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Guide to Suzuki Violin Posture Skills

"Nose-Bridge-Elbow-Foot." Paul demonstrates the optimal alignment of the instrument and body. To someone standing beyond the end of the scroll of the violin, an imaginary vertical line (shown in red here) passes directly through the student's nose, the bridge of the violin, the left elbow and the left foot. Although it cannot be fully seen in this photo, Paul's left ear is slightly closer to the ground than his right. This body alignment can be difficult for the student to appreciate without the aid of a full-length mirror. Common errors: foot too far forward, elbow too far back, nose too far forward. To correct, put your hand on the opposite side and ask the student to push against you to correct.

The resting position of the left hand. Jack's left hand shows the fingers draped over the strings, where they are at the ready. The backs of the fingers are more or less vertical (see red lines), and there are small relaxed spaces between all knuckles of adjacent fingers. The wrist is held in a neutral, straight position. Common errors: wrist extended so that palm approaches the neck of the violin, fingers held high off the string, back of fingers tilted back towards horizontal. Check that elbow position is nicely under the violin before correcting hand.



The "rounded" bowhand. On the left, the relaxed bowhand with its rounded appearance. On the right, the knuckles are "tented" up, making the hand stiff and unresponsive. Red lines accentuate the difference at the main knuckle joints.

Thumb power.
The thumb is shown in the beginners' "thumb-out" position, with the inside corner of the thumb placed on the edge of the clip on the frog. The direction of force of the thumb is shown by the arrow; it points towards the screw end of the bow. The thumb does not squeeze upwards towards the bow stick and the other fingers. This thumb power and its direction, along with the acutely bent thumb joint, give the bowhand strength for clear articulation and good tone, while leaving it supple enough for smooth bow-changes in the lower half.

The "rounded" bowhold, part 2.
From beneath the frog end of the bow, the combination of angled, bent thumb and rounded, relaxed finger-knuckles gives the look and feel of a soft circle. Beginners will sometimes benefit from forming a bowhold around a soft sponge ball of the correct diameter for this reason.

The more advanced student (usually by Book 2) will place the thumb inside the frog, rather than on the clip, but it will remain bent and angled towards the screw, with it's force exerted down the stick towards the screw. One reason to delay the move to "thumb-in" is that the thumb is much more difficult for the teacher and parent to see in this position!

Elbow height.
When playing on the E-string, the hand and elbow are basically on the same plane (see the pair of red lines). As the bow crosses to the A, D and G-strings, the elbow follows, lagging behind somewhat, and gradually dropping below the plane of the hand (see green lines). This lower elbow position prevents the student from using the arm to press into the string with the bow, encouraging rather the "pulling" of tone from the instrument with arm weight rather than muscular force.

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