Why is having bad posture so bad for you?

Posture and hand position are two things, as my pupils will tell you, that I find very important. There are so many things that can go wrong with your playing, and with your body, if you have bad posture or a bad hand position. Firstly, and this one is commonly know, you can get a bad back from bad posture. If you are constantly bent over whilst playing the violin, and not standing tall with your shoulders back, then it can really cause you pain. Adjusting your music stand is also another thing you need to do to avoid this, as if it is not high enough, you will automatically bend to see the music. Secondly you can give yourself problems with the muscles in your neck, because if you are hunching over, likely as not you're also hunching your neck muscles, and probably tensing them to help keep the violin in place as you fight against gravity. Having your violin further up on your shoulder allows you to mostly keep it in place by the weight of your head. A good support for your violin is also needed! This can alieviate the first two to a certain extent, as you don't feel you have to grip so hard when the violin feels more secure. It can also help with hand position, as you will probably not try to rest the violin quite so much on your hand. Bad hand position can lead to stiff wrists and also playing out of tune. A good hand position allows the hand to move freely, without the violin's weight on it, and allows for vibrato and changing position later on. There should be a straight line down your forearm, with no unneccessary bending of the wrist, which should not ordinarily touch the neck or any other part of the violin. To avoid these isssues as much as possible, I get pupils to concentrate first on playing their violin, on good technique and tuning, before I introduce any written music to them, as they have enough to think about without having to learn how to read the notes they are learning. An article I find helpful for stretching exercises and other advice can be found at: http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20116/12403/

http://www.violinist.com/blog/laurie/20116/12403/

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