Relaxation While Playing, Part II — Finding the Right Height
Just like my friend Eli needed time to relax before she could finally float, we also need time to explore our posture with the instrument and find that calm state before focusing fully on the score. Otherwise, it’s like trying to swim without knowing how to float.
(And if you don’t know Eli’s story, that means you missed the last newsletter 😛)
Posture starts with letting go
Just like floating becomes easier once you let go, posture does too.
Then again, one small adjustment can change everything: the height of the endpin. When the instrument is set too low or too high, the body tries to realign itself and compensates for the imbalance with tension. One shoulder lifts, the lower back tightens, and soon neck discomfort appears. I didn’t realize this for years — until pain became part of my routine.
When I first started, I used to practice for as many hours as I could. The moment to rest was marked by pain: sometimes in my back, sometimes in my forearm. That’s how I knew it was time for a break, as if it were normal for pain to set the limits.
Then I heard about a teacher named Rafael Bermúdez, who used to tell his students:
“The only thing that should hurt after playing is your head—from thinking so much.”
That phrase stayed with me. I began searching for everything I could find about playing with ease, about what relaxed technique really meant.
And finally I understood it’s not normal to play through pain.
We usually stop only when it already hurts — but real progress begins much earlier, the moment we learn to listen before pain appears.
If the body is tense, the sound can’t flow
It made me realize something simple but powerful: when the body is tense, sound can’t flow.
How can we produce a good sound that way?
The solution is simple — awareness.
And today, we’ll look at one way to start cultivating it: finding the right height for your endpin.
(As you know, this is the second part of our three-part series on relaxation.)
How to find your height
Aligned and free shoulders.
If you have to lift or drop one shoulder to reach the strings — losing the natural line of your posture — the endpin is either too high or too low.
Neutral lower back.
If you collapse or bend toward the instrument, it’s too low.
Remember that your body weight should rest gently on your heels.
Stay close to the instrument.
This helps, especially in the beginning when we rely on visual references on the fingerboard.
If you stand too far and try to look at your left hand all the time in the lower positions, you’ll end up with neck pain.
My advice: take your time in front of the mirror.
Make small adjustments, try two or three short passages in different areas of the instrument, breathe, and adjust again until your body feels stable, aligned, and free.
Video
I recorded a short video some time ago that might help you understand these ideas better.
