Jaws!
Monday, April 14th, 2008Note about Jaws and Violins.
If you push your jaw toward the violin that creates a lot of extra muscle work. If you let your jaw be in a neutral position, then you can use the weight of your head to support the violin. Clenching your jaw every time you play is just too much extra work.
Other things I know about the jaw and violin:
Your head is heavy enough to balance the violin, like a seesaw that pivots on your collarbone, so you don’t need extra muscle pushing down on the chin rest to keep the instrument in place.
The jaw muscles are “pound for pound the strongest muscles in the body.” They told me this at at Alexander Technique workshop.
The Alexander teachers also recommended that violinists have more than one way to orient their head to the instrument. This is especially necessary if you’re playing into a mic but you need to look to one side or the other.
An open mouth space and relaxed face helps tone. One good way to go back to a relaxed position is by singing. Another good way is by “resistance stretching” — that is, pushing with your hand and back with your jaw. Another thing to try is exhaling and relaxing.
Often overlooked at first by students, the jaw, tongue, neck habits can be critical. We must guard against TMJ and other overuse. Like all technique, we have to be vigilant so we can avoid injury and also play better. It sounds almost goody-goody, that last sentence, but in my experience it’s quite true.
