ( ♭ )
symbols placed on the staK
at the beginning of a section
of music. It tells the player
which key the song needs to
be played in. The key aKects
where we need to place a
Inger.

For instance, in the A Major

key we are using a high
second Inger on the A string,
whereas in the C Major key
we are using a low second
Inger.

The theory behind key

signatures is a little
challenging and is not
important for a beginning
violinist to fully comprehend
yet. For now, the only thing
you need to remember is
that the symbols next to the
treble clef are called a “key
signature”.

If you want to learn more,

check out my simple guide
to violin key signatures.

Step 2: Learn the Note

Names
Now that you know the
basics, we will learn to read
our Irst notes!

The Open Strings

As we already know, each line
and space of the staK
corresponds to a note.

There are a few notes that

are particularly important for
violin players because they
are the open string notes.

The note names of the open

strings on the violin are: E, A,
D and G.

Here is a video lesson in

which I show the notation
and play an example of each
one of the open string notes:

Lesson 1 How to…

Now look at the following

image and memorise the
notes as well as you can
before you read onwards:

Did you memorise all the

notes? It’s time to test
yourself!

Watch the following video

and try to remember the
notes:

Lesson 2 Read O…

Were you able to recognize

all the notes? Great! You can
now move on to the next
step.

The Notes of the Fingers

Now that you have learned to
read notes on the open
string, it’s time to understand
how to read all the other
notes.

As we know, each line or

space on the staK represents
one note. The notes are
placed on the staK in the
following order: A, B, C, D, E,
F, G. After the note G, there is
another set of the same 7
notes.

With this information, we can

Ill out the other notes.

Starting at the G, the note

one above G will be A. The
note on the line above that is
a B. When continuing like
that, you can quickly Ill out all
the other notes.

If you want to learn the notes

on all strings, check out my
post “All Violin Notes for
Beginners [with Easy PDF
Charts]“.

Reading the Fingering Above

the Notes
When playing the violin, we
usually do not only talk about
the note names, but also
about the Ingering.

Naming the Ingers is very

simple to do.

Every Inger on your left hand

is assigned a number, except
the thumb. The thumb does
not have a number, because
we use the thumb to hold the
violin.

The index Inger is given the

number 1; the middle Inger
is given 2; the ring Inger is
given 3; and the pinky Inger
is given 4.

The open strings are played

with only the bow and no
Ingers. That is why we
usually use the number 0 to
let the player know an open
string needs to be played.

The Irst note above the open

string is played with the Irst
Inger or index Inger. The
note above that is played
with the second Inger.

This way you can quickly

Igure out which Inger you
are supposed to play a note
with.

How to Read Easy Violin Tabs

In some sheet music on my
site, I added violin tabs.

Below the notes, you can see

a letter that represents the
string you will be playing on.

Above the notes, you will see

numbers. These numbers
represent which Inger you
have to put on the string. If
the number is zero, it means
that you will have to play an
open string.

Note Chart: All Violin Notes in

First Position (PDF)
Here is an easy overview
chart of all the violin notes in
Irst position.

You can download a

printable PDF version of this