Shoulder Rest, Yes or No – How to Know Whether or Not to Use
Shoulder rest, yes or no? How to know whether or not to use a shoulder rest is one of the hottest topics for violinists. In this post, I will give you a test to clearly understand whether or not you need to be using a shoulder rest.
To determine if you are in need of using a shoulder rest, no matter what kind it is, go ahead and hold your violin up without your left hand.
- Does your violin slip?
- Does it pull your jaw forward?
- Are you clamping down with your jaw?
- Is your neck angled to hold the violin?
- Do you have to raise your shoulder up to hold the violin?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, it is time for you to investigate using a shoulder rest.
For me, it’s very challenging to hold the violin without a shoulder rest. I have tried to play without a shoulder rest. If I could, I would definitely play without a shoulder rest but my neck is a little longer than what is comfortable for me to be without a shoulder rest.
In order for me to hold the violin without a shoulder rest, I would have to clamp down with my jaw, angle my neck and raise up my shoulder all at the same time. Not comfortable and a HUGE window of opportunity for pain to settle in and joint problems. Seeing as I have played with a shoulder rest for over 30 years, my neck screams at me whenever the height is just not exactly right on the shoulder rest.
I’m very much a fanatic about setting up your violin foundation properly so that years and years of playing, you’re not going to have any aches and pains. When you hold your violin up and you have to adjust your body in any way to hold the violin, you probably would benefit from using a shoulder rest.
The “Whether or Not to Use a Shoulder Rest” Test
In order to know whether a shoulder rest is for you go ahead and do the following shoulder rest test.
If you have long hair, be sure to have it up in such a way you can easily see the back of your neck.Record yourself holding the violin up without your left hand and without your left hand.
Is the back of your neck straight up and down?
If not, time to investigate how you can hold the violin in such a way you have more height allowing your neck to be straight up and down as you hold the violin.
When I hold the violin without a shoulder rest, my neck is angled. When I teach my violinists that I work with online, I ask them to turn around and I can check out their neck and make sure that it’s straight up and down to make sure that the shoulder rest is a proper shoulder rest for them and at the right height.
Determining the Shoulder Rest Height
When I play with the shoulder rest, I don’t have to make any adjustments. My neck is straight up and down and the violin comes to me. If you’re planning on playing for a long time on the violin, I would highly suggest you set yourself up as ergonomically as possible with a shoulder rest and a proper chin rest.
I have my shoulder rest set up exactly for the heighth of my neck and I’m not tilting over or hunching over or my shoulder coming up in order to hold the violin.
I use a Kun shoulder rest and I’ve used this since I was a little girl playing violin. I’ve tried a few others but I’ve always come back to Kun. Now this is their basic model but they also have a professional model called Kun Bravo which is wood and I do play on that on my other violin.
Using a shoulder rest also eliminates tension in your left hand while you play. Be sure to check out my post, How to play without tension in your left hand.
That is my A to your Q on whether or not to use a shoulder rest.
If you want to share in the comments below what shoulder rest you’re using and I would highly suggest you check out my video on my youtube channel, “How to Hold the Violin Properly” to set yourself up for a wonderful foundation on your violin journey.
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