Eggcellent Idea!

I am not yoking.....this idea will help to snub those lazy left hand wrist problems. Have you ever seen a left wrist that looks like this.... 

I have! Walk into any middle school orchestra and the amount of left wrists collapsing into the violin fingerboard will make you shudder. One of my own kids struggles DAILY with her left wrist.

An over-pronated left wrist is the common cold of violin players, it happens to pretty much everyone at some point. Chances that the problem will just cure itself are unlikely and if left untreated for long enough a collapsing wrist can have serious ramifications on your violin health. Students who keep their wrist bent too far towards the fingerboard may face difficulties in shifting, vibrato, and intonation. If that prognosis scares you even a little, then it's time we treat the problem.

But how?? 

I've threatened (only slightly kidding) to tape a tack onto my daughter's fingerboard so everytime her wrist is where it shouldn't be, she get's a little poke. The threat makes her laugh and fix her wrist....for about 2 minutes.

I needed help, I needed a daily practice technique focusing efforts to correcting the problem, I needed a miracle! And I found it in a pile of plastic Easter eggs that were headed for the garbage. 

As my four year old daughter likes to say, "Booya  baby!" 

The beauty of the egg is that if you are squeezing against it with your wrist too much it will either pop open or pop out. And if you aren't balancing it (pushing your wrist too far out the other way) it will fall down because nothing will be holding it up. The effect is a relaxed cradled position perfectly alligned and neutral. And the end result is a beautifully formed professional violinist wrist! It's like adding spacers in between too tight or crooked teeth. 

Hah! Our little common cold has healed beautifully. Just call me the Violin Doctor. The prescription for this little technique is to use daily while holding your left fingers in position, or tapping them in position, your little violinist might even like to try her hand (pun intended) at playing a simple song while balancing the egg.....talk about EGGTREME skills and concetration. 

Scroll through the slides below to check out some of the other common bad technique problems along with the correct holds.  

Online Lesson; Left Arm Position

Left arm position is crucial when playing the violin, but it doesn't need to be complicated. Follow these simple guidelines for flawless technique.