What Violin Strings Are Good for Beginners?

We often get asked, “what violin strings are good for beginners, but are also affordable?  In most cases here, it’s the parents that are calling for their younger son or daughter.   They either own or rent (in most cases), a fractional violin, which means that the size of the violin is smaller than a regular adult size (4/4) violin:  it’s usually a ¾, ½ size, or even smaller like ¼ etc.    While not every brand offers fractional violin size strings, most do and in some cases, they’re way cheaper then even the same exact adult sized set.

It really all boils down to a few things:  First, money!  Parents and beginners are usually on a budget and cannot see, nor should they go out and buy the best premium strings out there.  Even if they did, we very much doubt anyone but an experienced player would be able to tell the difference to hear or feel anything substantially better then a lower priced set.

Sometimes though, just spending a little more money, than whatever is the lowest basement brand and price, can really make a difference.  A good manufacturer that makes premium adult (full size) strings already knows all about quality and so even their version of “cheap” strings might not only be cheaper in cost than some other brands, they not only still sound and player better, with the higher quality standards and materials, they last longer too.A set of Tonica strings here (at time of this post) cost $32.95.  Here, we group our violin sections by manufacturer, so one can find these on our Pirastro Tonica page.

For sure, the number #1 people’s choice award for the best bang for your buck by far, are Pirastro’sTonica brand violin strings.  Tonicas are made with the same super high engineered quality that Pirastro (Germany) are known for, yet very affordable strings.

Usually steel strings, that is, strings made with a steel wire core and steel wrapping will be the toughest (lasting) string out there, but ‘all-steel’ usually translates to “hard” sounding strings, with little or no nuance to the way they sound or respond, at least when compared to the newer technologies of today.

Today’s best sounding (and most expensive) strings are pretty much all made with synthetic materials.   Here, the core is not steel, but a more responsive ‘freer’ vibrating string core made from synthetic materials.  Often the metal alloy that is wrapped around the core (G, D and A) are often made from silver or aluminum.  Often the G and D have a silver wrapping, while the A is aluminum.  The E strings, let’s face it… are so thin, they are not usually ‘wrapped’ but either coated or made from a pure metal alloy that has a tonal tendency.

Again, let’s get back to the strings with the best sound, best response (which means how easily they ‘sound’ from the touch of the bow), to what are the best (most affordable) beginner violin strings.  Again, these 3 string choices we offer are made with the usually more expensive synthetic core technology of today, but very well made, are long lasting and….cheaper!

Cheap Affordable Violin Strings

• Tonicas! Again, today they are $32.95. You cannot beat these for the money. 
• Another set by Corelli, are the Crystals which come in every size, and only $24.95, but with the order minimum, the shipping will bring them up about $5-6 bucks.
• Evah Pirazzi (also made by Pirastro). These strings are VERY popular with professional level violinists.  While the Evah Pirazzi full sizes start at $80, one can actually get a ‘fractional’ smaller size (3/4, ½ to ¼) for only $45. So, if by chance you have some great talented ¾ size player needing new strings, we would dare suggest going for the slightly higher priced Evah Pirazzi strings (these are the ones with the picture of the ‘green lady’ label).