Do you hold your violin low?
Do you catch yourself playing with the scroll low even though you are capable of keeping your violin up? Does your teacher keep telling you to keep the violin up? If so, here is a tip to avoid lowering your violin when you are playing.
Step 1: Place the top of the music at the eye level.
When you practice with a music stand in front of you, adjust the height of the stand so the top of the music is at your eye level. Your eyes will be chasing the notes when you are playing. If the music is placed too low your violin will go lower when you read the music, resulting in a bad posture.
Step 2: Keep the scroll of your violin higher than the line where the music sits on the music stand.
You see the bottom line where the music sits on the music stand? That would be the lowest line where the scroll of your violin should be. You should keep the scroll above that line, not below.
That's all there is to it! Your instrument will stay up if you practice this simple 2-step procedure.
Bonus tip: If you have to lean into music
If you have to lean into the music to read because you have a bad eyesight and can't see the notes unless you come very close to the music, here is a tip for you in order to keep your violin up.
Lean into the music from the left side of the music stand, not from underneath.
When you lean into the music, place the scroll passed the music stand on the left side of it. You can still keep your instrument up this way. On the contrary, if you lean into the music from underneath the music, you will end up with a terrible posture. Because this is a habitual thing, if you have a tendency to lean into the music from underneath, you will be playing with the scroll low even when you are keeping distance from the music stand. A habit you don't want to get into.
Keeping your violin up plays an important role in tone production and freedom of your left hand. Get in a habit of keeping your instrument up so you can pay attention to other important things without worring about the height of your instrument.