William Fitzpatrick - violin expert

The Many Stories of Bill Fitzpatrick: Ms Delay's shoulder rest

An interesting story about a procrastinated should rest

In this video, Prof. Fitzpatrick tells a story about his teacher Ms. Delay insisting on using a shoulder rest instead of a simple cushion. The end of the story might be different from what you would expect.

Released on November 9, 2022

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DISCLAIMER: The views and the opinions expressed in this video are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Virtual Sheet Music and its employees.

Video Transcription

It was my first summer at the Aspen Music Festival and I started taking lessons with Ms Delay. Back then I didn't use a shoulder rest, just a little red round cushion that was kept in place underneath the fiddle with a rubber band, as did Stephen Clapp who taught me at Blair Academy in Nashville Tennessee.

After having studied a while with Ms Delay she said "you know Billy, it might be easier to hold the violin up if you used a shoulder rest". Well I came up with a reason to not do so and she didn't push it further.

But every couple months or so she would bring it up again and I would have to yet again come up with a reason to not use one and she would again stop.

Well this pattern continued for a year or so but one day I was a bit frustrated by her persistence and this time I responded "Ms Delay, I can't afford one". Ms Delay then said "Oh ... so here take mine"! Startled I took it and with that... she got me!
Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com
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Comments, Questions, Requests:

john mackinnon * VSM MEMBER * on November 11, 2022 @12:04 am PST
Beautiful story Bill,and so lovely of Ms Delay to offer hers to you.Truly given with her heart.
Do you have suggestions for a good quality shoulder rest?Have been using some cheap thing the last few years and would like to invest in a KUN shoulder rest.Do you like these or have a preference for another brand?Are they hard to adjust to fit you personally?

Cheers

John MacKINNON
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