I finally got a new violin, so I;m very at the moment. I don`t know whether this question just involves practice, but when I hlod the violin, it rests of my collarbone and hurts lie hell. Whenever I try to hold it somewhere else, it slips from under my neck.

I`ve seen many people that can support a violin under there necks eithout it slipping at all. How is this possible?! If so, could you suggest some pictures...other than that, description should be fine.

Thanks

luke all that you need is a shoulder pad if you have one then you may need to lower it a bit hope that helps

When I started, the violin slipped off my beard like a well buttered ferret. It`s getting better after a couple of months and a shoulder rest helps a great deal.

...I must ask...how many well-buttered ferrets have you had under your chin?...

I won`t know, definitively, until I have my rather full beard trimmed but, checking my weight on the scales, there must be several since, all that weight can`t be me. Can it?

Now there`s an image! LOL!...

I`ve found a suprising solution...well, it`s suprising to me anyway!

My mom used to play violin, and she never used a shoulder pad, but a cloth instead. I tried this and it didn`t work, so i got a big sponge, and it works! I can support the violin with my neck with no pain.

This is only a temporary measure though...until I can get to my local music shop on saturday and get a shoulder pad!

Thanks for the suggestions and imagery of buttered ferrets!

Just buy a shoulder rest, its worth it.

Actually, if you`re heading to the music store...take your violin with you...have a piece of music you can play...

...and try several different kinds when playing...

...it`ll help you to make the right choice and may very well save you time in the long run...

:D

Holding the violin comfortably is a combination of chin & shoulder rest. I`ve had rests that also press on the collarbone, so try several as Nox says, before you splash the cash.

People with shorter necks can get away with not using a shoulder rest - in fact until the middle of the last century such rests were unheard of - presumably a cloth padding was laid over the shoulder, or maybe clothing was just thicker.

Just as a point of interest...I`m currently reading an old Violin Repair book ( 1936?) that advocates playing without a chinrest at all!!!

Must be a hold over from an earlier era.

I started out learning to play with a shoulder rest in school. When I finally got a private teacher, he made me get rid of the shoulder rest. He says it constricts the vibrations on the decks of the violin. That`s the main problem with shoulder rests, but he didn`t have a problem with me putting something under like cloth. I never did, which I should have, I had a red mark on my collar bone after practice everytime because I pressed down so hard.

I don`t have a neck pad either. But some people are diffrent. I enjoy not using one. Doesn`t hurt. Heh heh... Buttered Ferrets...

In the front of O`Neill`s 1001 there are pictures of three different fiddlers, and none of them have a chinrest fitted - but then they are fiddlers, not violinists, and probbaly didn`t hold the violin under their chin anyway.

Many shoulder rests don`t touch the back of the violin, so they can`t dampen vibration, but in any case this is an old wives` (teachers`?) tale, the contribution to the overall sound from vibration of the back plate is 2-3% at most. The vibration of the top plate is far more important.

hay kid ummmmmmm i think what you need is a
sholder pad it helps a lot
wene didint have a shulder rest and my
colerbone HART
well and ive had my colerbone broke so
it helps trust me REBEKAh