Where do the rules about violin hold, bow hold and other technique come from?

Should you follow them even when they don’t work for you?

After running a violin shop for over ten years, I’m surprised on a regular basis what some violin teachers see as ‘non-negotiable’ or a ‘rule’. The chinrest en shoulder rest ALL students should use, the way to hold the violin, the way to bow, the way to place the fingers and much more. They all teach in a different way, but they all see their method as the one and only truth.

Look, I’m not talking about ALL violin teachers and being a teacher myself I understand that you need to sometimes give students some strict guidance so they don’t mess up all the way. However, sometimes we teachers can go too far in what’s ‘correct’.

Have you ever seen your favorite soloist doing exactly what your teacher has forbidden?

A couple of weeks ago a woman was in my shop and she had been following lessons for almost a year, but was completely confused about her technique. The first months of violin playing were one big struggle. Her violin hold was really uncomfortable and she hardly couldn’t put down her fingers the way she was taught. She desperately wanted my advice to ‘get started’. I made clear that I couldn’t ‘get her started’ in a couple of minutes and that I wouldn’t want to cross her teacher telling different stuff.

I gave her some instructions about how she could place her fourth finger much more easily: by having her knuckles more in line with the neck of the violin and by putting the violin a bit more in her hand leaving more space for your fingers. I also corrected her violin hold, so she was more comfortable.

However, every step on the way she asked ‘but is this allowed’, ‘but may I really do it this way’ and ‘this is so much easier, is it really right’.

Look, there is no police car stopping over to bring you to jail if you don’t ‘play by the rules’.

Whatever those ‘rules’ are anyway!

Are you uncomfortable playing with a shoulder rest and does your teacher say you ‘need’ it? Well, all great players before 1960 didn’t need one… they played all big repertoire without one. There are many more examples.