Hey ! I’m so happy to have found your video! I’m an adult beginner, I started about a year ago and have been struggling with pain and tension since the very beginning of my journey. It was extremely frustrating cause I was very motivated and determined to play 4h a day… but! Tension was preventing me from practicing as much as I wanted to, i couldn’t practice more than 1h a day without being in pain, and even with just 1h or less a day, I was still struggling. I had to get massages with an osteopath one or twice a week in order to be able to play. It was ridiculous. Obviously, there was something wrong. I knew that the violin was a physical instrument, but still… I have played other instruments and I had NEVER encountered this problem before. Just like you, i spent hundreds of euros in less than a year, buying and experimenting with every shoulder rests I could, chin-rests (I have 1 box full of these too) trying every configuration possible… nothing seemed to be working. I have a very long neck (15cm 🦒) so I thought it was the root of my problems. I tried to raise my shoulder rest to get the violin meet my jaw, but without having it touch my collarbone, there was no stability and it was sliding every-time I was putting my jaw on the chinrest. so I raised the chin-rest instead (I had seen it was better to raise the chin rests than the shoulder rests cause the violin always needs to rest on the collarbone). It was helping for stability, but still, my left side was in pain all the time… I started to develop tendinitis, it was terrible. After trying everything, I tried the only thing I hadn’t tried yet, which was : ditching the shoulder rest. The results were mind blowing : no more pain or tension. I felt so free!! It was incredible… and the sound of my violin : crazy!!! My tone got much better, my bowing too. I tried to play with a shoulder rest again, to see if it was the bad habit of clamping that was causing me pain or the shoulder rest. It was the shoulder rest!!! Even with a relaxed neck and trapezius, my left shoulder and arm were in crazy pain and tension after just 15min of playing with a shoulder rest again. Especially where the shoulder rest was meeting my shoulder, just like you mentioned in your video!! It’s a shame that nowadays, we automatically encourage people to play with shoulder rests. Just like you, I have a very skinny upper body and no flesh to hold the violin. Even with a 5cm tall chinrest, and a very little sponge under the violin? my neck doesn’t touch the chinrest. But still, I can play without a shoulder rest. Just like you say, everybody should try at least once in their life to play without one (with the correct technique). Of course, I don’t have your experience, I’m just a beginner player (finishing Suzuki 4 at the moment), but I do start to play 3 octaves scales and still manage to shift and play in high positions despise my girafe neck and skinny collarbone. I believe people should at least experiment. Cause I’ve searched on the internet and many people share this story. so many people cured their tensions by ditching the shoulder rest, like, so many!! it’s really worth giving it a try. Excuse the very long rambling, but it’s such an interesting and important subject and your video resonated so much with my story that I had to share mine with you. Thanks for putting yourself out there and feeding the debate, it was very informative. Also, I really dig your energy, I really do :) Have a great day! Cheers from France !

@JanellYeo

2 жыл бұрын

Wow thank you so much for watching my video and sharing your struggles! As I said, if I can help just one person with my experiences, then it would be worth it...so I'm really touched, and happy that you are now progressing pain-free in your violin journey! Keep building up slow and steady so you can continue playing in the long run and enjoy many more years of violin 😁🎻

just seeing you is a posative ex periance. just listening to the joy in your voice , to wards the violin. makes me happy , and the need in side me to play and in prove my playing , grows, I think not only have you got such beauty on the out side , you have such warm inner beauty, that makes me realize, why a violin is an amazing thing to learn , and to me no musical instrument, can match the sound off a violin

@JanellYeo

Ай бұрын

Aww, thank you Murray for your kind and touching words!!

Hello Janell! Thank you for your video on your personal experience with solving your pain issues and technical issues. I watched with great interest because I used to play many years ago but I quit for several reasons. I used to say that it was over a contract issue. But if I am really honest with myself, I know that had I been playing pain-free and if I had been pleased with my playing, I would never have stopped. Currently I am trying to get back into playing again. I think that it would be great to learn to play again without the shoulder rest. Thank you for giving me some really good ideas on how to tackle the problem. 🙂

@JanellYeo

2 жыл бұрын

Hello Stella! Thank you so much for watching my video and sharing your experience, it means alot and I appreciate it ❤️ I wish you all the best with your violin-playing experiments and I hope you will find the freedom to make music again ✨

Hello 👋 I am happy you didn’t stop playing the violin 🎻 It’s such an amazing instrument 🙂

@JanellYeo

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks John! I'm glad too - once I finally broke through the barriers, my playing has never been more free than it is now🌟 and yes it's a miracle of an instrument!

I am a beginner started 3 months ago and I too am having great difficulty in finding a pain free set up, I am about to try adjustable chin rests as even the bendy Bonmusica shoulder rest has not solved the pain issues. I will try a few days with no shoulder rest and see if that helps🧐

@JanellYeo

2 жыл бұрын

Hi! Thanks so much for watching and sharing your experiences, I really appreciate it 🙏 I wish you all the best in experimenting to find the right setup for you and all the best in your violin playing! ✨

What are your insights on drinking alchohol and the complexities of violin technique? Obviously if we drink too much, we can't even walk, we can't play violin well. Is there a healthy moderation to drinking and still playing violin well? Or is any small amount of alcohol bad for us professional violinists? I'm curious of your personal insights please! Thanks sincerely!

@JanellYeo

11 ай бұрын

Hi Sean, sorry I’ve only just seen your comment! I think that part of a life lived well is a balancing act - we need excitement AND rest, times of risk AND safety, seriousness AND fun. So if someone can moderate their alcohol and violin playing then by all means go ahead! Personally I wouldn’t suggest mixing both at the same time though, that sounds like a recipe for disaster 😅 It’s only a problem when someone over-indulges in work/practise or substances, causing harm to themselves or others. I think the right balance looks different for everyone - life is a journey in trying to find what works best for you!

@sololinist

11 ай бұрын

@@JanellYeo will you please be my teacher?

Orchestral rehearsals are torture. You have no control over when you pick up and put down the instrument, you are not allowed to retry things on your own, you can't control the distance or height of the desk, you have to avoid getting poked in the eye by your neighbour (or poking her in the eye) and worst of all, you have to play sitting down (which is not how you generally practice). All these minor nuisances pile up over the four hours or whatever time it takes and show up as pain. I have made myself a 3d printed harness that leaves my neck and shoulders free, but conductors don't tolerate such nonconformity, so I'm out - and enjoying my viola more than ever!

@JanellYeo

Жыл бұрын

It sounds like the pathway of being an orchestral musician is perhaps not for you... Which is totally fine! Everyone is different, the world would be boring if we were all the same, and I'm glad to hear you are experiencing enjoyment and freedom in your viola-playing regardless! Thanks for sharing =)

@PaulHirsh

Жыл бұрын

@@JanellYeo Absolutely, but I like to give anything a try. I'm a jazz player at heart and my viola has five strings - tuned Ab Eb Bb F C