When I teach online, I can’t feel a student’s hand the way I can in person. Since I started teaching virtual violin lessons back in 2014, I’ve relied on a few visual and musical signs instead.
Watching the Fingers and Pinky
A relaxed hand keeps the fingers curved over the strings, not flattened out. The pinky is often the clearest sign of tension: when it’s tense, the base knuckle juts outward and the finger straightens instead of curving like the others.
Listening for Ease and Tone
I also listen for how a student handles faster notes. When the hand is relaxed, fast passages sound easy for the student to play; when it’s tense, the same passage sounds labored, even if the student is trying hard.
Tone is another clue. When a student’s left hand is relaxed, the tone tends to sound more open and sweet; when it’s tense, the tone often sounds pinched or thin, even if the pitch is correct.
Vibrato as a Diagnostic Tool
Vibrato is one of the clearest indicators I use. A student who can sustain continuous, even vibrato usually has developed a relaxed and balanced hand position with freedom of movement. When vibrato is choppy, uneven, or difficult to sustain, tension is often one of the first things I look for, along with coordination and ease of motion.
Getting a Closer Look Through the Camera
Since I can’t reach over and check a student’s thumb position myself, I’ll often ask a student to move closer to the camera so I can get a better look at the left hand specifically. This lets me see exactly where the thumb is sitting, how low or high it is against the neck, in a way that’s hard to judge from a standard lesson camera distance. It’s a small adjustment, but it makes a real difference in catching subtle positioning issues that would otherwise be easy to miss on screen.
What I Do Once I Spot Tension
When I notice tension, I stop and reset rather than pushing through. One thing I’ll have a student try is playing open strings, then placing down the first, second, third and pinky fingers while experimenting with the left thumb’s position, moving it further up, closer to their face, until they find where it naturally wants to sit. I’ll also have them try the thumb slightly higher, poking up a bit above the neck, or slightly lower, so the fingers can curve more easily around the violin. Every hand is a little different, so it’s really about helping the student find their own natural position rather than applying one fixed rule.
I’ll also have a student slow the tempo down significantly and work on hand position at that slower pace, so we can watch whether the pinky stays curved over the string. Playing slowly makes it much easier to catch and correct tension before it becomes a habit at full speed.
If a student is struggling with faster passages specifically, I’ll sometimes have them practice using harmonics. I’ll ask them to rest their fingers on the surface of the string with no finger weight at all, which produces a squeaky sound. From there, I have them gradually add finger weight until the tone sounds clear. In most cases, the student isn’t pressing the finger all the way down to the fingerboard; they’re using roughly half the usual finger weight. This exercise tends to reset a tense hand quickly, since it removes the instinct to press hard.
Another adjustment I’ll make is having the student turn the hand slightly so the palm faces more toward the neck of the violin, which gives the hand better support and often helps the fingers curve more naturally, especially the pinky.
I had one online student recently where the fix was specifically about the pinky. The tone was clear, but the pinky kept straightening out. Once we reduced the finger weight, the pinky curved naturally and stayed relaxed, and the tone held up just as well with far less effort.
The Benefits of Catching Tension Early, Even Online
Curved fingers, pinky position, ease with fast passages, vibrato consistency, and tone quality all give me a reliable picture of what’s happening in a student’s hand, even through a screen. Catching tension early keeps it from turning into a habit that’s harder to undo later.
I teach in person in Falcon Heights, North Oaks, and Mounds View, and I’ve been teaching online for 10+ years.
Contact me to schedule a free intro.