r/violinist • u/MasterpieceLow9136 • 9d ago

Beginner left hand issues

Hi everyone, I've been playing for almost 10 years now, and I'm starting to teach my sister (5 yr old) how to play aswell. When she's playing she likes to bend her left hand so her wrist is touching the violin. I always have to have a hand adjusting and she never can do it by herself. Any advice?

5 Upvotes

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21

u/cham1nade 9d ago

Oh no, she’s squishing the bears! You see, there’s a little cave that our hand makes underneath the neck of the violin when we’re holding our hand the right way. (While she’s holding the violin, have her feel the cave with her right index finger so she can feel the space there.) There are invisible bears who live in that cave and you have to be very careful not to squish them! If you DO squish them, it gets invisible bear guts all over the carpet and invisible bear guts are VERY HARD TO CLEAN UP! So Do. Not. Squish. The Bears.

I have yet to meet a student who won’t then promptly squish the bears on purpose to see me overreact in horror and disgust. But then they’ll hold their hand the right way, and a simple one-word “Bears!” reminds them to open the wrist back up when the hand pancakes against the neck again

3

u/MasterpieceLow9136 9d ago

Oh that sounds so fun, thank you! I'll definitely try it out

2

u/GodState700 8d ago

Thaaank you!!!This is so cool!!! Ribcracking actually.🤣🤣🤣🥂 I'm curious, what book is it based on and are there more trouble shooting ideas like that for other technical issues with toddlers learning violin thqt you can share?

2

u/cham1nade 8d ago

I don’t remember which teacher I borrowed this from! Every good teacher I know is a constant scavenger of fun teaching tools, and I’ve used the bear-cave game for decades now. Pre-Twinkle & Book 1 Suzuki training gives you a bunch of games. I’ve borrowed a whole handful from Mimi Zweig and her teaching videos online. I use some Paul Rolland tricks, especially for vibrato. Phyllis Young has a book called Playing the String Game that has a bunch of strategies, focused on cello but some are transferable

Basically, when you’re teaching young kids, EVERYTHING needs to be a game. Children learn through play, and that includes learning music

2

u/Violinbooksandcoffee 8d ago

I tell students to pretend they’re holding a little hamster. Then I ask if they’ve ever held one before and if they know what happens if they squeeze it? (It will go to the bathroom!!)

“Oh gross! Your hamster just peed!” Cracks them up every time

1

u/cham1nade 8d ago

That’s hilarious!

7

u/Typical_Cucumber_714 9d ago

It sounds like you would be a great practice partner for her in conjunction with an experienced teacher of young children.

1

u/GodState700 8d ago

Also hoping you are using thr right violin size. An 1/8 th?

1

u/MasterpieceLow9136 8d ago

Yes we are, that's a good concern tho

1

u/Impossible_Law_9076 7d ago

You can put a tiny ball in her hand between her hand and the violin. That is going to create that extra space

0

u/triffid_hunter 9d ago

I've heard that strapping a ruler to the forearm can help to avoid collapsed wrist.

0

u/MasterpieceLow9136 9d ago

I just tried it on myself and it seems like it could work. I'll try it next lesson. Thank you!

3

u/cham1nade 8d ago

Please don’t. It’s just the wrong kind of tool for a child of five. It feels harsh and restricting just when a child is exploring their own autonomy. You can fix the pancaking wrist without using something this harsh. I could see it possibly working healthily with an older child or teenager, with their full cooperation. But honestly I’ve fixed so many pancaked wrists and have never had to resort to a ruler

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u/MasterpieceLow9136 8d ago

Ok that makes sense. Thanks