How to get rid of tension in violin playing

Every violinist has to face the problem of physical tension. To some lucky ones it is just something to keep an eye on; to many is a curse that spoils the results of a lot of work and the natural enjoyment of playing.

As a violin teacher I am convinced that learning how to manage and minimize tension is the most important skill a violinist should master. Therefore I specialized in finding and showing the solution of this problem.

After some years of experience and experimentation with my students and on myself, I think I gathered a satisfactory amount of tools, advice, ideas and exercises aimed to tackle the problem of tension and I am happy to share them with you.

As it will be explained in the introductory lesson, this course is addressed to every violinist, regardless of the level of playing. I have seen beginners and high-skilled violinists struggle hard on the very same physical problems, feeling the same dreadful and frustrating sensations of being unable to perform gestures they already learnt.
It does not matter if tension is felt while playing simple open strings or Paganini. The solutions lay in going to the fundamentals and fix our relationship with our body and the violin. Every violinist can do that.

This is what we are going to discuss in the class:

• the nature of physical tension and its causes, our tools to fight it and the dangers we face
• the right mindset needed to deal with it in a healthy way
• how our body is involved in violin playing and the roles of the single parts
• several exercises aimed to approach violin playing minimizing the level of physical stress and the muscle’s response in form of tension
• some side topics such as posture, breathing, stage tension and musical tension

I am very excited to share all this with you. Come in and let’s get started!