Begin by selecting a quality instrument. Violins are expensive but you do not have to spend more than necessary. There are a lot of good used violins available to purchase. And used instruments frequently sound as good or better than a new one.

If you have an acquaintance or relation that plays, they can help you with introductory lessons. Or you can begin with a professional teacher.

The opening thing you're going to need to determine is how to hold the violin. If it's not comfortable you might give up before you get started, or worse yet, you might even find yourself with a stress injury. To hold the violin the right way, you put your left arm below the body of the instrument and then grip the neck of the instrument with your left hand, curling your fingers above the neck as you do so. Your hand and fingers will be placed over the strings and the violin's chin rest will be between your left shoulder and your chin. You will use your right hand to bow or pick the strings while holding the bow in that hand.

With the violin held correctly you can start to study the notes. Different from many instruments with strings, violins don't have frets. The way to experience where every note falls on the fretboard is by ear.

For this, you will have to distinguish four positions on your violin. The number 1 position is situated the furthest away from your face and produces low pitched notes. The final position is the highest notes and is the furthest up the neck. The strings themselves are tuned to specific notes, lowest to highest. In the open position (no fingers on the fretboard) those notes are G, D, A, and E. Putting your fingers on the fretboard in various spots permits you to play other notes.

Notes are played in 1 of 2 manners. You can either pass the bow across the strings or you can pluck them. The latter method is named pizzicato.

Learning to read music notes will be the next item on your agenda. If you do not understand how to read music prior to learning how to play, you can begin by studying music in a more basic fashion either by taking classes, having somebody experienced in music instruct you, or learning on your own to a particular degree by getting online and searching out various tutorials. Then obtain some quality violin sheet music made for beginners and you're all set.