Duh, and Duh!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the epiphany that standing up straighter would put less pressure on my left hand. At Friday’s lesson, Ms. L. noticed something else that’s important.

“Hang on,” she said, or something to that effect. “Are you raising your left shoulder while you play?” She stood behind me and watched as I raised the violin to my shoulder and got set to play. Yes, I was raising my left shoulder and clenching the violin between my shoulder and jaw. It was as though I was shrugging that shoulder upward and holding it there while I played. As soon as she asked me this, and as soon as I paid attention to my own movements, I could see how this could be one more factor contributing to tension in my left hand, jerky shifting, and limited flexibility for maneuvering my left arm. Duh.

Her next question was, “Can we adjust your shoulder rest?” I actually had to take the violin off my shoulder and look.

Duh x 2! That’s what those screws are for. (This shoulder rest is almost the same as mine.)

I felt like a moron. Did I really play with this shoulder rest—which I think I bought early in my college years—for 3-4 years without noticing that the height was adjustable? Or did I adjust it appropriately back then, forget about it, and then lower it to the lowest height for storage when I knew I wouldn’t be playing for a long time, and then did I forget to even check it when I picked the violin up again after 15+ years?

In any case, at my lesson, I raised the shoulder rest almost to its maximum height on the chinrest side (not as high on the other side) and tried playing that way. It actually felt comfortable right away, which tells me that probably scenario #2 above is right. I am hoping that this is one more adjustment that can make a small difference in my left hand issues. 

I can't believe I've been playing for almost a year on a shoulder rest that was adjusted to Munchkin level.