Level 1 — Initial Basic (Foundation Level)

Instrument fundamentals

• Parts of the violin (body, neck, fingerboard, strings, bridge, chin rest)
• Parts of the bow (frog, stick, hair, tip)
• Correct posture: standing or sitting position
• Violin hold (chin and shoulder balance)
• Bow hold: finger placement with relaxed grip
• Left-hand setup: curved fingers and thumb position

Notes and playing

• Open string exercises on G, D, A and E strings
• Straight bow movement and basic tone production
• Left-hand finger placement in first position
• Simple melodic phrases on a single string with awareness of intonation

Scales (one octave, first position)

• D major
• G major
• A major
• E minor (natural)
• D minor (natural)
• A minor (natural)

Bowing techniques

• Basic detaché bowing
• Use of whole and half bow
• Even bow distribution and simple bow changes

Rhythm and timing

• Whole, half and quarter notes
• Simple rhythmic patterns in 4/4 and 3/4
• Playing with a steady pulse

Repertoire

• Two short pieces: one learner’s choice and one technical or study piece
• Optional self-composed melody (8–16 bars) using open strings or first-position notes

Music fundamentals

• What is music; sound vs silence
• Pitch and duration
• High and low sounds on the violin

Notes and rhythm

• Musical alphabet (A–G)
• String names of the violin
• Whole, half and quarter notes and corresponding rests

Intervals and scales

• Whole step / half step (tone / semitone on the fingerboard)
• Concept of major and minor scales
• Ascending and descending scales and the major scale pattern (W–W–H–W–W–W–H)

Harmony and notation (conceptual)

• What is harmony; playing one note at a time vs multiple notes
• Introduction to double stops as a listening and conceptual idea
• Staff basics or finger-number / string-indication systems (optional)
• Time signatures: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4