really appreciate this explanation very very much❤

Well said... balanced and educational.👏👏👏👍

This was nice to listen to. I used to play without a shoulder rest and can identify with a lot of what you described. However my new teacher has tweaked my playing to now use a rest because my left hand thumb joint collapses and it was both causing me pain and making vibrato very difficult. It was very useful for playing without a rest however. I'm wondering if now my thumb has learnt not to collapse while I play I could go back to playing without a rest but I'd need to swap my whole set up back again. Perhaps two violins is a nice idea 😅 (excellent idea IMO lol) BTW the magic pad is a great tip. I'll have to invest in one of those I think!

Very good, objective advice. I especially liked how you lifted the violin up at the end to get the back muscles to engage. Shoulder rests are nice, but it feels like you lock and load the instrument onto your body. My hesitancy to remove my shoulder rest has been with not knowing how long it would take to rework the fundamental skills. I think the freer the violin, the easier it is to work out individual limitations and needs. For me, I liken the shoulder rest to a crutch that had its purpose, but now it's time to put it aside and try and get my body to take this on from here. Thanks again.

Just discovered your videos. They are fantastic! Thank you!

Very interesting to hear some thoughts and opinions about shoulder rests!

Thank you Inna! This gives me so much to think about! 😊

Awesome ❤

Thank you for this video. Do you keep the magic pad on at all times? Does it stay on? Have you noticed any damage on your varnish? Thanks!!

In earlier times violinists probably did not use shoulder rest