If you’ve ever tried to find a gift for that special violinist in your life, or even if you’re a violinist yourself, then I’m sure you’ve experienced the same difficulties I have. It is hard to find high quality, unique gifts for violinists.

So today I wanted to share with you my personal favorite gifts that I’ve given, received, or just purchased myself, that I think any violinist would be excited to receive.  I’ve broken things up into 4 different types of violinists. Let’s just get right into it with our first violinist type and that is the Classical Violinist!

Gifts for Violinists: Classical Players

Tickets to an Orchestra Concert

My first gift idea for someone who’s really passionate about classical music would be tickets to an orchestra concert.  If you can find out what their favorite pieces or composers are and get tickets to one of those concerts. If there’s a special soloist coming through your local symphony, this can be a really great gift for someone as well.

My neighbor from when I was growing up, Laura, treated me to tickets to see Ray Chen perform a solo with the Detroit Symphony orchestra back in 2018. As you might expect, he was amazing. I had been following him online and it was so inspiring to go see a live performance from a violinist I admired so much.  It’s also just a fun event to go out to the symphony like that. It’s not something that most people do all the time, so it really makes for a great experience-based gift for someone. 

Masterclass: Itzhak Perlman

Another gift idea for a classical violinist would be something like a masterclass.  If you or the violinist in your life has a favorite artist then definitely look to see if they offer something like this.  One of my favorite masterclasses that I’ve purchased is by Itzhak Perlman. 

He’s one of my all time favorite violinists. I’ve admired his playing and his career so much over the years. Especially all of the violin solos he’s recorded on movie soundtracks scored by John Williams. The theme from Schindler’s List is one of the most beautiful songs written for the violin, and Itzhak Perlman is the violinist who performed that song for the soundtrack.

I actually used to play in the Detroit Symphony’s youth orchestras when I was growing up and Itzhak Perlman taught a masterclass in person for our orchestra. It was such an awesome experience. He was such a nice, down-to-earth person and made it really fun for all of us, and that’s also how I felt about his online masterclass.

So you can see how excited I am talking about him because he’s one of my favorite violinists. Find whoever that is for yourself or the violinist in your life and see if they have a masterclass or something like that you could give as a gift.

Itzhak Perlman Masterclass: https://TaylorDavis.lnk.to/yGijlKhjID

Tomplay

Finally another gift idea for a classical violinist would be a subscription to something like Tomplay. Tomplay is an app that offers a large catalog of interactive sheet music.  I worked with Tomplay earlier this year and really enjoyed their platform. If you want to see that video I made walking through some of the features, I’ll link that here for you.

Tomplay offers a ton of digital sheet music along with play-along features that are really helpful whenever you’re learning a new piece. It’s especially helpful if you’re trying to get something performance-ready.

A lot of classical musicians will participate in recitals, competitions or other performances where you usually would only get 1 or 2 practice sessions with your accompanist. Having access to something like Tomplay where you can practice with accompaniment whenever you want is just really going to give someone a lot more peace of mind when they’re preparing a piece for a performance. It can also just be a more enjoyable way to practice as well, so I think this can make a really nice gift for the right player.

Tomplay Subscription: https://TaylorDavis.lnk.to/8xePIIOzID

Gifts for Violinists: Classical- Crossover Players

Alright so now let’s move on to our 2nd type of violinist, the classical-crossover violinist. So this pretty much describes a violinist like myself. I have the most fun playing alternative types of music on the violin beyond just classical music. And that brings me to my first suggestion which is really anything from my merchandise brand called Beyond Classical. 

Being classically trained I still have a great respect and love for classical music, it just wasn’t the type of music that I ever felt truly passionate about. I will say that I never felt like I fit in with the kind of elitist culture that surrounds a lot of classical music either. 

Beyond Classical

Beyond Classical Merch

That’s kind of the thing with all my Beyond Classical products. I’m making things that I’m personally excited about and have always wanted to have. Besides the t-shirts, hoodies and necklaces, we have tote bags, stickers, really unique stationary, and more. I hope you can check out the full lineup of what we have, and again, you’ll find that all linked below.

Beyond Classical Merch: https://TaylorDavis.lnk.to/cBnjjrRgID

Sheet Music Books

Ok so the next gift idea I have for a crossover violinist is some fun sheet music. Specifically something like a book with play-along backtracks. I actually have 2 of my own play-along books full of my most popular cover song arrangements that were published with Hal Leonard. We’ve got my arrangements from Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator, Attack on Titan, and a bunch more. If you or the violinist in your life like soundtrack music from movies, tv shows and games, then I can highly recommend my books as something to check out. 

Again, what makes these books extra unique is that you get a code to download play-along backtracks to practice or perform with. If you are looking for my other sheet music you can check it all out here.

Sheet Music Books: https://TaylorDavis.lnk.to/CJleG463ID

Electric Pickup or Multi-Effects Pedal

And then lastly for a Crossover Violinist, an electric violin or a pickup is a really great way to have some fun and experiment with a different style and sound with your playing. An electric violin is going to be a lot more expensive than a pickup.  

The pickup I used to amplify my acoustic carbon fiber violin for all of my tours is under $100. I have that linked below. A multi-effects pedal would be a fun bonus gift to go along with a pickup or an electric violin. They offer a variety of different sounds like distortion, delay, reverb, all in one unit. It’s a really fun thing to experiment with.  Some of them also offer looping, or you can buy a separate looping pedal, which is another really fun thing to try out. Honestly there are tons of options out there, and I have a few effects pedals in various price ranges linked below.

• My Violin Pickup: https://amzn.to/3Pgh6I9
• Multi-Effects Pedals: https://a.co/hETfh2m

Electric Violin Shop

Also I highly recommend checking out The Electric Violin Shop. They’ve been my go-to for years now and it’s just a great small business run by extremely nice, passionate people. If you need help choosing some stuff, they’re going to give you that personalized attention to help make sure you get the right fit for your situation so I definitely recommend checking them out.

The Electric Violin Shop: https://TaylorDavis.lnk.to/cWHoU87mID

Gifts for Violinists: Producer Violinist

Audio Recording & Production Course 

Alright now we’re moving on to our next violinist which is what I’m calling the Producer violinist. So this is a violinist who wants to learn how to record themselves from home and produce their own music. For those of you who don’t know, I love producing my own music Whether I’m composing my own originals or making arrangements. A lot of people are surprised to learn that I’ve never recorded any of my own music at a professional studio. I’ve just always recorded and edited everything by myself from home. 

I’ve had a lot of violinists ask me over the years about my audio recording and production setup. I’m going to recommend my own audio recording and production online course.  The course is geared more towards a beginner audience. You are shown exactly how to get set up and started with your own home recording studio. I show you what gear you need, how to use it, my exact process for arranging and recording. You also get to see a cover song arrangement from start to finish so you can watch me create a song. If you know a violinist who’s interested in the basics my course is a great option.

My Online Course: https://TaylorDavis.lnk.to/0i5aYto0ID

Essential Gear for Producer Violinists

For a producer violinist, there’s a lot of gear you could get someone for a gift from essentials like headphones and audio interfaces, to midi keyboards and sample instrument libraries. Honestly I have a lot of passion for this topic. I could go on and on about gear and samples. If this is something that you or the violinist in your life is interested in learning more about and you’re not ready for a full course I made a free PDF guide with all my personal recommendations for the essential gear you’d need. I created it for 3 different budget levels!

Free PDF Guide: https://TaylorDavis.lnk.to/84mcRawNID

Gifts for Violinists: Practical Violinist

Alright let’s move on to our next type of violinist who I’m calling the Practical Violinist. Now I think there’s probably a practical violinist in every violinist. We all need basics like strings, rosin, music stands, and so on. I wanted to give you some specific recommendations that would be a little more special than just your average set of strings, you know, something truly more giftable. 

Evah Pirazzi Gold Strings by Pirastro

So starting out with strings, strings can definitely make a great gift and my personal favorites that I would recommend are the Evah Pirazzi Gold strings by Pirastro. They’re expensive, but they’re honestly the nicest strings I’ve ever used. I’ve been using these strings now for I think almost the last 10 years. They just sound and feel great on every violin I’ve used them on, so I really don’t think you can go wrong with gifting these to someone. 

Evah Pirazzi Gold Strings: https://amzn.to/3uzLBPM

Evah Pirazzi Gold Rosin by Pirastro

For something practical and also a little more economical, you could go with something like a nice rosin.  I actually mostly use a hand made rosin called from a family business called Baker’s rosin. I discovered it over a decade ago. It’s truly amazing rosin but it can be tricky to get your hands on it because they only do a limited release of it once a year. If that isn’t available when you’re looking, the next best rosin I’ve used is Evah Pirazzi Gold Rosin by Pirastro. I’ve used that one in the past and it’s definitely a great option. 

Evah Pirazzi Gold Rosin: https://amzn.to/3HpBWmI

Tote Bag

Another gift idea for a practical violinist is something like a tote bag. They are perfect to carry sheet music or other accessories around in. I used to carry a tote bag to all my lessons when I was younger. It was generic with musical notes on it because we couldn’t find a violin themed one back in the day. That inspired me to make a fun tote for my Beyond Classical merch line. It has our classic logo on it and we have 2 different colorways right now so this can be a really nice, easy gift for someone. 

Beyond Classical Tote: https://TaylorDavis.lnk.to/pMdoVQy7ID

Music Stand

And then lastly I’d recommend a nice music stand for a practical violinist. As someone who used to try and make every excuse for playing video games vs. practicing my violin when I was growing up, I know that something as simple as a music stand can turn into an excuse.

Those cheaper wire-frame music stands are especially frustrating to practice with because your sheet music can slip off of them so easily. They can’t handle the weight of some of the heavier books of scales or etudes. And really, we don’t need to give ourselves or anyone else one more reason not to practice right? I started with one of those cheaper foldable wire frame stands. After I had been playing for a couple of years my mom got me an incredible music stand as a gift. It’s the stand I still use today over 25 years later.  My exact stand isn’t available anymore, so I have another sturdy stand that I also own linked below for you.

Sturdy Music Stand (Similar): https://amzn.to/3VK4Zpj

Gifts for Violinists: Future Violinist

Alright and now I wanted to do one final category as a little bonus called the Future Violinist, and that’s basically for a little one who isn’t old enough yet to play a real violin yet.  For those of you who know me, you know I currently have 2 sons. Logan is 3 and Walker is a year and a half old. I thought it would be fun to recommend my favorite music related gifts that my little ones have really loved so far. 

SigiKid Plush Violin

The first item is something that my lovely neighbor from childhood gifted to Walker for his first Christmas. It is this really adorable plush violin from a brand called Sigi Kid.  It’s super cute, soft, and it’s machine washable. It plays a lullaby when you pull the string. This is a really great gift option for maybe that newborn to 1 and a half year age range. 

Plush Lullaby Violin: https://TaylorDavis.lnk.to/tSg2WyxpID

Musical Friends Plush Book

The next gift item I have is this really neat soft interactive musical book our friend Mary gave Walker on his 1st birthday.  You take this little treble clef piece and when you place it on one of the metal dots in the book. It plays a sample recording of that particular instrument.  Of course violin is included in there along with a lot of other instruments so it’s really fun.  Walker enjoys it but Logan has been the biggest fan of it so far because he knows exactly how to operate it. I’d say this is a great gift for 1 to 3 year olds. 

Soft Music Book: https://amzn.to/3FiydVh

Battery Operated Keyboard

And then lastly, this isn’t violin specific and it’s not actually designed for kids either, but it’s probably the musical item that they have had the most fun with so far. That is this mini battery operated keyboard.

We’ve had a few other piano toys for them so far, but because this one is actually like a mini synthesizer. It can do more advanced things than those other toys like allow you to change the actual sound from a piano to something different. There are also drum pads on here and it comes pre-loaded with a number of song samples that you can change the tempo of.

Logan is obsessed with that feature. It’s really funny to hear ode to joy and jingle bells at triple the speed. He thinks it’s hilarious and I have a hard time not laughing at what he comes up with on there. I wanted something battery powered so there weren’t any cords to worry about. The battery life is actually really great on this. Definitely something that I think is a lot of fun for the 1 and up age. I have fun playing on this thing too! Again, it’s not a children’s toy to begin with, so you should be able to get a lot of years of enjoyment out of something like this.

Our Favorite Mini Keyboard: https://amzn.to/3Bn9oGF

A lot of you have asked me if I’m planning on putting my kids in violin lessons and the answer there is no. I definitely don’t want to push a particular instrument on them. I do want them to take an interest in learning an instrument or something music related in some way. I’ve just tried to do my best to expose them to a lot of different instruments and musical toys. I’m excited to see what they really gravitate towards as they get a little bit older.

Let me know what you think!

Everything I’ve recommended are things that I’ve personally used or had experience with. Nothing here was sponsored.  I hope this gave you some fun ideas for yourself or the special violinist in your life. Talk to you again soon!