How to Play Violin Without a Shoulder Rest

Learn all the basics of how to play the violin without a shoulder rest. These techniques and exercises will help you find an easier way to play the violin with or without shoulder rest. I recommend first trying them out without any contact between your shoulder and the violin, and then once you've tried everything, you will likely find more ease in your playing with or without a pad or shoulder rest. If your collarbone hurts, you can place some padding between the violin and the collarbone. If your arm or thumb becomes tired, take a break.
Using pads or shoulder rests are also great options, but we can learn a lot playing at least a little bit every day without any shoulder pad or shoulder rest. You will improve a lot and see for yourself the benefits.
I played most of my life with a shoulder rest, 6 years with a pad, and now 2 years with no pad. Now I am more comfortable and the sound is better, and so that is why I play without a shoulder rest. There are advantages and disadvantages to playing with or without shoulder rest, so I recommend not blindly believing anyone who is so confident one way is better than the other. You have to weigh the advantages and disadvantages, and decide what's best for you.
In the future I will make a video on how to shift and vibrate without a shoulder rest, so please subscribe to learn more. There are so many things I learned along the way I wish I knew when I first took off my shoulder rest! I'm here to help, so please ask any questions you have, and feel free to request videos.

[@ivrz]

Very helpful thank you. A little closer to the camera would improve the clarity

[@michaelperryviolin]

Thank you very much for your helpful comment!

[@stuntdouble777]

Thanks for the lesson. What is your chinrest. I have a long neck and your rest looks very high.

[@michaelperryviolin]

You're welcome! It's called the wave 1. It's missing a little bit of a lip on the left side of the chin rest, so I add a little padding with a rubber band, and that works very well for me. I do recommend trying this chin rest. The maker will even send you 4 to try out (different styles and heights).

[@paddlepower888]

Ouch. As a kid I didn’t have a shoulder rest and it hurt to play because I have a really sensitive collarbone. I didn’t play again until college. My teacher was a shoulder rest advocate, like most of the world. It also kept the violin from swinging to the right. The Ieft hand has enough going on, it doesn’t need to hold the Violin up too .

[@michaelperryviolin]

Thank you for sharing Jeff. Yes, that is one of the disadvantages of playing without a shoulder rest, that the skin over the collarbone can hurt. However, some people use padding so it doesn't hurt. Also, the skin will get thicker there over time and it may not hurt in the end. I am not a shoulder rest advocate or a no shoulder rest advocate. I think we all need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages and decide for ourselves. Also, holding the violin up with the left hand certainly makes certain things harder, such as shifting quickly, but it has many benefits as well. The sound will be better, it can help keep your neck and shoulders more relaxed, help keep the hand from squeezing the violin more than necessary, and it can even make it easier to breathe well. The advantages and disadvantages also may be different for everyone.

[@paddlepower888]

@@michaelperryviolin right you are. Violin players must make choices. I’m pretty happy with the Bon Musica shoulder rest-if it wasn’t already made, I would have made my own-it doesn’t completely fix the tricky ergonomics of fiddle playing, but it’s a good start. Once adjusted properly (that’s the rub) it keeps the violin in a stable position, reduces discomfort and it really doesn’t make a $300 violin sound worse than it already does. Even I can change positions and make noises loosely heard as vibrato. And I can go for four minutes. Then it’s time for tea. 🙂

[@michaelperryviolin]

@@paddlepower888 Hi Jeff, thanks for sharing. That's great your shoulder rest doesn't affect the sound much. With some violins, a pad or a shoulder rest affects the sound a lot, especially if the player is not helping to hold up the violin with the left hand (there will be less volume and less purity in the sound). But some instruments are not as affected as others.

[@paddlepower888]

@@michaelperryviolin Thought I should tell you first: My neck and shoulder began hurting two weeks ago, both where the shoulder rest had contact with my clothing and in the sternocleidomastoid muscle. I couldn't figure out why I had headaches behind my left ear until I started feeling that muscle and found a more tender spot on the collarbone near midline. (Pressing down too much with my chin?) I began to play without SR cold turkey! I'm not sure how the idea of a sling evolved, but I made something that holds the instrument on my collarbone and keeps it from swinging/sliding when I play and also when I shift from 4th to 1st position. Here's a link to the video I made today: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2mpiWqQm7tnf68 It may be like training wheels before I can play with NO contrivances, but for now I can play without pain. I also found I can play with my chin up and use my chin to tilt the violin--cool.

[@eddiemerribaker]

I play without a shoulder rest. I want nothing between me and the violin. My violin is an extension of me, connected to my soul.

[@michaelperryviolin]

That's so great you feel that way!