V.com weekend vote: What kind of shoulder rest do you use?
To use a shoulder rest or not to use a shoulder rest - that's actually not the question, at least today!
Today I'd like to ask, if you use a shoulder rest, what kind to you use?
Let's explore the various kinds of shoulder rests out there these days, and also pleases feel welcome to share your thoughts about past shoulder rests, what you are looking for in a shoulder rest, and ones that you might be curious about for the future.
If you don't use a shoulder rest, you are welcome to share your thoughts and experiences around that, but let's do that in a shoulder-rest-tolerant spirit!
Please note: I was limited in the number of shoulder rests I could list, and so I went with the most widely-available and popular names. However, if yours is not listed here, please check "something else" and then tell us about it in the comments. I did include Kun, Wolf, Korfkerrest, Bonmusica, Mach, Everest and Playonair. However, the list is missing popular ones like Viva La Musica and Shar's Performa. Also, I have been hearing lately about Dolfinos, which is an entire system that also includes a chin rest in the set-up. So if yours is not on there, just choose "something else" and then tell us in the comments.
As for me? My personal shoulder rest journey has included a couple of sponges with a rubber band, a Resonans (which became a menace to my fiddle when the edges got sharp), a Wolf Forte Secondo and now, a KorfkerRest Luna.
Please participate in the vote and then share your experiences!
You might also like:
- Review: The KorfkerRest Shoulder Rest - Is It Worth It?
- Review: the Performa Violin Shoulder Rest from Shar
- Review: The New KorfkerRest Luna Shoulder Rest by Pirastro
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Greetings?
A. Useful vote but from a personal perspective I would like to say that a sponge is not a shoulder rest. The reasoning behind this is that the underlying idea/approach and technique is different. Many of the the. Vitriolic debates about rest versus non rest are often caused by the assumption that not using a rest. Means using nothing. That is skin or tee shirt…This is actually difficult and uncomfortable for most people. Non rest use generally means a pad , collar or sponge. But it is absolutely not the same thing as a shoulder rest which is base don the premise of a stable (not tense) platform.
Warmest regards,
Buri
Thank you Buri - and point taken. I'll leave the sponge in there, though, to distinguish between using absolutely nothing at all and using some kind of sponge.
I am pleasantly surprised that as many as 13% of us don't use one! I'd love to hear each person's reasons - for me its two fold: first, I could never find one that got out of the way. Second, and more important, once I experienced the violin as a part of me in contrast as something I play on I could never go back.
Hi Laurie,
Come to think of it, one important one is missing: a chamois leather!
This is radically different from going commando!
Cheers,
Buri
Nate Cole said that he uses a piece of a type of leather (not chamois, I think), and his reason seemed to be mostly about getting a certain amount of traction rather than having that parameter depend on the fabric of his shirt or suit. He discussed this in detail during a Q&A session during his "Violympics" course. The same reason was given by ASM as to why she always wears shoulder-baring gowns -- reliable traction. I don't think Nate uses a sponge too. There are already shoulder pads in a standard men's two-piece suit, but Nate is never wearing a suit in his instructional videos. The amount of vertical lift provided by a single layer of leather seems vanishingly small, but it might provide significant cushioning (for example, against the edges of the metal chin-rest hardware, which gave me a bone spur as a child because I was taught to play with no SR by someone who did not know how to teach that technique properly).
As with all things related to the violin, there are a million parameters. It's not a shoulder rest if it's a sponge (or pad) under your shirt, but it's an SR if the sponge (or pad) is strapped to your violin, in the manner of the play-on-air device? Probably the play-on-air does give much more traction (allows less movement of the instrument).
I use the Everest on my violin and the Kun on my viola, and I value the security they offer. I've never had any neck or shoulder strain from the viola since finding the combination of Kun SR and Wittner CR. On the violin the combination is Kaufmann CR (modified by chisel) and Everest SR. One reason I like the slightly taller Everest is because the difference in feel between my violin and viola is a little less.
Neither of my shoulder rests is on the list. I use a VLM Professional on viola (primary instrument), and a padauk wood Performa on violin. In general, I like a low shoulder rest with a gentle curve, which helps me tilt my instrument enough to play comfortably on the low strings with short fingers, but also allows some freedom of motion.
A typical Kun collapsible works well for me on both violin and viola. My viola shoulder rest is on a lower setting than my violin shoulder rest, though the chinrest on my violin is slightly higher than the one on my viola. I do have to position/angle it a certain way, and the way I have it angled is great for me but is not the typical straight across position that is much more common. I haven't really needed to experiment with shoulder rests too much. I started with a sponge as a young child upon my teacher's recommendation, but I started using a shoulder rest pretty soon after. I played with a Bon Musica when I was around 10 years old, but I couldn't figure out how to get it right for me, and I ultimately didn't end up needing one anyway, so I've stuck with Kun all those years. I think I'd still be pretty functional if my shoulder rest was just a sponge, though I would prefer something that's thicker on one side and thinner on the other.
I am simply not able to play without shoulder rest. I have always used Wolf Forte Secondo and it works very well for me. I have a long neck.
In 2022, I watched the Wieniawski competition and saw that many participants used the Korfker shoulder rest, and often a pink rubber band to hold it in place. That Korfker shoulder rest was beyond my budget, but I could afford a rubber band: with a Kun it works just fine, too.
Who could describe my surprise when recently, at the Queen Elisabeth competition, it appeared that almost all participants had exchanged their Korfker for the old familiar Kun, and that there were no pink rubber bands to be found.
I use Performa should rest. I have the padauk wood version. I prefer it over any other shoulder rest that I've tried.
https://www.johnsonstring.com/cgi-bin/music/scripts/violin-viola-cello-music.cgi?itemno=SRVNPERW440/1T
I have a Kun shoulder rest. It works and I like its adaptability and it's cheap. But I don't like its tendency to fall off the violin when I take the instrument out from under my chin. Being me I have been too lazy to look for something better.
I can play without a shoulder rest if I must (e.g. I borrow an instrument) but I don't like it. It feels unsafe to me (the violin feels less like a part of me without the rest than with the rest) and the metal contraption that holds the chinrest scrapes the skin bloody over my collarbone.
I don't know if it's just me, but I never got on too well with a shoulder rest. The whole idea of it. Not sure if it's wrong, but I move my shoulder when I play (bring it forwards more or less, depending on what I'm doing), so if the shoulder rest fits nicely for the A string (touching at all points), when I go for the G string or into a high position it causes the violin to move.
I spent quite a while using a Kun set up in such a way that just my shoulder was actually on the rest and the rest of... the rest was in the air, but, as Albrecht mentioned, it started falling off all the time when it got older, I couldn't be bothered to put it back on, so switched to various pads.
Anything with friction and a bit of height works, really. One of the best things is an old rugby shirt (the proper thick kind) with the collar unbuttoned and on the shoulder=).
I'm using Bonmusica on both instruments (My shoulders slope like nobody's business), but I'm not as secure with the viola one as I'd like to be, and it keeps coming off when I play that C-string G-minor scale in bar 41 of the Chaconne.
Bart,
Thank you so much. I have long been concerned about the slump in global demand for pink elastic bands. Your explanation has clarified this matter.
Cheers,
Buri
Kun here. Both of mine are the Bravo model - they look like the SR at the top left corner of the photo. One I have adjusted to fit well on two fiddles. The other I’ve set to fit best on the third fiddle.
I started rest-less as a kid and continued this way till 18 y/o. By 16, I’d reached my full height of 5'10" and eventually decided, after trying a few models, that I liked playing with an SR better than playing without one. I have a medium-short neck and can play rest-less; but having an SR suits my individual build better, and it helps when I want to release the hand-hold on the instrument for a split-second - e.g., in down-shifting.
Angle and height are important. I set the device at its lowest point for the left shoulder, medium height for the chest side. As you view the back of the instrument, I have mine oriented SW->NE. Again, this suits my individual build well. NW->SE won’t work for me.
From personal experience, I feel that getting a well-fitting chin rest is crucial before settling on a shoulder rest. I currently use the low-set Dresden model with a large-size Strad Pad that covers the whole CR and the metal brackets holding the device in place. This way, I have good traction - and no bare CR or metal pressing on the skin.
Korfker is a game changer. Feather light, enables freedom around the violin - and tone is much more resonant. Worth every penny. What’s not to like ? Marianne - violinist Electric Alchemy Band
I use a Kun. Mainly because I am used to it. I had a Kun in middle school and kind of grew up using it, so when I returned to playing as an older adult, I purchased another Kun. I am really looking into the Viva La Musica Diamond, as I want to try a wood shoulder rest.
I went through a few until I found the Korfkerrest (model 2). I now have a model 2 and a Luna as a backup. It has really made playing effortless. I hold the neck as I would without a shoulder rest, and play restless occasionally, but I prefer to have the Korfkerrest there as well.
If we take the numbers from the poll, I wonder if the amount of money those spent on the Korfkerrest (~$300 x 101 [15% of 675] = $30,300) is greater than the amount spent on shoulder rests for the other 76% of the voters (I have subtracted the 9% that voted no rest)?
PS - I'm on team Viva La Musica
Are there no Korfker Cradle users at all? 682 respondents as I write this, and not a single Korfker Cradle user? It does seem to have some advantages that the Korfkerrest lacks. I use a BonMusica, but I'm just curious.
I’m currently using the Dolfinos Carbon+ Edition on my primary violin, KorfkerRest 2 on viola and second violin, and Markov Resonant on third violin.
Acoustifoam, with a center-mounted Flesch chin rest.
John why do you use different SRs for different violins? Different string I can maybe understand ... but shoulder rests?
Instead of a chin rest, I use a small piece of fabric tied to the tailpiece.
This gives me a kind of grip, and I don't use a shoulder rest.
I have never tried those very expensive S. R.s After some moderately expensive experimenting I ended up with the Everest as the best choice for me. Ergonomic fitting is a process that a student needs to repeat several times as their technique changes. Start with the optimum angles of the violin; horizontal, vertical, tilt. Then find the chin-rest that works best for you. After that maybe add the shoulder rest that; fills the gap between the back of the violin and the (lowered!) left shoulder, and stabilizes those angles.
Hi Paul, I use the various setups partly because I like to experiment and partly because I'm not 100% committed to one just yet. I have tried many other SRs, pads, cushions, and leather pieces. I have been working with a new teacher for about a year now. We spent a lot of time addressing posture and form while reducing shoulder tension. I am now able to play comfortably for hours with most any SR. So I'm not sure it makes a huge difference.
Bart, it seems like you are just making up things? I can't imagine needing a pink band to help hold a Korfkerrest, it stays on the fiddle extremely well. Queen Elisabeth second-place winner Joshua Brown actually uses a Korfkerrest and formally endorses it. Queen Elisabeth third-prize winner Elli Choi apparently does not use a shoulder rest. I can't tell with first-prize winner Dmytro but he does not appear to use either a Korfker or a Kun. So ...?
Shoulder rest? SHOUUUUUULDER REST????
Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch and I…
Oh…
Sorry…
I don’t know what just came over me.
Carry on! :-)
Laurie, I agree with you. I have the Korfkerrest2 for violin and viola. They have excellent hold power. I have never had one slip. Although I can see how it may be difficult for some folks to adjust it properly. The Luna model is easy to set up, has the same dependable hold and costs less. I think Pirastro did an excellent job.
John what do you think about the Markov Resonant? Not a lot of people on this site use it.
I myself currently have a Korfkerrest 2 on violin 1, a wooden performa on violin 2, a kun super on violin 3, and a kun super on viola. I've also preordered the kun seven so I'm looking forward to trying that as well.
Hi Christian, I had been curious about the Markov Resonant for some time. But I couldn’t find any independent reviews. I finally decided to try it out for myself. I can tell you that the craftsmanship and material quality is outstanding. It is very well-made and beautiful. The rubber standoffs are customizable as they come in various sizes. I do believe it allows the instrument to vibrate more freely. The contour shape of the wooden rest looks as though it would be uncomfortable. But for me, I find it fairly comfortable. It is not quite as stable as my other rests. But it does allow more freedom if you like to have the ability to tilt and swing the violin in any direction and not having a static setup.
Ah, shoulder rests. I've had several since my first Wolf. Last year I tried a VLM Diamond and found it worked - for me - better than the other rests I've owned. The Diamond requires some experimenting with the several settings it allows, but it doesn't leave bruise marks on my collar bone, or slip off without any warning, and it allows more freedom of movement than the other rests I've used.
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July 13, 2024 at 07:05 PM · For many years I explored early-music performance practice by using neither a shoulder rest nor a chinrest. Eventually I put the chinrest back on, but the shoulder rest never returned, even for playing classical or contemporary music genres.