August 2014

The Three Chinrests

This one's too bumpy, this one's too sharp. Aaaah - this one is just right!

Sometimes finding a comfortable setup on the violin is a challenge. In the beginning, I didn't even know that you could do that. I thought that I should just go with what was recommended by my teacher, and that's the best it could get. I was wrong.

It was difficult to bring up the subject. After all, I had been playing on this particular instrument almost a year, and hadn't said anything, but I'm glad I did. First, we lowered my shoulder rest. It helped, but the chin rest pressed painfully into my jaw. A few weeks later I got the chin rest that he recommended, and it was slightly better, but still pressed. But, since it was better, I held my tongue.

Finally, after a few months, I did a little bit of research, and came up with three different options. When I showed up to my lesson with them, my teacher was a bit taken aback. I suppose he thought we had solved the problem because I hadn't complained. He chose one of the three and put it on for me. Again, it was better, but didn't solve the problem. So, I took matters into my own hands and switched it out for yet a different one, which finally felt right.

I hadn't realized how much more comfortable my violin had become until yesterday when I has helping a friend out with his violin. It was so bumpy, lumpy, and slid around so much! Thank goodness I persisted in sleuthing out what would work best for me. How many other people play with poorly fitting chin rests, I wonder? It made such a huge difference to find the right one.

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