Best Fiddle Books for Beginner to Intermediate Violinists

Do you want to learn to fiddle? If you are just beginning, do you wonder if it is hard to learn to fiddle? You don’t have to wait until you have been playing for months or years to start learning the fiddle. Whether you are just starting out or have been playing for some time, here are my top fiddle books for beginner and intermediate violinists.

Check out my favorite hymn books, scale books, free fiddle sheet music, and free fiddling warm-ups!

Learn to Play Irish Fiddle by Philip John Berthoud

Level: Very New Beginner—Intermediate Player

This fiddle book is great whether you are just starting or have been playing a while. In fact, you could use it as your first method book to teach you how to get started. The first section starts off with the basics of violin: tuning, where to put your fingers, bowing, and some simple fingering exercises. After some prep work, Section 2 kicks off with your first tune. A simple song using only open strings and first finger on D and A strings. There are several one-finger polkas and jigs which progress to two-finger songs and then finally three-finger songs.

What I love most about this book is that the easy one-finger songs you learn actually sound cool! With most method books, your first few songs sound like a simple children’s tune. But these jigs sound like jigs! You could stay on each song for several days or weeks, getting it faster and faster, learning to relax and get the classic fiddle sound.

As the book progress, it adds more advanced elements like slurs, ornaments, and grace notes with each song. By the middle of the book, the songs start reaching an advanced beginner or intermediate level. Learn to Play Irish Fiddle could be your go-to fiddle book to last a while!

Fiddlers Philharmonic By Andrew H. Dabczynski and Bob Philip

Level: Beginner—Intermediate Player

This is another fiddle book you could start using pretty soon after you learn the basics. It is a collection of songs, not a method book, so you will need another book (or a teacher) to show you the fingerings and notes.

The songs always have a solo version of the tune and then a trio so you could play it with friends. Sometimes the trio version is more difficult for more of a challenge. There’s a wide variety of styles, from American fiddling to Irish Jigs. You can also buy the series for every stringed instrument so your cello and viola friends can play with you.

Ashokan Farewell

Level: Advanced Beginner—Intermediate Player

This has to be my favorite fiddle tune of all times. I play it often, experimenting with various ornaments and double stops. This sheet music arrangement has lots of written-in ornaments like slides and grace notes, which can make this version tricky. However, if you leave out the grace notes and just play the tune, this could be easily accessible for a beginner. Developing a pure, sweet tone over long notes and adding vibrato make this song enjoyable for any level!

Devil Went Down to Georgia

Level: Advanced Beginner—Intermediate Player

What list of fiddle books would be complete without this iconic fiddle song. I guarantee you, if you are in the Southern part of the United States and you tell someone you play the violin, they will ask you, “Can you play Devil Went Down to Georgia?” Now, you can say yes! The beginning fiddle licks are manageable for advanced beginners. Some double stops and slides make this tune exciting for intermediate players.

The French Fiddler by Edward Huws Jones

Level: Advanced Beginner—Intermediate Player

If you want something a little different, this French fiddling book is a great option. Every song has two versions, an easy version of the song and a more challenging version.

While the notes aren’t difficult, it starts off with some rhythms that might be tricky for very early beginners. There are some 16th notes, 8th notes, quarter notes, and 8th rests along with some time signature changes. But once you get the rhythms down, the songs are easy and fun to play.

Mel Bay’s Complete Irish Fiddle Player By Pete Cooper

Level: Advanced Beginner—Advanced Player

If you have already been playing violin for a while, this book would be my suggestion for you. It’s a big book with lots of songs and information on Irish fiddling. The first song is The Irish Washerwoman to give you an idea of the starting level. Cooper slowly introduces the various ornaments in fiddling by adding one more advanced element for almost every song. You’ll learn various bowing patterns, grace notes, mordents, short rolls, and more.

Scottish Airs and Dances For Two Violins By Anne Witt

Level: Intermediate

If you want some fun and challenging duets to play with a friends, this is a great book for you. The songs aren’t ordered by difficulty, so you might have to flip through to find the easier ones. The rhythms can be tricky, but if you’re working through Learn to Play Irish Fiddle or the Complete Irish Fiddle Player, it shouldn’t be a problem.

The only thing that is more fun than playing fiddle, is playing fiddle with someone else!

Happy Fiddling!