Ditching the Shoulder Rest

The shoulder rest: that weirdly shaped device that has become somehow totally essential for the modern violinist.  I have probably tried just a handful of times in my life to play without, and every time have experienced discomfort and uneasiness.  Or maybe I was just being lazy and writing it off before I had given it a fair chance... Either way, before I started playing baroque violin, it was always the idea of playing without shoulder rest that I seemed to find extremely daunting.  I wouldn't even say I am one of those shoulder rest buff types, who knows a lot about the different kinds of shoulder rests and buys the really expensive one.  I have always just sort of chosen a reasonable Wolf and gotten on with it. But I have watched with envy, baroque violinists play without one and with such freedom and making such wonderful sounds,  I couldn't imagine how it could become something I could get used to. 

Well, I have now been ten days without shoulder rest, and I would say it's going pretty well! The first thing I did was go to the supermarket and buy a cleaning cloth - one of those leathery chamois ones (they are cheap and you can find them all over the place).  I then cut it into a shape that I thought was best and arranged it on my violin, where the violin fits into my neck.  I made a little mark over where the button should go, and then cut a hole in the cloth in that place - just big enough for the button to fit through.  Then I put the cloth on, and now it stays in place!

I have been doing a lot of experimenting with the violin, finding the most comfortable position; the chamois really helps.  Quite a lot of my practice has also been with the scroll of my violin against a wall.  This is a great help in the beginning.  Once you have found the best position for the violin against your neck, if you then stand with your scroll supported by the wall (you might want to put something soft in between the scroll and the wall to prevent scratches), you will find after a while that you can move away but the wall kind of follows you!  And the violin feels stable, and everything feels much easier and freer.  I find that it is really important with this, though, to keep re-checking your position and fixing it back into the place where it should be.

The wall is also useful for practising 'chin off'.  I am still unsure right now if I want to always play in the chin off style of if I will mix it up.  I have found a position for my violin where it is comfortable for me to play with or without chin, but the support of the wall is helping a lot with getting used to the chin off feeling and finding the freedom that comes with that.  When I move my practice away from the wall I try both ways, but always looking for the freedom.

Anyway I would say to another violinist who is scared to give up the shoulder rest: don't be! It will be alright! It takes some experimenting and getting used to, better to go slowly and not try to jump into playing a difficult Tartini sonata straight away, but it is easier than you think.  After ten days I have already felt a new freedom which I certainly didn't have when I was locked into a shoulder rest.