Violin Fingering for notes played in the 1st position are to the right of the fingerboard. Most violin music for beginners uses 1st position.

Fingering for notes played in 3rd position are to the left of the fingerboard. These notes require the violinist to "shift" the position of their hand to a higher position on the keyboard in order to play these notes. For an explanation of shifting, visit Shifting & Positions.

The fingerboard chart shows many instances of two musical letters being placed on the same space. This indicates those two notes are enharmonic, meaning, even though they are named or "spelled" differently, they sound the same pitch. For example, in first position on the A string, D# and Eb have the same sound (and are enharmonic notes). This note could be fingered using either a high 3rd finger, or a low 4th finger. The pitch would be the same.

All variations of notes and fingerings in higher positions are not labeled and shown (the entire length of the fingerboard can be used to finger and play notes).