Pain?!

Are you in pain from practicing? Then, it's time to check your setup.

(this is a collection from my past research)

Chin rest & Shoulder rest are the two things that support violin players hold the instrument in the right position.

As you know, we have so many different body features; the neck length, the arm length, the shoulder width, the shape of chin, etc.. Chin rests & shoulder rests also have a big variety. And it's very important to have the right kind of chin rest/shoulder rest setup for your instrument. If not, it causes all sorts of technical problems, pain in neck, shoulders, stiffness, soreness, headache..

So, if you're practicing and you're feeling pain or discomfort, consider your setup.

Here are some tips:

• If you're putting your neck down too much, then, your chin rest is probably too low.
• If you're raising your shoulders, maybe you need either more height on either chin rest or shoulder rest.
• If you have discomfort where the chin sits on the chin rest, then your chin rest is probably not the right shape.
• If you're having a difficulty reaching the tip of the bow, try using the chin rest that's center-mounted. For shorter arms, center-mounted chin rests help to have more control for the upper half part of the bow.
• Make sure that the instrument is touching your collar bone. If not, then maybe your shoulder rest is too high. Try higher chin rest and lower shoulder rest.
• Your head should be free to move. No tilting to support the instrument. If tilting, then that's not the right chin rest for you.
• Is your spine straight?
• There are things like, gel pads or suede cover for chin rests that help for discomfort or for more grips. It's easy to try; just put it on your current chin rest.
• If your chin or cheek look unusual (like making wrinkly shapes) against chin rest, the shape of your chin rest is probably not for you.

If you can go to a violin shop and can try a few different kinds, please do. Also, most of the shops understand if you want to try a certain kind of chin/shoulder rest for some times to try out at home for free return/exchange, so it's worth asking.

I'd say it's pretty long process for finding the perfect setup for you. Also, our bodies change overtime as we grow, so that should be also taken into consideration for the long run.

Also, it could be pretty challenging to find the right setup for yourself. There's a service called, Volute Service by Claire Stefani and she's based in New York.  I, myself, had a consultation with her and got a custom chin rest and a new shoulder rest through the session. I highly recommend this service.

Also, there's a web site that would be helpful: Violinist in Balance, explaining the process of finding the right chin rest/ shoulder rest.

It can be quite a journey to find the right setup, so don't give up, be patient!

And NEVER feel bad about yourself if you have discomfort or pain in your body or you're told to relax as much as possible to hold the instrument and it just seems so impossible. You probably don't have the right setup on your instrument yet.

Enjoy the process of finding the perfect setup for you!
When you do have the right setup, I promise that your violin playing will be joyful and you just can't wait to pickup the instrument!

The "Strad" article of Dorothy DeLay on teaching

Here's an interesting article of "The Strad" about Dorothy DeLay, one of the greatest violin teacher in history. She has taught so many influential classical violinists of today, including Itzhak Perlman, Sarah Chang, Midori, Nigel Kennedy, Schlomo Mintz, and many more..

11 views on teaching by Juilliard School violin professor Dorothy DeLay

Here's the 11 views of Dorothy DeLay from the article:

1. What's the secret to my teaching? I've spent many hours doing it every day.

2. Those who play well have two important qualities: self-confidence; and a sense that what they believe is equally important to others. Children are born with these qualities, but as time goes by they are lost. A teacher must strengthen them.

3. One should never say to a pupil, 'that's wrong'. Instead one should say, 'that's fine', and then find easy steps towards the discovery and correction of the fault. Pupils can develop areas of 'withdrawal' and fear, so the teacher must work on these gently and with tact.

4. The audience arouses 'dragons' if passages haven't been practised properly.

5. Forget past criticisms. Don't become your own worst enemy.

6. Everyone has talent, but there are different types of it ― verbal, mathematical, musical, spatial, physical, social and moral.

7. Performers must understand the value of what they do ― it is their responsibility to create something beautiful so that others may love it.

8. Sometimes fingers won't do what's required of them ― insecure shifting for example. The problem is that shifts are either too fast or too 'squeezed'. It helps to think of shifts as a train journey from A to B: before arriving at B, one gathers together one's things, gets up and disembarks, but without haste.

9. Only since Kreisler has continuous vibrato come into general use. Today the accepted view is that vibrato should support the line or phrase, so that at the end of the phrase, the vibrato relaxes.

10. Tension limits all aspects of violin playing. Some violinists, such as Itzhak Perlman, look awful, but still sound great because they have a large vocabulary of stroke types.

11. We have to remember parents' hopes for their children. Every teacher knows that parents can, and do, make terrible mistakes. One has to remind them that their children need to relax and have interests other than violin playing in order to develop.

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