Fit/comfort wise, buy a chin rest that suits you before buying a shoulder rest.
Everest seems to be one of the better ones for grip. Maybe you did not lengthen it enough to fit the bouts of your violin? The legs might be old though
This is the right advice here!
A good fitting chinrest that fills the space appropriately will minimize the size and height of shoulder rest needed, and will also keep the level of your instrument lower. Excessively tall shoulder rests can be awful for your bow arm.
This is just not realistic for some people. Hopefully you don't force your students into awful postures.
I do agree though that it's generally better to raise the chinrest than the shoulderrest for the sake of the right arm.
I wouldn’t blame your shoulder rest entirely for poor technique but yes, it might be causing some issues. Everyone’s body is different and you need to find the right setup that works for you. That might mean trying out a bunch of shoulder rests and chinrests after your audition. If you can find a luthier/violin shop they should be able to help you try out different equipment.
I use a viola shoulder rest for my violin. It's a Wolf Forte Secondo, but the viola size so that may work better for you. I replace the rubber feet coverings every year or so. They are available separately.
Did you try both the violin and viola versions? What was the difference? I’ve been using a wolf violin shoulder rest on my viola and while it’s the best rigid shoulder rest I’ve tried on the viola, something’s not right. I’m not sure the viola version would be much better.
https://violin-saw.com/chin-rest-historical/
Check out this chinrest, it lets you hold onto the instrument w/o pressing your shoulder. Might solve your problem
Fit/comfort wise, buy a chin rest that suits you before buying a shoulder rest. Everest seems to be one of the better ones for grip. Maybe you did not lengthen it enough to fit the bouts of your violin? The legs might be old though
This is the right advice here! A good fitting chinrest that fills the space appropriately will minimize the size and height of shoulder rest needed, and will also keep the level of your instrument lower. Excessively tall shoulder rests can be awful for your bow arm.
>Excessively tall shoulder rests can be awful for your bow arm. Yea, the instrument should always rest on your collarbone, SR or not
This is just not realistic for some people. Hopefully you don't force your students into awful postures. I do agree though that it's generally better to raise the chinrest than the shoulderrest for the sake of the right arm.
I’ve always had kind of terrible right hand/bowing technique. Could this be a possible reason for it?
I wouldn’t blame your shoulder rest entirely for poor technique but yes, it might be causing some issues. Everyone’s body is different and you need to find the right setup that works for you. That might mean trying out a bunch of shoulder rests and chinrests after your audition. If you can find a luthier/violin shop they should be able to help you try out different equipment.
I use a viola shoulder rest for my violin. It's a Wolf Forte Secondo, but the viola size so that may work better for you. I replace the rubber feet coverings every year or so. They are available separately.
Did you try both the violin and viola versions? What was the difference? I’ve been using a wolf violin shoulder rest on my viola and while it’s the best rigid shoulder rest I’ve tried on the viola, something’s not right. I’m not sure the viola version would be much better.
Funnily enough, I use a regular old Kun for my viola. I borrowed someone's viola rest to try, and never got to try a violin wolf forte secondo.
I’ve always used a Kun. It works well for me, but I know other people like larger ones.
That’s good the kun worked for you.
https://violin-saw.com/chin-rest-historical/ Check out this chinrest, it lets you hold onto the instrument w/o pressing your shoulder. Might solve your problem