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These beginner violin and fiddle songs are listed in order of easy to more challenging.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star | Amazing Grace | Marianne | Scarborough Fair | Brahms Lullaby | House of the Rising Sun | Minuet in G | San Francisco Bay Blues
This song features our color coded violin tablature. See a more detailed explanation on our how to use it page.
Watch David Kaynor play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". David Kaynor has over 30 years of violin and fiddle playing experience. He currently teaches and plays the fiddle in the Connecticut River Valley.
Master violinist, fiddler & luthier Johnny Connagan shows you how to play Amazing Grace.
"Brahms Lullaby" is the common name for a number of children's lullabies with similar lyrics and the same melody, the origin of which was Johannes Brahms's Wiegenlied: Guten Abend, gute Nacht, Op. 49, No. 4 (published in 1868). The common first verse is taken from a collection of German folk poems called Des Knaben Wunderhorn.
The following is one the most popular English versions for Brahms Lullaby.
Lullaby and good night, with roses bedight
With lilies o'er spread is baby's wee bed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lullaby and good night, thy mother's delight
Bright angels beside my darling abide
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
They will guard thee at rest, thou shalt wake on my breast
This version is the traditional Blues version and inspiration for the rendition that Eric Burdon and the Animals made famous in the sixties, (pay special attention to the first, third, fourth and fifth verses). This song sounds great when played slowly and evenly in 2/4 time, like a ballad. If you're wondering why the reference is mainly female, it is because the Rising Sun was a brothel as well as a gambling house.
If I had listened to what mama said,
I'd be at home today.
But being so young and foolish poor girl,
let a gambler lead me astray.
My husband is a gambling man,
he goes from town to town.
And the only time he's satisfied,
is when he drinks his liquour down.
The only thing a gambling man needs,
is a suitcase and a trunk.
And the only time he's satisfied,
is when he's on a drunk.
Go tell my baby sister,
never do like I have done.
To shun that house in New Orleans,
they call the Rising Sun.
It's one foot on the platform,
and the other on the train.
I'm going back to New Orleans,
to wear the ball and chain.
This song is intended for a more advanced player who is comfortable with a piece like this, or working with a qualified instructor. Listening to a recording of this piece, before practicing it, is recommended. Make sure the rendition you are listening to is truly a Minuet in G. This rendition is written in F major and flats all B's. The notes that have dots above or below them are to be played in the "staccato" style or rapidly.
San Francisco Bay Blues is a fun old Blues tune. Written by Jesse Fuller, and first recorded by Fuller in the mid-1950s', this song has been around for a long time. The song has been recorded by many famous musicians such as The Weavers, Richie Havens, Eric Clapton, The Flatlanders and Janice Joplin. SFBB has become a time honored tradition in many genres of music.
This song is presented by request and is a little more involved than most of the others posted on this page. We suggest listening to a recording to get a feel for how to play this one.
