In this tutorial, I share my thoughts on releasing tension from your shoulder while playing the violin. Playing the violin is not something that we were built to do. Our bodies were not designed to hold a wooden instrument on our shoulder. However, with hundreds of years after the invention of the violin, we've learned how to play without experiencing pain.
Now, a full disclosure. I am NOT an Alexander Technician that is an expert on anything related to the body. I'm sharing my own experience in hopes that it may help you or someone you know deal with these kinds of issues. This post will be talking specifically about releasing tension from the shoulder while you play the violin with a shoulder rest.
This is not a video of releasing tension while playing without a shoulder rest.
Holding the violin should be effortless and you should have too much thought into the process. Holding the instrument on your shoulder without any tension should be your first goal.
Secondly, a lot of the tension comes from by pressing too firmly on the chin rest with our head. Our head is heavier than we think. I like to say that it's not a chin "grab" to my students.
In addition, having an aligned neck while keeping your head relaxed will help keep your posture in good form. Lastly, talk to a violin pedagogue and see if you can work with them on the kind of shoulder rest you should be using. There are plenty of violin shoulder rests to choose from and could benefit you. I
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