Correct violin posture not only helps you sound your best, but ensures that you stay tension and injury free. In this post, you'll learn the top 10 posture mistakes that violin beginners make, how these mistakes affect your playing, and how to correct them.

Bow hand mistakes

Mistake #1: straight pinky

A curved and relaxed pinky is paramount for developing a good sound and smooth violin bowing. When bowing, the balance of the bow hand changes depending on what part of the bow you're in. When you're in the upper half, the bow hand is balanced towards the index finger, and when you're in the lower half, the bow hand is balanced towards the pinky. If your pinky is straight, it will not be able to balance the bow properly, which results in a very crunchy sound. The pinky should be either on top of the bow or slightly on the inside corner of the bow, and should remain curved.

Mistake #2: straight thumb

The way that we produce sound is through counter pressure from the top of our hand (primarily the index finger) and the bottom of our hand (the thumb). If the thumb is straight, it creates a much harsher sound and the bow bounces more easily. If the bow thumb is soft and bent, it is able to provide the counter pressure the index finger needs in a softer and gentler way, therefore producing a better sound overall.

Mistake #3: middle and ring finger placement

The middle finger should be placed across from the thumb, slightly ahead of the frog, and the ring finger should rest on the frog itself. Both fingers should be wrapped around the bow, almost completely covering the frog. If these fingers are too high, bow control is highly limited, and the risk of dropping the bow greatly increases.

Mistake #4: index finger placement

There's several things that could go wrong with index finger placement on the bow hand. The index finger could be either too close to the middle finger or too far away. Ideally, there should be about a finger's width of space between them. The index finger could also be wrapping around the bow too much or not enough. The index finger should be touching the bow between the first two knuckles.

Mistake #5: elbow placement

Proper bow elbow placement is a major factor in playing "cleanly" or eliminating noisy neighbors. If your elbow is too high, you will hit the lower string, and if your elbow is too low, you will hit the upper string. Also, if the elbow is too high, you are likely suspending the weight of your arm, which results in a harsher sound and requires much more energy than necessary!

Violin placement mistakes

Mistake #6: violin beard

"Violin beard" is a common term that I heard in my youth, and it refers to holding the violin too far forward. The violin should be at about a 70-75 degree angle, halfway between the corner and the side. If your violin is too far forward, your range of motion will be restricted. Violin beard also almost always comes with a droopy scroll, where the scroll of the violin is pointing towards the ground rather than being parallel with the ground.

Mistake #7: head placement

Although there's certainly nothing "natural" about violin posture, we do want to keep our bodies in as natural a position as possible when playing. When holding the violin, the spine should stay straight, and if you crane or crook your neck to hold the instrument, you put the spine in a very uncomfortable position.

Left hand mistakes

Mistake #8: bent wrist

The left wrist should remain in line with the forearm at all times. If the wrist is bent inwards (I call this "pancake wrist") or outwards (I call this "candy cane wrist") it is much harder for the fingers, especially the fourth finger, to reach their ideal placement. It also throws the balance of the hand out of whack.

Mistake #9: death grip

This refers to left hand thumb placement. The thumb should be touching the violin on the pad, with just the tip of the thumb peaking out over the instrument. There should be a decent amount of space between the crook of the thumb and the violin. If the thumb is placed too high, this space goes away, which greatly limits the range of motion of the fingers.

Mistake #10: finger placement

The left fingers should be placed on the inside corners on the tip, with the knuckles up. This ensures the best clarity of sound, and also ensures that you are not covering other strings besides the one that you're playing on.