How do I size a violin for dd?

[mamatoady]

My daughter is begging for a violin for Christmas and we've decided to get her a really inexpensive one to play around on and if she likes it , we'll upgrade at her birthday. I don't want to take her to the music shop because I want it to be a suprise. She is 6. I was told she'd probably need a 1/4 size, but I figured someone out there MIGHT know how to figure it out for sure.

Thanks!
Sarah

[mamabella]

My mom is a violinist and usually if she was measuring she would have the child hold the violin in position (between the chin and shoulder) and reach out with the left arm and try to hold the other end (the scroll) to see how the fit was - you might be able to measure your daughter's left arm length to the neck and call a local violin/music shop to see what they say. Or there is a detailed description here: http://www.fiddleheads.ca/shop/violin_sizes.htm

[mamatoady]

thank you for that link--it was exactly what I needed!

sarah