#shoulder rest

[vexatiousviolinist]

if your shoulder rest isn’t barely held together with binder clips, glue, and duct tape then you just don’t know how to party, my friend.

[letstalkphotography]

When Pete (aka @thevortexofourminds aka @tvoom) published a video about tripods on his YouTube channel, I mentioned in the comments the use of table tripods as kind of a shoulder rest and promised to make a shot of this use, because I couldn’t find any images on the web. So here it is! (A bit late, but better late than never).

The idea for this use I’ve got literally decades ago from some Leica publications, where they showed a use for their (insanely expensive and still available) table tripod and the large (long) ball-head you can buy for it (separately, and insanely expensive too; you might notice the little red dot on my lapel, but being a fan does not warp my mind enough to not notice).

Well, the then dirt cheap Polaroid table tripod could do the same. And as you can see, I still have it. Actually, I have two of them, and I don’t give them away – they served me very well in several use cases since I bought them in the late 80s (you might have seen one of them lately in my article about doing product photography with an iPhone).

Image credit goes to Wilhelm Hübener, Berlin. It was easier to let him shoot me than doing kind of a “self portrait” – and he was kind enough to use a camera to do so …

[igetthatallthetime]

I got this from a fellow former string teacher. Violinists and Violists everywhere know the struggle is real.

[asexual-hugger]

Kun, one of the most comfortable violin shoulder rests I’ve ever used

[joanneegan64]

Mendini 4/4 MV-Black Solid Wood Violin with Tuner, Lesson Book, Shoulder Rest, Extra Strings, Bow and Case, Metallic Black Full Size

[darthemed]

Dr. Giggles, a.k.a., Dr. Rictus, a.k.a., Doctor Giggles (1992)

[nerullianzenith]

"I'd kill a man to be two inches taller."

Salem, as he tries to look over a wall.

[sonofgloin]

Today was the second time I taught my first viola student (I’ve been teaching violin for years), and of course I forgot my shoulder rest. Now my back, shoulder, and neck are all fucked up. I don’t understand how anybody goes without one. Still sounded great and my student didn’t even notice, but playing without a shoulder rest (at least as far as my body is concerned) is an excellent example of the maxim, “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”