
The Best Practice Game for Fun Violin Scales
This practice game is a hands-on, musical version of 20 Questions for parents and kids to play during violin practice.

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This practice game is a hands-on, musical version of 20 Questions for parents and kids to play during violin practice.
To create this practice game, I hearkened back to yesteryear, to the days I spent torturing my brother.
When we used to play 20 Questions on car rides when we were kids, if I could sense he was getting close to finding the answer, I would change my answer to something oddly specific. If the category was sea creatures and I had originally chosen an octopus, I would quickly decide the real answer was an orange octopus wearing a hand-knit sweater, or something ridiculous like that.
My brother is long suffering.
(If you want to read more about what a stinker I was as a kid, read the About Me page.)
And if your violinist wants to cheat like I did, then they just get more practice time in!
This game works with any piece of music, but I like it best for practicing scales (especially since practicing scales on the violin can get tedious quickly–but you didn’t hear that from me).
Read about the original rules of 20 Questions if you’ve blocked your childhood memories of being cooped up in a car or waiting in the doctor’s office.
Use this violin practice game on days when you need a quick win. This violin practice version of 20 Questions takes no extra materials and fills practice time productively. It might stretch out practicing scales by a few minutes, but the attitude shift is always worth a few extra minutes.
Let your violinist take the lead in how long you play this game. If they’re still having fun after ten minutes and want to play another round, keep playing along!
4. The parent keeps asking questions and getting up-bow or down-bow answers until they correctly guess what the violinist is thinking of.
(This game needs two players: someone to play the violin and someone to guess.)
Follow the instructions given.
One leader thinks of the answer, then each violinist gets a turn to ask a question. Remember, no talking other than one question per person. The leader answers with one bow (either up or down), then lets the next child ask a question. The kids will get really good at quickly recognizing up bows and down bows.
Follow the instructions given.
Try this with arpeggios instead of scales; there are fewer chances to ask questions.
Choose an advanced bow stroke. If you’re really up for a challenge, try ricochet.
Print it out and stick it in your violin binder. Use it, love it, and wear it out.
Leave me a comment below if you’re excited to try this violin practice game and if you have ideas for other variations!
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I’m Caitlin, a violin-playing, Harry-Potter-reading, pug-adoring musician. I love kids and the violin, and I love teaching kids the violin. I created Practice Pizzazz to help you have fun learning and practicing, all while keeping technical and musical integrity. Read More