How to Make a Box Violin

A box violin serves as an inexpensive learning tool for children.

Suzuki violin programs use simulated instruments like the box violin to teach children as young as 3 years old to hold a violin or viola between the chin and shoulder. The Suzuki teaching method emerged in Japan in the middle of the 20th century and assumes that each child can learn to perform music as part of the normal development process. Young children first learn posture and foot position before moving on to holding a stick bow. Children then learn to make the appropriate motions with the stick bow across the fretboard of the box violin. In addition to providing a lightweight, inexpensive learning tool for children, the box violin prevents children from distracting themselves during lessons by the sounds of touching and playing the strings of a real instrument.

Things You'll Need

• Small cardboard box
• Wooden paint stick
• Scissors or knife
• Hot glue gun, hot glue
• Newspaper
• Packing tape
• Decorative paper and stickers
• Non-stick material or small sponge
• 3/8-inch wooden dowel - 24 inches long
• Sandpaper
• Pink pearl eraser

Instructions

Build a Box Violin

1. 

   Find stirring sticks in the paint department of hardware stores.

   Align a wooden paint stick, available in hardware stores, in the center of a small cardboard box. The stick should extend from the box, mimicking the shape of a real violin. This flat wooden stick functions as the neck of the violin, while the cardboard box stands in for the instrument body. Empty cake mix or crouton boxes serve as appropriately sized and easily available boxes. Mark the center of the cardboard box with a marker or pen. Use a knife or scissors to cut a slot just large enough to slide the paint stick into the box.

2. 

   Use a hot glue gun to help build a box violin.

   Insert the wooden stick 3 to 4 inches into the cardboard box and hot glue in place. Create a stable and sturdy box violin by thoroughly embedding the stick in a body of hot glue. Allow the hot glue to dry.

3. 

   Use old newspapers to create a box violin.

   Fill the cardboard body of the box violin with crumpled newspapers. Pack the newspapers tightly to create a box that violin students cannot easily crush. Fold the open end of the cardboard box and seal it closed with packing tape. Wrap duck tape along each end of the box and around its entire length and girth in several places.

4. Cover the box with decorative paper, such as gift wrap, construction paper or pictures from a magazine. Adhere a layer of packing tape over the complete surface of any paper decorating the violin, as loose paper tends to tear quickly. Hot glue a square of non-stick material or a small sponge to the bottom of the box violin where it touches the shoulder.

5. Indicate the place where the stick bow will cross the neck of the violin by attaching a decorative sticker or drawing a flower, star, music note or other simple doodle. Locate this spot on the wooden neck of the violin close to where the neck meets the body. Place more stickers or drawings on the fingerboard to indicate the basic finger positions appropriate for the violin student's level.

Build a Stick Bow

1. Sand down any rough edges or splinters on the wooden dowel.

2. Slice of the tapered ends of the pink eraser to form an even rectangle.

3. Glue the eraser to one end of the wood dowel. If the eraser does not easily adhere to the stick, use packing tape to help secure it.

References

• California State University, Sacramento: String Project, 2008
• California State University, Sacramento: String Project, Box Progression, 2008
• Talent Education Center of Orange County: A Suzuki Violin Program

Resources

• Suzuki Association of the Americas