Hauled the fiddle out recently and have been playing a bit. However, left elbow pain is bugging me. As soon as I stop, the pain goes away. Any and all suggestions would be welcomed!
BTW-- on a possibly related note, my wife has noticed ear pain when I play… 
Hi Paul.
When I had left arm pain I addressed two things which seemed to do the trick for me.
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My elbow was not far enough over to get it right under the fiddle. That meant I was having to bend my wrist around further to get to the G and D strings.
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I was twisting my wrist too far. Instead of the fingernails on my arched left-hand fingers facing me as if they were mirrors I was looking into, they were facing further round to the left.
I did also increase the angle of my shoulder rest a wee bit to drop the treble side of the fiddle a bit.
Oh, and it goes without saying to check for tension in your arms, shoulders and neck, relax as necessary, and to warm up a bit…
Hi Paul!
Happy memories of our session on Tyghress’s back porch come to mind whenever I see you post!
All Buddhu said, plus…
Tension is a killer for causing odd pains, and can come from bad posture, or just nervousness about playing and being heard. Try to be as relaxed as possible while playing.
Also be sure you’re not hammering your left hand fingers down too hard onto the fingerboard - you only need to stop the strings vibrating, not mash them. It’s all too easy to press down like the strings are trying to escape.
I’ve been having elbow pain as well, so I asked the doctor when I was in for a routine check last week. Turns out I have tennis elbow. We’re not sure if it’s from fiddle playing, but even if it is, I’m not going to stop playing. I’m sure it’s as buddhu and Martin said…there is something I’m not doing correctly. Just another thing to bring up to my teacher next week! 