With these five violin intonation exercises, you will play music more in tune, hear relative intonation better, and achieve your musical goals faster!

Playing in tune is a constant work-in-progress from the moment we begin learning the violin. It becomes easier the more we work on it, but I guarantee you that all violinists work on their intonation daily.  Yes, this includes teachers, students, and professional violinists! Perfect intonation requires consistent practice, patience, and persistence.

Intonation is difficult because the violin does not have 12 set pitches like a piano does. Instead, we have to fret the fingerboard by accurately dropping our fingers down. If the finger is even a millimeter off, you’ll hear a slight change in pitch. Furthermore, violinists have the ability to adjust the pitches to harmony. While in the beginning you might have tapes on your violin to help guide you, you’ll eventually want to build security in your left-hand position. This will help develop a strong sense of where the fingers go. You will also build accuracy, security, and muscle memory.

As a teacher, I will help you fine-tune both your ears and your fingers so you can play better in tune. Below are my five top violin intonation exercises to practice. Try them out and let me know which tips worked best for you!

5 Best Exercises to Improve Your Violin Intonation

1. Hand Position Stability Exercises

Hand stability is one of the key elements to perfect intonation.

Proper Left-hand Frame

If you are a very beginner, start by building your hand frame. You can do this by tapping each finger on the fingerboard. Start with just the first finger. You want your fingers to be curved (yes, even that 4th finger!) and to go down with agility. Try not to be tense or have your finger hammer down on the fingerboard. Think of the finger going down quickly but also bouncing right back up.

Trills

The next step is to trill between your fingers. Trills are created when you alternate between two notes quickly. They help build velocity and finger speed. First, play your first and second fingers on the A string. Start by going slowly and eventually speed up the alternations so it sounds like a flutter. You can trill with any fingers that are next to each other: 1st and 2nd, 2nd and 3rd, 3rd and 4th.

Exercises for All Fingers

As you advance past this stage, it is important to get all four fingers on one string in tune. Intonation is relative, so let’s work on the rest of the hand. Sevcik Op. 1, Part 1 is a great exercise book to start with. Each measure focuses on a four-note pattern, starting in the first position. Take each note separately with one long bow stroke for each note. If your note is too high, you are too sharp. Move your finger down a little to find the correct pitch. If it sounds too low, you are flat so move slightly up.

You can use a tuner to check if you are playing each note correctly. Feel free to use my free online tuner, a mobile app, or a tuner device.

These short Sevcik exercises cover all possible finger patterns. Play slowly one measure at a time and listen to make sure all fingers are going down evenly. You might need to adjust slightly, but now is the time to do it! You will want consistency in nailing the pitch over time, so you won’t have to adjust. This will strengthen your left-hand frame.

Another invaluable etude book for intonation is the Schradieck – School of Violin Technics. Playing these etudes daily helps in developing accuracy, strength, speed, and finger independence. As per the directions, students should keep the hand perfectly quiet, and let the fingers fall strongly and raise with swiftness. Play each line as many times and as slowly as you need until you can execute it easily. Try these exercises with a metronome set at a slow tempo, e.g. 60 bpm. As you become more comfortable, alter the speed and bowing.

2. Scales, Scales, Scales

Scales are essentially the building blocks of violin intonation. They develop finger accuracy and ease as well as your ability to hear the intervallic relationships. They are also the foundation of all musical pieces, so it is imperative to work diligently and often slowly. Play them daily with a specific focus.

Scales for Beginner Students

Start with just a one-octave scale that begins on an open string (e.g. in the key of A Major). First, listen to the notes of this scale. In the video below, I play for you the A Major scale and three other easy scales:

Next, try to sing it out loud before playing. This way you’ll hear the correct pitches in your head and can better match them on your violin. Then, start by playing only the perfect intervals, so in A Major scale that would be: A, D, E, and A.

If your strings are tuned correctly, each of these sounds should ring causing sympathetic vibrations.

Next, add the leading tone, which is the second-to-last note, and should be very close to the top note (high second finger). Finally, fill in the remaining notes and play each slowly with one per bow stroke. The very top note should match the first note you played because they form together an octave.

You can check what other scales I recommend for beginners and download them here:

Scales for Intermediates

Once you have mastered the single-octave scale, begin adding a second octave. Using a metronome, start at 50 beats per minute with one note per bow stroke. As you add a second octave, it is important that both octaves match pitches so check with open strings and ring tones when possible. Your instrument will be naturally resonant on ring tones. Next, if you are adding any shifts, isolate them by practicing the shift on its own out of context. Prepare the finger when playing the preceding note and hover the finger over the string while you shift.

Barbara Barber’s Scales for Young Violinists and Schradieck Complete Scale Studies are great resources. They break down the scales into smaller, manageable practice units. Begin to play arpeggios as well and make sure your thirds are sharp enough in major keys.