How to Adjust Your Shoulder Rest and Play Comfortably | Violin & Viola TV
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Click here to buy the shoulder rest I personally use and recommend: bit.ly/2IeKcbc
In this episode I’m going to give you some tips for adjusting your shoulder rest in answer to a question from Dorothy:
Zlata, could you do a video on shoulder rests? I mean, like how to adjust it to each person’s best fit, what is the best one and how to recognize the best one, why what works for me might not be what works for you, and so on?
Please? I know I need serious help here! I’ve already spent a small fortune trying to find one that works.
This video is just about adjusting your shoulder rest. Related to this subjects are three other videos I made:
3 Checks to Know if You Should Use a Shoulder Rest on the Violin or NOT violinlounge.co...
How to Release the Tension in your Neck when Playing the Violin violinlounge.co...
6 Steps to Select Your Ideal Violin or Viola Chinrest and Play Comfortably violinlounge.co...
If you have watched above episodes and know that you have to use a shoulder rest and that the problem is not in your violin hold or chinrest, this week’s video about adjusting your shoulder rest might be just what you need.
A well fitting shoulder rest must have a pad that follows the shape of your collar bone. The weight of the violin should be equally distributed over the rest. You shouldn’t feel a lot of pressure in one small spot.
The shoulder rest I use is the VLM Augustin Diamond rest. This is a wooden rest that you can’t bend. I’m lucky that it follows the shape of my collar bone. If you can’t find a shoulder rest that matches the shape of your shoulder or collar bone, consider a Wolf Forte Secundo rest. Wolf rests are made of metal and you can bend them into any desired shape.
Besides from bending the rest, you can also try to tilt the rest. In this way the whole pad can rest on your shoulder and not just an edge. You can hold your violin straight, while your rest follow the angle of your shoulder.
My shoulder rest can’t tilt and I don’t need it to. If you are looking for a rest that can tilt, again look at the Wolf.
It’s important to check this and to have a shoulder rest of which you can feel the whole pad and the weight is distributed over this pad.
Adjust your shoulder rest in height properly. Except from adjusting the general height, you can influence the angle of the violin by choosing a different height for every side. Most shoulder rests are adjustable in height on both sides.
Adjust the width of your shoulder rest properly. The width depends on how far you want the rest to be on the violin. The wider your shoulder rest is, the more it goes down on the violin and the more it will move to the edge of your shoulder while playing. The narrower your shoulder rest is, the more it remains on the top of the violin and the more it moves to your neck while playing.
I like my shoulder rest to leave me some freedom of movement in my shoulder. If I can’t move my shoulder while playing, it stiffens and starts to hurt. Therefore I don’t want it to be too wide.
Just to summarize my tips for adjusting your shoulder rest:
Make sure the pad follows the shape of your body and distributes the weight of your violin.
Bend and tilt the shoulder rest if necessary.
Adjust the rest to the proper height.
Adjust the rest to the proper width.
The Wolf Forte Secundo is a popular rest that you can bend, tilt and adjust in width and height.
I hope this video and the recommended videos above will help you out finding a comfortable way of playing.
Is this video helpful to you? Please let me know in the comments below! If you like it, share it with your friends!
Love,
Zlata
PS: Do you have questions or struggles on violin or viola playing? Post a comment below.
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that was it. I had it on the end of shoulder not the middle part near my neck. oh my goodness. I'm free and can finally relax. when u used your hand and rubbed the area to show placement. I got it. BIG KUDOS. most helpful tip ever. many thanks. :)
Awesome! I’m so happy for you! 🥳
Thanks for showing this shoulder-rest! A good moment to have a close look on my own KUN shoulder-rest again, for some time I did not have any problems with my shoulder-rest but while my playing is improving I felt it did not fit me so well anymore. I have changed the widt of the legs and I think it is going better now. But because I have changed the position of the shoulder-rest I have some difficulties with hitting the strings now, I hope I only have to get used to it. But I do realise only a small adjustment has a great result!
Thanks for watching. Happy practicing!
Great video and explanation! Especially regarding moving the shoulder rest inward/outward and how it impacts the shoulder while playing.
I'm glad it's useful to you!
Thank You. Madam. Very very Nice
You’re welcome ☺️
Vielen vielen Dank!
Have a nice time! Bitte sehr!
@@violinlounge Bitte schön ! :)
Thank you for this, has already made a big difference by just adjusting slightly. Shoulder is now much more relaxed 👏🏼
Congrats on your progress!
When I get it comfortable, it throws the bow off from a 90 degree angle. So frustrating. Cannot figure this thing out.
When you change your violin hold, indeed the bow has to change with it. A bit of a slant at the tip is not bad.
@@violinlounge That wasn't the issue. I figured it out last night. I didn't have the right side of the rest high enough. It was too high on the chin side compared to the chest side, which threw the 90 degree angle of the bow off. I've been bowing straight for 40 years and have won several competitions, so I knew it wasn't my ability to bow straight. Unbelievably, this is the first time I've ever tried a shoulder rest, just out of curiosity.
@@apostasiaelegcho5612 do you find the shoulder rest offers advantages for you vs no rest?
@@violinlounge So far, yes in a big way. Much easier to align the hand with the fingerboard without causing stress to my shoulder. I've just started developing left shoulder pain which is why I'm making the transition to the shoulder rest. So far, have a kun bravo. Plan on experimenting with other ones to find the perfect fit.
Ive been playing the violin for 4 years now without shoulder rest. Ive been trying to use the shoulder rest since shifting is much easier with it. But i cant find any comfortable spot to place my shoulder on my violin.
And my question is, does it usually hurt the first time you use a shoulder rest?
If you've been comfortable for years without a shoulder rest, why not stick to it? You can perfectly shift without shoulder rest. Refer to any great violinists in the fifties or before to see.
I think my shoulders are very small, if I push it to the edge it comes out. It just don't get on the collarbone. What kind of adjustments should I make?
Adjust the width, so it ends up higher up the violin and not so close to your shoulder.
Hi what can I do if my viola chin rest is too high? I recently purchased a centered chin rest online but after putting it on and playing for a few minutes my left shoulder and arm became extremely sore, which doesn’t usually happen until I’ve been playing for a long time. Is there a way I can fix this issue without having to get a new chin rest? I have an Everrest shoulder rest which couldn’t be adjusted in height :/. Thank you!
thanks for all the tips! it helped me a lot!!
+Clara ‘Clary’ Cenci Glad to read that.
Thank you for the tips in the descriptions 💜
Thanks for watching, Samia, which tip was most useful to you?
Your shoulder rest looks nice.
I had wolf . I bended it soooooo much .. I still didn't like it.
You feel the whole length that is so nice. Shoulder rests are difficult to try out because you have to buy it to try it. But when you find the right one it's worth it 🌿
I'm using this one for years now: violinlounge.com/product-review/vlm-augustin-diamond-shoulder-rest-review/
Just broke mine trying to bend mine...being new sucks...
Oh dear, was it a Wolf rest?
Excellent info, thanks so much! Precisely what I needed to be a lot more comfortable playing viola.
Glad it was helpful!
Where can I find a shoulder rest for my violin because I don't have one that came with my violin
For example here: bit.ly/2R6CTGI
@@violinlounge Is this the one with the Metal Back?
@@studentoftheword6115 yes!
I recently bought a Cecilio electric violin but the shoulder rest I was using for my other violin doesn't fit right, it keeps slipping off. I think it's because this violin is narrower in width. Can any one help me. I'm so frustrated with it I could cry 😥I need to use a shoulder rest as I'm unable to hold the violin up without one
What brand and type of shoulder rest are you using for your normal violin? Perhaps you can get a Wolf Forte Secundo... they stick to most electric violins as well: amzn.to/2zmCcyM Can you let me know if this is helpful to you?
that's helpful and so well explained. Many thanks!
You’re welcome
why are you only showing wolf shoulder rest for violin and not for viola
jacobi because I’m a violinist 😉, but it’s similar for viola.
What about the wolf forte primo? I'm not 100% sure what the difference is...
The Wolf Forte Secundo is more curved and is adjustable in height.
thanks
Thank you so much!
You’re welcome!
Thanks
anonymous AGN3 thanks for watching!
@@violinlounge ur welcome.....thanks for such nice explanation will surely like and subscribe 👍 how could I not
@@violinlounge actually I forgot to subscribe .......sorry......I will subscribe 😊😊😊
anonymous AGN3 welcome!
This helps me, because here I was trying to position myself to the shoulder rest instead of adjusting it to me. I think this is why the shoulder rest seems so foreign to me.
Great insight!
it is viola not fiola. please
The rainbow sheep They're saying viola, that's just their accent. This comment is extremely rude.
Kawaii Buttercups i am a rude person stfu
Kawaii Buttercups And it's not their accent english is english i've never heard of an accent that pronounces the v f.
The rainbow sheep I never thought people could be this stupid.
xoy I know this was a long time ago but...
You just did. Just sayin