Can You Play Violin in VR? Violinest on Meta Quest

Yes. Violinest is a violin for Meta Quest 2, 3, 3S and Pro. You put the headset on and you’re in your own room, with the violin under your chin and the bow in your hand. Draw the bow across the strings and it plays.

A violin is hard to start. A real one costs money, it squeaks for months, and everyone in the house hears every squeak. Violinest plays through the headset. Put headphones on and the squeaks are yours alone.

How do you play violin in VR?

Each controller has one job.

Your bow hand bows.

• Draw the bow across the strings to play. Bow faster to play louder.
• Tilt the bow to move from string to string, as on a real violin.

Changing direction doesn’t restart the note, so you can bow back and forth on one long note. While a note sounds, the bow hand rumbles gently, and it ticks when you cross to another string.

Your other hand stops the strings.

• Let go of the trigger and the string plays open.
• Hold the trigger and slide your hand along the neck to stop the string.

A dot on the string shows where your finger is.

Pitch assist, or not

Pitch assist is on to start. Every note snaps to the nearest one in the scale, so what you play is in tune. In the menu you can pick the scale: chromatic, or a major scale in the key you choose.

Turn pitch assist off and the note slides with your hand, the way it does on a real fingerboard. Finding the note is up to your ear.

The strings

A violin has four strings, tuned a fifth apart. A viola has the same layout a fifth lower. Violinest has both, in the menu.

Each string goes up an octave from its open note.

The menu

The menu button opens the menu in front of you:

• violin or viola
• the violin’s size: full, 7/8, 3/4 or 1/2
• pitch assist and the scale
• the note display
• left-handed mode
• passthrough

What Violinest isn’t

Better you hear it here than after you buy it.

• It’s free play. There are no songs, lessons or scores. You pick the notes.
• The strings don’t push back. A real bow rests on the string. In VR there’s nothing to press against, so the bow is drawn resting on the string, and the haptics stand in for the feel. It won’t teach you a bow hold.
• It’s played with Touch controllers. There’s no hand tracking.
• It’s single-player. There’s no multiplayer.

Questions

Can you play violin in VR?

Yes. Violinest is a violin for Meta Quest 2, 3, 3S and Pro. You draw a bow across the strings with one controller and stop the strings with the other.

Which headsets does Violinest run on?

Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest 3S and Quest Pro.

Do I need to know how to play violin?

No. Pitch assist is on to start, so every note snaps to the nearest one in the scale. Turn it off when you want to find the notes yourself.

Can I play viola?

Yes. Switch between violin and viola in the menu.

Can I play it left-handed?

Yes. Left-handed mode in the menu mirrors the violin and the bow.

Does it work in mixed reality?

Yes. It starts in your own room, with passthrough on. The menu turns passthrough off.

Does Violinest have songs or lessons?

No. It’s free play: no songs, lessons or scores.

Is Violinest multiplayer?

No. It’s single-player.