Looking at my original entry for the Magic Forehead, I realize that I teach it with a few more steps now. Here they are:

1. Sniff and Toss.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Count to 5. With each count, relax the right side of the back of your neck, down to your shoulder, even more.
4. Breathe in and out a few times to make sure your shelf is still floating.


5. Open the back of your jaw a little, leaving your mouth closed. Feel your neck relax in that area.
6. Feel like someone is suspending you from the point on your head where your hair makes a swirl (the back top of head). That will relax your neck even more.
7. Now let your eyeballs roll left, as if they're looking out of the corner of your left eye. Eyes are still closed.
8. Let your eyes slide down your nose, like they're closing even more, until your forehead relaxes.

Using the Magic Forehead once you have achieved it:

1. Keeping your forehead relaxed, let your eyes swing up so that they're "looking" at the end of your fingerboard where your left hand would be.


2. Swing your left hand up to that place.


3. Play a passage with your new forehead feeling, calmly being able to "see" in your mind how each finger looks as it goes down on the fingerboard. Enjoy that new relaxed, aware feeling!

For fast finger work, you will need an additional exercise, which I will post shortly.

The secret to effortless vibrato, shifting, high position work, and a lot of other things is using your back to lift your arms. If you're playing the viola, and especially if you are slight of build, please do this exercise to avoid injury.

As usual, do fewer repetitions than your limit. You want it to not feel like work, so that you'll be likely to do it the next day. However, you have to do at least 1! :-)

I'll post a video of this as soon as I get a chance.

1. Stand without holding your instrument or bow, in good posture. Arms at your sides.
2. Let your shoulders rotate back and let your shoulder blades sink down in back, causing your arms to lift in front of you, sticking straight out in front.
3. Feel your shoulder blades slightly move towards each other as you swing your arms out to the sides, palms down.
4. Flip palms up
5. Stretch your hands away from you as much as possible and feel the muscles under your arms and around your shoulder blades as you press your arms upwards, ending with them straight up in the air over your head, palms facing towards each other.
6. Again, stretch your hands as high as you can as you "dive" back, returning your arms to the side, palms up. As your arms get closer to horizontal, feel your shoulder blades sinking down into their "slots".
7. Flip palms down
8. Slowly swing arms to front
9. Return arms to your sides.

Try doing this while continuously moving your knees, to keep your neck relaxed.

The most important parts of this exercise are using your back and underarms to raise your arms above your head, and letting the shoulder blades sink as your arms come back down.

One more post on core strength before continuing with upper body tuning. Learning to move this way will allow you to relax your neck more and relax your lower back. (Incidentally, it's also crucial to know how to do this if you're a tango dancer who wants to do amazing boleos).

Lie on the floor, knees bent, and find your abs. Then:

1. Leave one leg bent and straighten the other so it is resting completely on the floor.
2. Slightly suck your lower abs (just above your pelvis) down towards the floor, feeling your pelvis tip slightly down into the floor.
3. As your abs contract, your leg is lifted up in the air.
4. Slowly release your abs and let your leg return to the floor.
5. Remind yourself to relax the rest of your body.
6. Do this as many times as you can, but a few times less than your limit, so it doesn't feel like "work". You want to be interested in doing it again tomorrow.
7. Switch legs and repeat.

Refinements of this:

1. Stretch the straight leg as far away from you as you can


2. Make sure your neck is relaxed (easier to do if your butt is also relaxed).
   
3. Use a leg weight (don't do this at first. Concentrate on relaxed, smooth motion without a weight. You may never want to use a leg weight.)

If you feel like you are using your quadriceps a lot, refocus on contracting your abs, letting your pelvis tilt, and using that motion to "magically" lift your leg into the air.