What size violin do I or my child need? is a really common question I get asked with visitors to the shop. It’s fairly straight forward to answer, with some caveats. I just ask the child to put the violin under their chin and hold the scroll (the other end of their violin) with their left hand. Their fingertips should be able to wrap around and just touch the peg box. If the shoulder capsule is relaxed and the elbow has a slight bend then that size is fine to play.
There are some caveats around anthropomorphic measures though as hand/finger lengths sizes vary as well as individual flexability, neck length and shoulder alignment. There is no substitute for an expert in-person size fitting and customisation of chin/shoulder rest top get it right. Also consideration to a child is going through a growth spurt it can all help in picking a violin that is right for both the day, as well as in a few months time, if they are buying during the summer break.
As a general guide the following measurements and age ranges work pretty well. Arm length is from the bony bit (clavicle) on the shoulder to the longest fingertip. Its generally not reliable enough to buy a mailorder/online instrument though, at the very least expect to custom fit another chin rest and shoulder pad (a teacher or store can advise) assuming the rest of the violin is OK (Avoid the VSOs : Violin shaped object at all costs) .
Images from Julia’s Violinspriation Online Academy violin size guide (with permission) . See her complete guide to sizing with a video here
Of course living in multicultural Australia there are some variation, some children are smaller than others for a given age as well as gender variations.
The Cost -Sound tradeoff
One thing to note from the table is that your child will move fairly quickly through some of the sizes. It’s here that a cost-sound trade off becomes important when thinking about how much to invest in an instrument at any stage, especially if its their first instrument and you are not sure its going to “take”. My view is that it needs to good enough for the musical stage your child is at in terms of sound production…but not break the bank!!! Save your big bucks for their full size forever instrument, if they stick at it!.
Dan’s Price guide ($200 + $100 per year of learning )
As a rough guide if you are buying a new instrument I recon $200 + $100 per year of learning I think is about right based on high street prices. If you come from a family of musical prodigies, you might well want to spend more though
I stock the following new instruments or similar for the following developmental stages :
$275 Vivo Neo for 1/4 , 1/2 sizes 1-2 yrs of learning (equivalent to Enrico, Arco etc)
$335 Vivo Neo Plus for 3/4 2-3 years of learning (equivalent body to Arioso, but without the better strings)
$600 Vivo Elite and Kreisler 3-5 years of learning
~$750 Hidersine Piacenza, Raggetti RV7 and similar (A brilliant 4/4 for most high school students through to tertiary stages)
I have sourced these based primarily on sound quality and “bang for your buck”
Out of the box and with my setup they will sound great for those years of learning. To push them a bit more each of these instruments can get an improved sound (when the student can produce a better tone) though its money you don’t need to spend straight away.
a) putting better strings on them
b) buying a higher quality bow
Secondhand instruments are always a way to get great sound and good value as well, if it doesn’t need to be new and shiny!