How to Care for Your New Violin or Viola – Basic Instrument Care for Violin

String instruments can be difficult to care for–they’re temperamental just like humans, and require a bit of knowledge to keep them in great playing condition. Here are a few basic tips to take care of your new violin or viola.

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Taking Your Violin/Viola out of the Case

The bow

I like to take the bow out first. The hair should be loose whenever you’re not playing the violin, so we’ll tighten the bow hair by turning the screw at the bottom of the bow to the right.

Next, we’ll put on some rosin. There’s probably a small compartment in your violin case that’s perfect for storing rosin!

If you’ve never applied rosin before, here’s how I do it:

1. Hold the bow the same way that you do to play the violin
2. Hold the rosin in your left hand
3. Move the rosin back and forth over the bow hair. Sometimes I’ll move the bow back and forth, too
4. Be sure to cover all of the bow hair–don’t miss the bits at the frog and tip!

If your bow has never been rosined before, you’ll need to apply a TON to get any sound out of the instrument. I recently got a new violin bow, and I had to apply more rosin than I ever have before just to get a sound to come out!

This is to build up dust in the bow hair to provide friction against the strings. Once we have enough rosin built up, we’ll just put a little bit of rosin on the bow each day we play.

The violin/viola

Next, we’ll take out the instrument. It should be strapped in the case around the neck. I keep my shoulder rest in the case, too. For my violin, I use a collapsible Kun shoulder rest that sits below the neck of the violin in the case. For my viola, there’s a nice velcro strap for the shoulder rest, so I keep my Everest shoulder rest there.

Tuning the Violin/Viola

When tuning your string instrument, focus on just one string at a time. Never loosen all four strings at once–this will take tension off the bridge and cause it to fall over! It can also make the soundpost fall down inside the instrument. The soundpost is a pillar inside your string instrument that creates the violin sound we love.

Never tighten a string more than it needs. In other words, don’t tune a string sharper than it needs to go. This puts unnecessary tension on the strings, which could cause them to snap or just wear out faster.

Bow Care

Always loosen the bow hair after playing your violin. This keeps everything safe and in good condition. Having the bow hair tightened all the time puts unnecessary pressure on the stick, and will wear out the bow hair faster.

You might’ve heard this tip before, but try your best to not touch the bow hair! The oils from our skin make the hair dirty, and then we’ll need to go in for a rehair sooner rather than later.

Putting Your Instrument Away

When you’re finished playing, your violin or viola should either go back in the case, or on an instrument stand. I personally love keeping my instruments on stands when I’m home for an extended period of time. Seeing my instrument sitting out helps keep me motivated and excited to just pick it up and play.

If you don’t live in an environment where leaving your instrument on a stand is safe, then it’s best to pack up your instrument every time you’re finished playing.

The Bow

The first thing I do is loosen my bow hair and clean the stick down with a microfiber cloth to get rid of rosin build up.

Keeping your instrument clean is important to keep it in good playing order!

Then, I put my bow in the case–tip first into the holder on the left, then the frog portion gets clipped in.

The Violin

After my bow is away, I take the shoulder rest off my instrument and place it in its dedicated spot in my case.

I’ll clean off my strings, fingerboard, and body of the violin to get off all the rosin dust that’s accumulated. I’ve found that by making this a habit, my instruments stay in better shape and need less maintenance.

Then I sit the violin into the molded part of the case, and strap it in by the neck. Be sure to strap your instrument in, if your case has the option! We want to keep our instrument as safe as possible.

Then, for my violin, I place my microfiber cloth on top to protect it in case a bow comes loose (it’s happened before), and to protect it from the weather. For my viola, I use a silk bag from Carmen Bruna to protect it from temperature and humidity changes. I love using this, and I’m sure someday I’ll get one for my violin!

Finishing Touches

Make sure everything is securely in place, then zip/buckle up your case. That’s that!

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If you have any questions about caring for your violin or viola, please feel free to leave a comment below! Our instruments were built to last for a very long time, so taking good care of them is very important.