hooman23

After experimenting for a while, I’ve found that for me personally, it’s harder to control bow changes with the Russian bow hold, and I tend to play a lot louder than I intend to. However, it does allow me to perform said techniques of tremolo and sautille much easier. That being said, I think the reason why it was difficult for me to execute those bow techniques was because I was tilting my bow to the scroll. I’ve been used to playing with a tilt like that for a very long time because I’ve heard it can produce better tone quality and it’s better for developing for your bowing. For most bowing techniques, I think that I will continue tilting my bow to the scroll, but when it comes to techniques which require a lot of wrist movement, I will try to play with full bow hair. I’m not entirely sure if this approach is correct though. Do you have any advice? Thank you in advance!

Hello, Small update here. I think that I’ve completely resolved the issue. It appears that this was due to two reasons: 1. How far up I’m holding the violin 2. How far away I’m holding the violin Turning the violin to around 45 degrees (as Victor Roman said), and bringing the violin closer (I think I was too “afraid” to have the violin touch my neck previously) has made it significantly more comfortable. This is much better, and I feel relaxed and honestly very pain-free in this position. My head is facing pretty much forward, and it’s at a 90 degree angle relative to the floor. It will take some getting used to though. Thank you everyone sincerely for taking the time to help me with my issue.

I’ve been told that generally the contact point between the stick and the index finger should be somewhere between the first and second knuckle. However, when I’m using bowing techniques like tremolo or sautille, I find it immensely easier to shift my index finger to almost the bottom of the finger. I’m not sure if this is normal, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. I’ve attached images of how I think you’re supposed to hold the bow “normally.”

I’ve relatively young (in high school) and I’ve played the violin for one or two years. I think my chin rest is fine because I can “hook” the violin with my chin. Rotating the violin a bit more downwards to 45 degrees has helped a bit—I was holding it tilted more to my shoulder before. Something that I’ve noticed is that usually I’m lifting the violin up with my shoulders when I’m playing instead of raising my back/chest like I said in the original post. This is still uncomfortable though. I think my discomfort primarily stems from stretching my neck? If I put the full weight of my head on the violin, it feels like my neck is being strained. I’ve just tried holding the violin closer to me, and it’s significantly better. My shoulders are relaxed and I can hold the violin at a semi normal height now, but after practicing for around 30m my neck still feels tired and stretched.

I might be getting a violin teacher sometime in February, but it’s not a definite conclusion by any means. I do need to practice everyday (I’m in a school orchestra) and this is starting to become an issue.

Hello everyone, I am a self taught violinist, so I don’t have a teacher to ask this question to. When I am playing the violin, my back often hurts. I find that this is because if I am relaxed, my head is looking downwards, and in order to look at my music, I have to move my head up and consequently my chest/back up as well, leading to a very uncomfortable experience playing. Ive attached a photo of the placement of my violin before I put my head on it—I wonder if it’s because I need to make my shoulder rest higher? But I’ve read on this forum that I shouldn’t do that.