In the strive of understanding how different parameters affects the vibration properties and the characteristics of the sound emanating from a violin, i.e. what makes a good violin good, numerical methods as FEM (finite element method) and BEM (boundary element method) are used. Numerical models of whole violins and/or part of it is created and studied. Crucial for the results from these studies is the correctness of the input data for the numerical analysis. One important group of input data is the wooden material parameters for the part of the violin subjected to analysis. In this study a new method for determining these important material parameters for blanks for violin tops is proposed. In the proposed method a FEM-code is linked together with a stochastic optimization algorithm in order to, in an automatic fashion, determine the material parameters. The method requires the geometrical dimensions, the density, and measured normal modes for the blank and it consider the fact that the Young’s modulus in the axial direction varies with respect to the radial direction.