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Violin scroll shaking when vibrato

The scroll of my violin shakes when I vibrate, it keeps me from producing a smooth sound with my bow. Help!

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Ziyue W

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January 31, 2017 - 9:03 am

Member Since: January 6, 2017

Forum Posts: 6

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The scroll of my violin shakes slightly when I vibrate, and this is especially annoying on an up bow when I reach the frog. At the frog I can't consistently keep contact between my bow and the strings.

Something interesting I noticed is that this happens when I do the vibrato movement really slowly. With further insight it seems that the shoulder rest is in contact with the shoulder joint slightly. When I vibrate my left shoulder moves slightly and this causes the contact point between my shoulder and neck to wobble. But I have no idea as to how to fix this. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Fiddlerman

Fort Lauderdale

January 31, 2017 - 10:25 am

Member Since: September 26, 2010

Forum Posts: 15448

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Hey Ziyue W,

Don't know if I welcomed you or if you introduced yourself yet, but welcome to the forum.

For now, don't worry about the violin shaking that much, rather, focus on finding a great bowing technique which enables the bow to move smoothly regardless of the shaking. The more you vibrate the more you'll be able to control it in the future.

Imagine your fingers as shock absorbers on a car driving over bumpy roads. The fingers can absorb the bounciness from your vibrato as well as other things.

I don't love this video but it shows how to use your fingers and be flexible.
You can practice this even without the instrument in hand.