Sunday, May 01, 2022

DIY Corks in Socks Shoulder Rest

Instead of putting on a shoulder rest today, I grabbed my "bows down" DIY string-playing helper, and found that it gave me exactly the kind of support I need to hold the violin comfortably without compromising the freedom I feel when playing without a shoulder rest. So I grabbed some more corks, another pair of socks, and a rubberband, and came up with this.

This six-cork version works for violin, but is too small for my viola. Eight corks works (with the same socks) for viola. You need a bigger rubber band, though.

And using small rubber bands to keep two corks bound together can create a little more stability if the socks you use happen to be on the larger size.

UPDATE: Masked Corks in Socks (Variation on a Theme)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I only screw corks, dear Elaine. :)
With the right chinrest I have been playing viola without shoulder rest for (let's see) exactly 50 years...
Cs.

Elaine Fine said...

This feels just like playing without! I wish I still could play comfortably without. It sure beats the rigid rests that I have tried!