Learning to play

without shoulder

rest and/or chin rest

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Esther Visser

This is the website by violinist Esther Visser (The Netherlands) specialized in historically informed performance practice and Alexander Technique. Currently I am in the final stages of my PhD research about the way how violinists supported their violin between 1790-1830 and the implications of that on performance practice and health, receiving a fulltime scholarship from Canterbury Christ Church University (UK).

Part of the research is an experiment in which I teach balancing the violin without using a shoulder rest or chin rest to professional violinists and music students, in order to improve muscle tone / sound quality / historically informed articulation. Would you be interested to participate? Please read more about it here on the website and message me if you have any questions.

Congress paper 2022

Research

about my research on historical support of the violin and implications for modern performers

Experiment

about the experiment on how to teach professional violinists to play without shoulder rest or chin rest

Publications

previous publications on this subject by Esther

Waar wil je meer informatie over?

Read more…

The Strings of Paganini

Essay on the use of gut strings in the early Romantic...

VIBRATO – a short overview in historical perspective

Vibrato (from the Latin word ‘vibrare’, to shake, a slight change...

Vibrato in the Romantic Era

This article is about different ways to use of vibrato in...

Newsletters

Reminder: tomorrow is the deadline!

This is just to remind you that tomorrow is the deadline...

Update on the experiment

Update on the experiment playing without shoulder and/or chin rest ...

22-zoom-session-header

The 22nd week of the experiment

This is the 22nd week of the experiment on playing without...

21st-week-newsletter

The 21st week of the experiment

This is the 21st week of the experiment on playing without...

The 20th week of my experiment

This is the 20th week of the experiment on playing without...

19th-week-experiment

The 19th week of my experiment

This is the 19th week of the experiment on playing without...

18th-week-experiment

The 18th week of my experiment

This is the 18th week of the experiment on playing without...

17th-week-experiment

The 17th week in my experiment

This is the 17th week of the experiment on playing without...

The 16th week of my experiment

This is the 16th week of the experiment on playing without...

The 15th week of my experiment

This is the 15th week of the experiment on playing without...

The 14th week of my experiment

This is the 14th week of the experiment on playing without...

The 13th week of my experiment and Happy New Year!

This is the 13th week of the experiment on playing without...

The twelfth week of my experiment on playing with a shoulder and / or chin rest

This is the twelfth week of the experiment on playing without...

The eleventh week of the experiment

This is the eleventh week of my experiment on playing without...

The tenth week of the experiment

This is the tenth week of my experiment on playing without...

The ninth week of the experiment

This is the ninth week of my experiment on playing without...

eighth-week-newsletter

The eighth week of the experiment

The eighth week of my experiment on playing without a shoulder...

The seventh week of the experiment

The seventh week of my experiment on playing without a shoulder...

The sixth week of the experiment

The sixth week of my experiment on playing without a shoulder...

fifth-week-newsletter

The fifth week of the experiment

The fifth week of my experiment on playing without a shoulder...

fourth-week-newsletter

The fourth week of the experiment

The fourth week of my experiment on playing without a shoulder...

newsletter-third-week

The third week of the experiment

The third week of my experiment on playing without a shoulder...

newsletter-second-week

The second week of the experiment

The second week of my experiment on playing without a shoulder...

The first week of the experiment

The first week of my experiment on playing without a shoulder...

The experiment is starting!

This is my first newsletter about the PhD research I am doing on...