Learn violin through play. These little games help students recognise strings, notes, finger patterns, melodic playback and rhythm, and eventually sight-read with more confidence — plus dedicated music theory games for major scales, melodic minor scales, harmonic minor scales, tonic triads, dominant chords, subdominant chords, submediant chords and supertonic chords.
Start here, before any fingers touch the fingerboard. These two games train the ear to recognise the four open strings — G, D, A and E — by sound alone.
Hear one open-string note, then choose the matching violin string: G, D, A or E. Replay the sound whenever you need another listen; every correct answer earns the rabbit a carrot.
Play Feed the Rabbit →Hear two different open-string notes back-to-back, remember their order, then catch the first and second notes by choosing G, D, A or E before they fall.
Play Catch the Notes →Once open strings feel easy, it's time to add fingers. Each game below belongs to one string and its first four notes — open, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th finger — with its own mascot to make the pattern stick. Listed in standard string order, G-D-A-E.
Gigi the giraffe drops a finger number — 0 to 4 — and sings its real pitch. Catch it by tapping G, A, B, C or D before it crosses the line, or use the keyboard shortcuts.
Play with Gigi → Try Level 2 →Dottie the duckling drops a finger number and sings its real pitch. Catch it by tapping D, E, F#, G or A before it crosses the line, or use the keyboard shortcuts.
Play with Dottie → Try Level 2 →Ava the albatross drops a finger number and sings its real pitch. Catch it by tapping A, B, C#, D or E before it crosses the line, or use the keyboard shortcuts.
Play with Ava → Try Level 2 →Ellie the elephant drops a finger number and sings its real pitch. Catch it by tapping E, F#, G#, A or B before it crosses the line, or use the keyboard shortcuts.
Play with Ellie → Try Level 2 →Level 2 flips the game around: instead of a finger number dropping, the note name drops — and now it's chromatic, with the sharps and flats in between. Tap the finger that plays it. Some fingers cover two neighbouring notes, just like on the real fingerboard.
Gigi drops a note name — G, G#, Ab, A, Bb, B, C, C#, Db or D — and sings its real pitch. Catch it by tapping finger 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 before it crosses the line.
Play with Gigi → Try Level 3 →Dottie drops a note name — D, D#, Eb, E, F, F#, G, G#, Ab or A — and sings its real pitch. Catch it by tapping finger 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 before it crosses the line.
Play with Dottie → Try Level 3 →Ava drops a note name — A, A#, Bb, B, C, C#, D, D#, Eb or E — and sings its real pitch. Catch it by tapping finger 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 before it crosses the line.
Play with Ava → Try Level 3 →Ellie drops a note name — E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, Bb or B — and sings its real pitch. Catch it by tapping finger 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4 before it crosses the line.
Play with Ellie → Try Level 3 →Level 3 is pure listening. Each mascot plays their open string as a reference, then plays three notes in a row from that string's chromatic set. Tap the same three notes back on the fingerboard, in the order you heard them, to train real melodic memory.
Gigi plays the open G string, then three notes from G, G#/Ab, A, Bb, B, C, C#/Db or D. Tap them back in order on the fingerboard to win the round.
Play with Gigi →Dottie plays the open D string, then three notes from D, D#/Eb, E, F, F#, G, G#/Ab or A. Tap them back in order on the fingerboard to win the round.
Play with Dottie →Ava plays the open A string, then three notes from A, A#/Bb, B, C, C#, D, D#/Eb or E. Tap them back in order on the fingerboard to win the round.
Play with Ava →Ellie plays the open E string, then three notes from E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#/Bb or B. Tap them back in order on the fingerboard to win the round.
Play with Ellie →Level 4 sets pitch aside and trains rhythm on its own. Every round opens with a one-bar metronome count-in, then a short rhythm played on a single tone — from crotchets and quaver pairs up to semiquaver groupings and minims. A great violin rhythm game and music ear trainer for students who are comfortable with the metronome and ready to sharpen their listening.
Listen to the metronome bar, then match the rhythm you hear from three notated options. Four tempos to choose from, Andante through Presto, with instant feedback each round.
Play Rhythm Ears →Level 5 brings pitch and rhythm back together in one phrase. Choose a string and a tempo, listen to a short first-position melody after the metronome count-in, then match it by ear. It's music ear training and aural training in one — the same listening skill that supports playing by ear, tuning, and eventually sight-reading.
Pick a string — G, D, A or E — and a tempo, then listen to a short melody combining pitch and rhythm. Match it against three piano-roll style options, with instant feedback each round.
Play Melody Ears →Level 6 moves from ear training into music theory. Pick any of the 13 major scales — from C major to F# and Gb major — and fill in two missing notes from a 12-note chromatic keyboard. Get them right and hear the whole scale played back, with its key signature revealed on screen. A fun, self-testing violin scale game and music theory game in one.
Choose any major scale, listen or read it ascending or descending, and tap the two missing notes from the chromatic keyboard. Aria plays the finished scale back and shows its key signature — all 13 major scales, sharps and flats included.
Play Major Scales →Level 7 tackles minor scales in both of their classical forms. Melodic minor raises the 6th and 7th notes going up, then reverts to natural minor coming back down. Harmonic minor keeps the 6th as the key signature gives it, but always raises the 7th — up and down — for that distinctive, dramatic sound, including the double-sharp keys of D# and G# minor.
Choose any of the 13 melodic minor scales. Ascending and descending use genuinely different notes — raised 6th & 7th going up, natural minor coming down. Fill in the missing notes, hear it played, and see the key signature.
Play Melodic Minor →Choose any of the 13 harmonic minor scales. Only the 7th note is raised — the same way ascending and descending — giving harmonic minor its exotic, augmented-second sound. Fill in the missing notes and see the key signature.
Play Harmonic Minor →Level 8 puts key signatures and chords together. Read the sharps or flats on the treble clef staff, listen to the major or minor tonic triad Phoebee plays for that key, and tap the root, 3rd and 5th from a 12-note chromatic keyboard — sharp-spelled or flat-spelled, matching the key signature. Covers all 13 key signatures, including the tricky E♯ and C♭ spellings in the 6-sharp and 6-flat keys.
Phoebee shows a random key signature and plays its tonic triad — major or minor, your ear decides which. Find the root, 3rd and 5th, then hear the chord broken into an arpeggio as your reward.
Play Tonic Triads →Level 9 builds straight on Level 8: Danielle shows the key signature and plays the tonic triad — it's up to you to work out what it is, just like Level 8. Then she plays either the Dominant chord or the meatier Dominant 7th chord, built on the 5th note of the scale. The catch: in a minor key, the dominant chord's 3rd is always the raised leading note, even though the key signature doesn't show it, so a couple of keys need a double-sharp. Covers all 13 key signatures, major and minor alike.
Danielle plays the tonic triad — work it out yourself — then plays the Dominant or Dominant 7th chord for you to find — 3 or 4 notes, depending on the round. In minor keys, watch for the raised leading note as the chord's 3rd, then hear it arpeggiate as your reward.
Play Dominant Chords →Level 10 keeps the same idea as Level 9, with a friendlier chord: Sarah shows the key signature and plays the tonic triad — work it out yourself — then plays the Subdominant chord, built on the 4th note of the scale. There's no raised note to trip you up here: the subdominant always matches your key's own quality, major key to major IV, minor key to minor iv, though watch for the classic C♭ spelling in G♭ major and E♭ minor. Covers all 13 key signatures, major and minor alike.
Sarah plays the tonic triad — work it out yourself — then plays the Subdominant chord for you to find, always in the same major or minor quality as your key. Get all three notes and hear it arpeggiate as your reward.
Play Subdominant Chords →Level 11 keeps the same shape as Level 10, but with a twist: Steven shows the key signature and plays the tonic triad — work it out yourself — then plays the Submediant chord, built on the 6th note of the scale. Unlike the subdominant, the submediant always flips to the opposite quality of your key — a major key gives a minor vi, a minor key gives a major VI — plus watch for the classic C♭ spelling in E♭ minor. Covers all 13 key signatures, major and minor alike.
Steven plays the tonic triad — work it out yourself — then plays the Submediant chord for you to find, always in the opposite major or minor quality from your key. Get all three notes and hear it arpeggiate as your reward.
Play Submediant Chords →Level 12 keeps the same shape as Level 11, but introduces a brand-new sound: Sabrina shows the key signature and plays the tonic triad — work it out yourself — then plays the Supertonic chord, built on the 2nd note of the scale. In a major key it's a familiar minor chord, but in a minor key it's diminished — a smaller, tenser-sounding chord we haven't met before — plus watch for tricky spellings like C♭ and E♯ in a few keys. Covers all 13 key signatures, major and minor alike.
Sabrina plays the tonic triad — work it out yourself — then plays the Supertonic chord for you to find: minor in major keys, diminished in minor keys. Get all three notes and hear it arpeggiate as your reward.
Play Supertonic Chords →