Stand Hand

Rather than telling my violin and viola students what not to do (like don't play with "pizza hand"), I have taken to asking for positive actions. I ask my students to look at their left palm while they are playing. This causes the wrist to drop and the arm to go under the instrument, which, in turn, causes the fingers to drop from above and the notes to sound in tune.

I made some hand-shaped stickers that I thought I could stick in my students' music in order to give them an easy visual reminder to look at their palms while playing. During my last lesson I decided to affix one of the stickers to my music stand. It didn't stay in place, so I stuck it onto an index card, which I clipped to the music stand.

It's my stand hand.



In this capacity it is useful for all occasions. It can be clipped to the stand itself or to a piece of music that is on a music stand.

I'm giving the stickers I made to all my violin and viola students! And I'm sharing the idea here.

You can find a PDF to print on sheets of sticker paper here!

(And for an updated version with clefs, go here.)