Violinist in Balance

I had trouble playing for any length of time. When I first got the new larger viola, I could only play for about ten minutes before I was completely exhausted and my shoulders hurt. I felt that I had to stretch much further to reach the notes when fingering, especially in first position, and the instrument felt heavy very quickly. In order to reach first position with my left hand I tended to pull my shoulder out too far. I had a lot of muscle aches and pains, especially in my left shoulder. So it seemed useful to learn how to hold the viola well and to use the shoulder rest and chin rest.