Properly fit shoulder rest

•Look straight ahead

•Place the violin under your chin

•Start holding violin with chin

•Place hand under violin

•Put thumb in-between two finger tapes

•Keep wrist straight and relaxed

Violin Hand Position

Practice how to correctly hold the left-hand wrist without an instrument.

•Make a C Shape with Fingers and Thumb

•Keep Wrist Straight but not overextended

•Avoid the Pancake Hand

Correct Hand Position

Making a perfect C Shape with the hand-curved fingers and thumb. The wrist is always straight but not over extended. It is important to remember the violin is held by the chin not the wrist. The violin simply sits inside the hand.

Incorrect Hand Position 

This hand position is wrong because the wrist is overly extended out. Try to keep the wrist straight but not overly extended.

Incorrect Hand Position 

This poor violin-holding position is so bad that music teachers have a name for it, pancake hand. It’s when the player holds the violin like they would a tray, flat as a pancake.

Incorrect Hand Position 

Making a C shape with the hand and curving the fingers and thumb is important because this is where all the power and speed comes from in playing. By holding the violin and not making a C shape as pictured above the hand can't move freely and make a good sound.

Violin Shoulder Position

Hold the violin with your chin not your hand

The violin is held in place by your chin so the hand can freely move around the fingerboard. Do not try to hold the violin with your left hand, only use your left hand for stability when first starting out.

Adjust and fit the shoulder rest until it is comfortable.

Check to Make Sure the Shoulder Rest is fitted correctly

•Look straight ahead while holding the instrument

•Hold under the chin without using any hands

•Chin should be relaxed not bent down or up

•Should not be tension in neck or shoulders

Correct Position 

In this picture, you can see the instrument is securely being held under the chin. The shoulder rest is in the right spot so that it is easy to hold and play with ease.

Incorrect Playing Position 

The way the violin is being held in this position is all wrong. First, the violin is not being held by the chin but by the hand and wrist. The violin shoulder rest is not fitted correctly so the violinist cannot keep the violin under the chin and it is also too far forward so the instrument will not be played well.

Putting it All Together

Check Wrist

Check to make sure the wrist is straight. The violin is held by the chin so the wrist simply sits next to the violin. Check to make sure the violin isn’t resting in the palm of the hand or that the wrist isn’t overly extended back.

Correct Hand Position 

This is the correct way to hold the violin with a straight wrist. The fingers are curved into a C shape over the violin ready to play.

Incorrect Playing Position 

Check to make sure the wrist isn't so flat it looks like a pancake hand. It should be nice and straight. Avoid the urge to try to hold the violin with the hand like you would if you were carrying a tray of food.

Incorrect Playing Position 

Avoid overextending the wrist out. This will make it difficult to play the instrument well.

Correct Hand Position 

Check to make sure the thumb is gently resting in between the first two finger tapes and the hand is rounded into a C shape. 

Avoid trying to hold the instrument so straight that it ends up overextending out. Also, make sure the thumb and hand is a C shape.

Incorrect Playing Position 

Be careful to avoid squeezing the thumb and hand together as you play. Avoid trying to hold the instrument by your wrist. 

Incorrect Playing Position

Avoid trying to hold the instrument so straight that it ends up overextending out. Also, make sure the thumb and hand is a C shape.