I’m currently alternating between a Kun and a Bon Musica.
Neither of them are very comfortable for me.
The Kun is shaped for someone else’s body and both of them seem to be meant for winging a violin off to the side rather than more in front where I usually play my fiddle.
I’ve tried air cushions and foam but they’ve never seemed high or firm enough to be effective in giving me a good grip without straining my neck to do it.
Is there a make of shoulder rest that is not “shaped” in a wave, is more flat where it makes contact with the player’s body?
Back in my college days i used a Menuhin shoulder rest, which is curved along its length but flat in its profile (see here). I liked it a lot, though the height wasn’t adjustable – it came in different heights and you’d basically have to pick the most appropriate one.
Another possibility might be the Playonair, which is an inflatable pillow that should conform to whatever body part you put it against (see here).
This seems to be one of those things that varies so much by individual that trying is the only way to find something that works.
I have a Resonans that is OK for me, and it’s not curved that much, like some of them. It’s also non-adjustable, and must be bent to fit width-wise. But, it has slipped on me while playing, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
But, I think there is something out there that is much better for me; I just haven’t looked hard enough to find it, since I don’t play much anymore. I just looked at a bunch of them, starting with Shar’s catalog.
There do seem to be quite a few that are flat, too, if that’s what you want, Hyldemoer. Living in Chicago, you might do better going and trying them at a violin shop that has many to choose from, but you probably thought of that already.
At Quinn violins they even suggest ordering a few and returning what doesn’t work, along with different chin rests, because that will also affect the fit with different shoulder rests. I might do that, since I know it can be better than what I have now, and make playing more pleasurable!
There was thread about shoulder rests not too long ago, here:
I never really enjoyed holding a fiddle until I got this shoulder pad. It’s a cushion covered with corduroy. The end has a leather button hole and the sides are held on with rubber bands. I know this probably kills the tone a little, by mutting the wood on the back, but I don’t really care. The fiddle sounds so good anyway, I can’t really tell.
my mom says to use a washcloth rather than a piece of foam. to may great surprise, it really does help. i too have not discovered any option that works well for me, though lorenzo’s looks great.
meir
You probably can’t tell by looking, but the wedge shape of that cushion actually raises the fiddle neck up to the level it should be…for easy playing, and it stays up even if you let go of the fiddle with your hand.
It’s really pretty stable, but I did have to learn which bands to use to keep it tight. I started out with those big blue ones you find on certain veggies at the grocery, and they worked fine, but tended to decay or lose their stretch in about a year. I kept extras in the case, just in case, but finally switched to a band that was made of good quality rubber. I’ve been using these same ones for about 5-6 years now and they’re still good.
Cool!
Thank you everyone.
I’m going to look into all the suggestions.
The shop at the school where I study fiddle only carries one kind, Kun, that I know of. The teachers there don’t seem very partial to using shoulder rests. They don’t tell us not to use them. They just have no personal experience with them that they’re willing to admit.
Where I have my fiddle serviced tends to intimidate me. The average violin there is worth more than the car I drive.
I wanted to make sure that when I walked in the door I could appear as if I’d already done my research on the subject
but I’m sure they’ll still have a good chuckle when I leave the shop.
(I’ve often wondered if they ever watch me drive away anticipating it to be on a horse.)
One of my main concerns was that the shoulder rest didn’t expect a certain geometry of my own body and how I was going to hold the fiddle.
Shoulder rest suggestions for violinists tend to make those assumptions, don’t they.
I’ve seen fiddlers playing Baroque violins with no chin rest and no shoulder rest. At most all they had was a cloth tied around their violin to keep the violin from being too slippery.
I wonder what it feels like inside their body.
Ah…if you’re dealing with a shop like that, maybe you could have the last laugh. Ask them if they have one of these Concertmaster Violin Shoulder Rests.
Look closer at their fiddle hand. Its literally supporting the fiddle.
Do they tuck the fiddle under their chin and clamp down when they need their fiddle hand to be more mobile?
I can’t afford to do that even periodically. After years of dealing with various wrist issues a neurosurgeon told me my ulnar nerve adventures are probably stemming from a herniated disc at C7.
Lets say I accept my fate of not being able to stress my cervical and thoracic vertebrae while playing and learn to live with the musical limitations of supporting my fiddle with the hand,
two things,
one was I’ve been told if that’s the sound I want I can do it but only very rarely does someone who is learning fiddle as an adult ever become any good at it with that kind of fiddle technique (those who use that technique and aren’t happered by it tend to be people who had learned fiddle before becoming an adult).
and #2, what occupational injury really at the hand and wrist mighten I be setting myself for?
On an even more esoteric to Western culture level, how might it influence my pathways of Supplimental Fire?
Have there been TCMish based studies done comparing various fiddle techniques and the resulting balance of Qi?
ps
I saw/heard Tom Paley do a solo concert last night. 3 awesome hours of guitar, banjo and lots of fiddle. The guy is in his 80s. He uses a shoulder rest.
FWIW, i was being facetious… note the presence of emoticon in previous message, along with the attempt at provincial inflection in the improper verb conjugations and double negatives. Ahem.
There are all kinds of ways to hold a fiddle, from under the chin to against the clavicle or thorax to upright on the thigh like an er-hu or (as the Carnatic players do) sitting cross-legged on the floor with violin balanced between thorax (or clavicle) and foot.
I was self taught from age 16 and got all kinds of scolding from my violin teacher in music school for all of the bad habits i picked up. I also managed to give myself a good case of thoracic outlet from playing in the recommended fashion – violin is about as un-ergonomic an instrument as they come (flute can’t be far behind). I had a friend in college who was a Kato Havas devotee and others who were Alexander adepts. I say adopt whatever method works for you and the way you want to play.
I’m sure Rafe Stefanini is pretty much restricted to first position but he sure can play. Martin Hayes (who IIRC plays with a bent left wrist) has remarked about being limited to first position as well, but he’s one of the most imitated fiddlers today. I do think both of them probably learned that way early, and also i suspect that having longer fingers would make their way of holding the fiddle more feasible.
Re: the last bit. Any instrument will usually require repetitive motion and pressing on some part of the anatomy, that’ll produce some blockage somewhere, so the sensible thing is have some shiatsu done regularly.
I play a lot of viola and violin, and trust me, ye will want a shoulder rest, and ye will want to hold the instrument up on the shoulder. You can become quite good at Irish music while slouched like that, as most of it stays in first position. However, should you want to branch out into different kinds of music (classical, Klezmer, etc.) you will need the be able to suport the instrument with your shoulder and chin alone in order the play in the higher postion. It’s much easier to learn it the ‘right’ way first, than to try to correct yourself after becoming used to a bad habbit (this isn’t to say that I don’t play Irish music in a more relaxed manor than calssical, but I am very used to switching between the two). Chin rests I’ve found aren’t always necessary if you have a short neck. my fiddle doesn’t have one at the present, and I find it quite comfortable.
For a shoulder rest, I recommend the Comford rest. A little pricey, but very comphy, stable, and has a nice angle. However, it does not break down, and is quite large, so it may be hard to fit into a smaller violin case.
I use a shoulder rest but no chin rest. I like the cool dents in the varnish anyway, looks roguish. Shoulder rest is cranked up a mile, my feeling is some of us are designed to play certain instruments, others not.
I tried “chest fiddle” a few times but the fiddle would fly loose every now and then. A testy Old Time player I know almost holds the thing almost cello-ish. I asked a question about it and he said all us uneducated hicks play that way…he’d been off the booze for a week at the time, though. Cello hold is much more comfortable for me but I like to stand while I play.
Some of those Carnatic guys just absolutely smoke! Yehudi Menhuin said of one guy “I’ve never heard violin playing like that in all my travels!”
You can also try the pre-shoulder rest method of simply putting a cloth on your shoulder. Issac Stern went at it that way I think.
