Choosing Size

CELLO

Cello Sizing Tips: Seat the child (or yourself) so that the knees are bent at a ninety degree angle. The instrument should rest such that the upper rim of the cello body rests on the sternum (breast bone), and the left knee contacts the curve below the lower bout corner. The C string (the lowest string) peg should be near the left ear, with the neck a few inches away from the shoulder, and the left hand able to reach both ends of the fingerboard with ease.

Violin comes in 8 different sizes: 4/4 (full size), 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/10, 1/16, and 1/32. The 4/4 size being the biggest and 1/32 size being the smallest. All adults, regardless of their size, use the 4/4 violins.

There are two approaches to determine which size to order:

Neck to Mid-Palm Approach: Length between your neck and the middle of your left-hand palm (when your arm is fully extended and raised perpendicular to your body, just like holding a violin). This approach would be your biggest size you should use.

Neck to Wrist Approach: Length between your neck and your left wrist (when you arm is fully extended and raised perpendicular to your body, just like holding a violin). This approach would be the size that is more comfortable for students to hold.
If you have a teacher, you should ask for your teacher's recommendation. If you don't have a teacher, we would recommend using the neck/wrist approach for students not using full size. For students who are deciding whether to use 3/4 or 4/4 size, use the neck to wrist approach because it is always better that student feel comfortable holding and playing the violin.

Find your length using the your preferred approach and use that to determine the size of violin to get.

To measure what size Viola suits you, do the same measurement as Violin, and refer to the table below.