How to choose violin sizes

Violins are available in 8 different sizes: 4/4 (also called full size), 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/10, 1/16 and 1/32. Size 4/4 is the biggest and size 1/32 is the smallest. All adults, regardless of their size, use the size 4/4 violin.

To measure what size violin best suits you, you need to know the length between your neck and the middle of your left-hand palm (when your hand is fully extended and raised perpendicular to your body, just like holding a violin). Most of the teachers prefer students to use the length from the neck to the wrist for measurement instead of the neck to mid-palm approach. The violin size determined by the neck/wrist approach would be the size that is more comfortable for students to hold. The violin size determined by the neck/mid-palm approach would be the biggest size students should use. The following table lists the length of each violin size. Find your length using your preferred approach and use that to determine the size of violin to get.

If you have a teacher, you should ask for your teacher's recommendation. If you don't have a teacher, we would recommend using the neck/wrist approach for students not using full size; for students who are deciding whether to used size 3/4 or size 4/4, use the neck/mid-palm approach. This is because it is always better those students feeling comfortable holding and playing the violin. However, while deciding between size 3/4 and size 4/4, if neck/mid-palm approach allows for size 4/4, then buying a size 4/4 is more economical since you don't have to buy another bigger size violin later. This is completely based on economical consideration. You should still decide what best suits your need.