Proper Stance & Position for the Violin

Video Transcript

"Hi! I’m J-Adam Smith with Violin from the Heart and Fiddle Team USA. I’m going to talk to you a little bit, with Expert Village, about proper stance and getting yourself ready to play. Now, this might seem childish for you adult, but trust me it is 100% effective if you do it. So, don’t just look at this as being a child way of getting ready. First thing you have to do in getting ready is get in marching position. Again, this is an approach that I have been using with my students and am very successful with. Get in marching position, have your feet, I like my feet standing like this, and it kind of shows the kids and adults look I’m proud. I’m proud to be a violinist. Next, I’ll tell the students, ‘Who are you?’ Now, if you want to be a violinist, you can go, ‘I’m a violinist.’ Or if you are a fiddler you can say, ‘I’m a fiddler.’ But actually, my students like them called fiddlenist. They call themselves fiddlenist because they will do everything and be very versatile when they are playing. So I may go ahead and say, ‘I am a fiddlenist.’ That is going to be step 1. The step 2 is going to be taking your right foot and coming out and back to making an L. So your left foot is facing the same direction that your violin is. Then, the next step you are going to do is you are going to put your violin into your side hip. Now remember, when you take that step back your side is now facing the camera. Now, step 2 is taking that step back. Step 3 is slide. You’re going to slide your hand down from the neck, which is up here, and you are going to slide it and grab the body. You’re still sideways; your feet have not changed at all. Next step is flip it. Turn it like this with the nose pointing down and of course, you are going to go on the inside and go out. The next step is meet your shoulder. Find your shoulder, which in the last segment we have talked about was to relax. So of course, it is coming down, not up. Once you have that up here, you hold on with your chin, which is going to be relaxed. You’re going to slide your hand up into correct left hand position, which has got that wonderful circle I showing you. Then you put your bow up. Right now, you are in proper stance to play a violin. I’m J-Adam Smith, Fiddle Team USA. Catch you later."