How long for a child to get used to a new size of instrument?

[AliceLutherNeeMorgan]

Does it take a while for them to get used to a bigger size, and is there anything I can do to help? My daughter is off to music summer school for a week and will be getting her new 3/4 violin a few days before she goes. Is it worth her trying to get used to this one, or should she take her old 1/2 size?

I would love it if she could use the week to get used to the new one but obviously don't want to handicap her for the week if she's going to struggle!

Does anyone have any advice please? She's 10yo and just starting grade 4, if that makes any difference...

Hi Alice

I'd say it would depend if she is already accurately in tune when she plays on the new sized violin.

My daughter plays the Viola, but went to a music camp for a week where she played the violin instead (Gaelic music) obviously it's the opposite way about in that the violin is smaller, but the change in size wasn't an issue at all, the only problem was the notes are different between the two and even that only bothered her for the first couple of hours.

A few days before she goes will probably be plenty of time - I'd see how she gets on and whether she can play in tune more easily, and if not, take the old one on the course. My DD is younger, and has changed cello twice. She swapped a 1/8 for a 1/4 and got used to it in a few days, however the jump from a 1/4 to a 1/2 was harder and it probably took her three months to learn to play in tune on the bigger one. She can now adjust the pitch by listening and moving automatically, but for a long time she tried to 'remember' the stretches, with limited success.

Thanks for this - it's been a while since she needed to change so I'll get her to have a go with some scales etc when it arrives and see how things sound. We're away at the moment so maybe having had a break will work well also.

She's very excited about getting her new instrument so hopefully will put time into getting it right!

When DD changed from 1/2 to 3/4 violin last year it took a couple of days, then she was fine.

It may depend on how ready she is size-wise to move up.
Ds should have moved up from 1/4 to 1/2 earlier and he had no problems at all when I got the new one.
When I got a full sized violin I was still really too small (small year 7, with very small hands, but we'd hired one at primary and so my dp said when they bought one they wouldn't buy another. I actually find the 1/2 size easier than the full size even now) and I really struggled. Ds' hands are the same size as mine (he's 10yo) so I can see why I struggled.