I’ve been playing a stringed instrument for about 18 months—first, a violin, and now a viola. When I switched to viola about 6 months ago, I noticed headaches, shoulder, neck, and back pain, and even sometimes a dizzy feeling, particularly if I practised for longer than 15 or 20 minutes. The headaches were the worst—they kept me up at night, and pain-killers didn’t really help much. It got so that I was afraid to practise.
I changed my shoulder rest from a Kun to a Bon Musica, and that helped a bit, but I still had the pain if I practiced too frequently. (And believe me, 20 minutes every couple of days is not enough practice time when you’re as bad a player as I am!) I tried to adjust the Bon Musica, but honestly, I didn’t know what I was doing. Nothing seemed to help.
Then I asked Rhiannon if she could suggest what I might do, and she took a look at my shoulder rest. In about 15 or 20 minutes, she had it adjusted to fit me properly, and had reviewed with me the proper holds for both the instrument and the bow arm.
Turns out I wasn’t doing anything terribly wrong—the shoulder rest was just not set up right for me. The Bon Musica has many adjustment points, so it’s very flexible. When Rhiannon was done with it, it was very different from its original configuration. She also gave me some tips on rest positions and other ergonomic factors about my particular instrument.
Now I can play my viola for longer periods more often, and I don’t have to worry about headaches, dizziness, or horribly sore muscles. What a relief! Thanks, Rhiannon! Except now I have fewer excuses for not practising....
[UPDATE: 3 weeks later] I played 5 concerts in three days with the String Orchestra last weekend, pain free.
Thank you again for helping me with my Bon Musica shoulder rest.
It's amazing how much it's helped-- I didn't expect to feel this good.