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My left hand cramps up pretty quickly when I play, especially if I'm playing a lot on the G string. I've videotaped myself, and my wrist is staying straight. My thumb does tend to bend in, as if I were trying to grab the neck. I can lessen the hand cramps if on every single note I consciously will my hand not to tense up, but that doesn't really leave me free to pay attention to everything else I'm doing. I realize without providing a video you probably can't tell me a lot, but if there are any typical beginner errors that cause this that you could warn me about, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks!
~Sara
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Pressing to hard.
Press extremely lightly, don't tense the shoulders, relax the arms and the hand completely, this is of course easier said than done, and takes a while to be able to do.
Pressing to hard on the chin rest with the head can also cause the hand to cramp.
When I used to teach guitar this was one of the main problems that people had, 2ith guitar to reduce cramps when they start splay the fingers and place hand on a flat surface, soon relaxes.
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@nykteria I have sent you an email. 😁
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@nykteria -
Hand/finger cramps, or joints locking up... definitely too much of something not right!
If you can think of your left hand as for 'balancing', instead of 'holding - that might be a start.
Everyone now recommends your chinrest & shoulder rest be adjusted so your violin feels fairly secure on your shoulder with chin just resting on it (without squeezing with your neck) - helps make it easier to balance the scroll end with your left hand.
Regular violin strings don't take a lot of pressure to stop them vibrating (make sure you don't have old strings on your instrument). VERY little finger pressure (just touch it) for the E string & a little more pressure as you get to the G string.
There are some great YT videos that show hand/curved finger shape & how to position your hand, so your fingers are over the fingerboard & relaxed. We work to have our fingers 'drop' (without tension in hands) onto the strings. It takes time to get independent, but equal control with all 4 fingers. Check out the threads I've recommended below.
When I found myself squeezing the neck of the violin with my left hand, I deliberately practiced like my thumb was dead for a while (for weeks & harder than you'd think) - fixed my squeezing. (lol)
Here's some (hopefully helpful) threads that you can skim over for discussions - they usually contain some great tutorials:
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@nykteria Above the forum there is a menu bar, You will find many how to's and learning tools from Fiddlerman.
I found this under the Learning Tools:
There is a lot of information in the above link. Towards the bottom, holding the violin is diagramed.
Don't forget about all,the menu links above. The learning tools are kind of scattered in the links, so check them all out.
Also, if you have an issue with a particular string, maybe one of his easy songs has what will give you a lot of work in that particular source of issue,
There is also a section, I think it is under the Videos/ Tutorials menu bar options, there are nice workouts for each string.
Hope all the above helps. I think checking out the provided tutorials and asking questions on the forum will really help you.
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I'm going to try to upload a video. If I'm successful, I just want to add that I have my practice mute on and I've only been playing since September 1st. LOL. You might want to mute the sound. 
~Sara
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@nykteria -
Thanks for doing the video!
Hard to tell, but kinda looks like you might be squeezing the neck of the violin - also, might need to swing your elbow a little more under the violin body for your hand to move more comfortably (I, personally, have A LOT of trouble getting my elbow under my violin & viola).
For any tension, this video may be helpful:
Getting Rid of Left Hand Tension - Joy Lee
Solving Violin Posture Problems: Left Arm and Hand.
I linked this video starting at "the thumb", next "the elbow" - you might see some valid points.
...everything new causes me tension & there's NO fun playing with pain! Lets face it - we are soooo used to using our thumb for EVERYTHING... hard to teach it to do nothing, just follow the hand.
Btw, I started out practicing much less time at one sitting, but played a little several times a day - built up my practice time slowly.
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@nykteria I think you're gripping with your thumb & forefinger. I did a quick video for you with an exercise that might help.
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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ELCBK said
@nykteria -Thanks for doing the video!
Hard to tell, but kinda looks like you might be squeezing the neck of the violin - also, might need to swing your elbow a little more under the violin body for your hand to move more comfortably (I, personally, have A LOT of trouble getting my elbow under my violin & viola).
I'm definitely squeezing, and moving the elbow took pressure off my hand almost immediately. Thank you! And thank you for the videos- I really appreciate it!
~Sara
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SharonC said
@nykteria I think you're gripping with your thumb & forefinger. I did a quick video for you with an exercise that might help.
Wow! Thank you so much for going to so much trouble for me. I felt relief as soon as I rotated my elbow. I tried that exercise. I almost couldn't do it- my thumb kept wanting to move in. I had to consciously stop at each note and tell my thumb not to grab. This will be great for me to practice- thanks!!
~Sara
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@nykteria -
That's GREAT news!!!
Hope you don't have any more hand cramping.
@SharonC -
LOVE you created another very helpful video!
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Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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So today after practice, when I wasn't the most successfully keeping the pain away, I had to go write something afterwards. I realized that my hands cramped the same way when I write as they do when I play the violin. So I Googled hand pain while writing and found out it's called a focal dystonia, it often starts off just with handwriting, and moves to other hand related tasks, one of which is playing an instrument.
Unless I'm interested in Botox treatment, which I'm not, stretching and ergonomics and mental focusing is what they recommend to treat it anyways, but I found that interesting and thought others might too.
~Sara
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@nykteria -
Did you find any specific stretching exercises for it, or will the warm-up exercises I linked in your 4th finger and relationship to ring finger question thread suffice?
Getting any relief?
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ELCBK said
@nykteria -Did you find any specific stretching exercises for it, or will the warm-up exercises I linked in your 4th finger and relationship to ring finger question thread suffice?
Getting any relief?
Sorry it's taken me so long to respond!
I didn't find any specific stretching exercises, so I'm sure that the ones you linked to would be the most helpful anyway.
I'm having intermittent relief. It's very frustrating. It isn't as bad as it was, which makes me wonder how much of it is a flexibility issue, but it's definitely still there. I must have watched ten YouTube videos on left-hand placement and how to avoid squeezing, and I've tried a whole b unch of exercises, and they'll work for a little bit and then I"m right back to where I was.
~Sara
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