How to hold Your Violin

Since you are looking on the Internet for information on how to hold a violin, I assume that you do not have access to a teacher or skilled violin player to help you with information and technique on how to hold a violin.

Many violinist and beginner violin students struggle for a long time with how to hold their violin and then there are beginners that seem to be very comfortable from the very beginning holding their instrument properly.

The goal is to hold your violin without straining and hurting your muscles. Some find it easier to hold their violin with shoulder rest and chin rest. And some find it more natural to hold their instrument without a chin rest or shoulder rest. One thing to consider is that adding chin rest and shoulder rest to your violin will dull the sound of the instrument as its played.

Since it is possible to hold the violin in different ways, we want to talk about a few of them. Many violinist do use the help of removable chin rest and detachable shoulder rest. This means holding the violin with your left shoulder and chin to secure the instrument while the left hand is used for very little support of the neck of the fiddle, when the term “very little support” is used, I do mean very little.

The left hand should not be used to support the weight of your violin, instead all the support is done by your shoulder and chin. The left hand is responsible for playing the strings and controlling the violin. Supporting the weight of the violin with your hand is a bad habit that can take a very long time to overcome, so it is better to never start the habit to begin with. You should be able to let go of the fiddle and not have it drop due to your shoulder and chin holding it in place.

This is where the chin rest and shoulder rest come in, depending on your strength and dexterity you may find it necessary to use such helpers in order to keep your violin steady and secure. Some people find such helps cumbersome and annoying.

In the end, the final determination rest with the student in which direction to proceed. You will decide if you are more comfortable with or without chin and shoulder rest, or maybe using one and not the other. Trial and error will help you decide which is best for you. Getting help from an experienced player is very helpful because they can show you the proper use of chin and shoulder rest and how to properly hold the violin with or without them.

But in the end it does come down to personal preference, and only practice and experience will be able to answer those questions for you. If you are a beginner or purchasing equipment for a beginner, I suggest waiting to purchase chin and shoulder rest until sufficient time has been spent practicing without them.

Monitor the student and listen as they give feedback about how the instrument feels to them. If you or your student needs a chin rest and shoulder rest, usually they will complain of sore neck and shoulder muscles or they will have trouble keeping the violin from sliding off their shoulders. In such cases then buying the right equipment will help to relieve muscle tension and lose of control.