Posted - 11/18/2009 :  08:35:38          

Why You May Have Violin-Pain
by Clayton Haslop

. . . I just spent a good hour or so reviewing some wonderful videos on YouTube.

Amongst them was one featuring Zukerman in an interview on violin playing and the importance of learning to play
properly.

The interesting, or perhaps a little confusing thing about this particular video, however, was that Maestro Zukerman begins his remarks by saying how much physical pain he suffers while playing. And it is within this seemingly ironic context of pain that he expresses the need to learn to play ‘correctly’.

Now, Zukerman is an extra-ordinary violinist, and my comments here should in no way be taken as a criticism of
his playing or musicianship.

I also don’t want to give you the impression that I don’t experience any discomfort whatsoever when I play.
As Zukerman himself points out, the very positions we take when raising the violin are undeniably unnatural to
the human body.

Yet there are things we can do to keep the discomfort to a minimum; to where it does not overwhelm or detract from
the pleasure of playing the instrument.

After all, one of the great pleasures of the playing the violin or viola is the close proximity they have to our
ear while we play them.

We are literally enveloped by the tone.

The irony of Zukerman’s comments, however, arise from his emphasis on learning correctly, on the one hand, and
the specific pain he experiences in his neck and shoulders from his ‘hold’ on the other.

You see, Zukerman was taught to secure the instrument to the shoulder with his chin. Most of us have been taught
this, actually.

Yet fortunately for me, and now potentially for you, 3 decades ago I came under the tutelage of a fairly decent
fiddler by the name of Nathan Milstein, who had something quite different to say about this important subject.

He said, very matter-of-factly in his heavy Russian accent, ‘hold the violin with your left hand, not with
your chin.’

Wow, what a concept. ‘Can this really be done,’ I thought to myself.

Yet there the man was, standing in front of me playing the G Minor Caprice – he always referred to them by
key, not by number; #16, in this case – playing with the violin slid half down his shoulder with absolute
ease. It would have taken the neck of an ostrich to reach the chinrest from where it was.

Ok, I’m exaggerating just a tad.

Yet the point remains, you can alleviate much of the neck pain and chin abscess issues you may be experiencing
by weaning yourself away from the constant reliance on the chin, and to keeping the instrument pinned to your
shoulder.

In the process you may also learn a thing or two about how to balance and organize the fingers of your left
hand. And guess what, by doing THAT your playing immediately becomes more seamless and fluid.

Not a bad addition to the bargain, I’d say.

So, if you’re having the issues I mentioned, and are up for liberating yourself from the ball and chain of a
‘chin hold,’ come take a look at a great program I have to help you accomplish it and much more.

It’s called, ‘Kreutzer for Violin Mastery.’
Here’s where you’ll find it.
http://www.violinmastery.com/kreutzer.htm

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

_________________________________________________________________

M-D

Traditional Ozarks, Always

Music is found in the space between the notes -- in the silence between the chords. Get your spaces right, and you've got it. ~ Albert Greenfield

Posted - 11/18/2009 :  08:45:34          

Clayton also has a free e-mail list that one may receive, available via his web-site.

And, Nathan Milstein, along with Heifetz, Elman, Seidel, Zimbalist, Mischakoff, and Rabinoff. was the student of Leopold Auer, who was an advocate of NOT using a shoulder-rest, among other techniques that shaped his playing.

_________________________________________________________________

M-D

Traditional Ozarks, Always

Music is found in the space between the notes -- in the silence between the chords. Get your spaces right, and you've got it. ~ Albert Greenfield

Posted - 11/18/2009 :  10:38:45            

Lately I've not been using my chin much except when I need to shift position when playing Boatsman, or if I'm doing something with a LOT of lefthand fingering in a tune I'm unfamiliar with and learning to play. Other than that, it's not really needed. I did try getting rid of the shoulder rest too, but that was less successful. That shoulder rest seems to allow me more looseness, since it acts as an anchor. But the height of the shoulder rest and the issues created by more layers in winter went away as soon as I lifted my chin.

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So many tunes. So little time!

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