From jim_smiley2003@yahoo.com.au Mon Aug 07 22:23:10 2006
Subject:Re: Back/shoulder/hand pain

Yeh, It can be be a bitch of a thing. I used to live in a sharehouse with a violinist who used to claim that she couldn't clean up after herself because the pain of her hands was so great. Yet she would still go off and play the violin for a few hours while I did her dishes for her, although I found it extremely therapeutic with my hands in a sink full of hot water. You mention the pain of the thumb coming under. Is this a localised pain; eg, the top left corner of the wrist where the tendons of the thumb make a hollow, or all round the hand or wrist? It might be that you you lunging your thumb under too hard, when the rest of your hand should be moving away to make room for it. Jim

Josh Lawrence wrote: On 8/7/06, jim smiley wrote:
> Drop your hands to your sides, and relax them there, feeling gravity pull them down into the floor. If you look at them, you will notice that the fingers have taken on the gentle curve assosciated with "correct" piano technique. ("Correct" has been somewhat bastardised over the years. I believe it is a tension free, feeling of effortlessness, rather than regimental and stiff.)

Here is where my problem gets bad: I can play, say, c-d-e-f-g-f-e-d-c
fairly quickly. It's when I start trying to cross my thumb under to
connect pieces of scales, i.e. c-d-e-(CROSS)-f-g-a-b-c that I start
getting pain. Obviously this can't be diagnosed on a mailing list,
but it sure does make me feel better to know that there are others out
there that are having the same problem I am.

The back pain is constant, but I think this is posture-related.

I'll be honest (I feel like I'm in a support group now)...it scares
me. I am terrified of waking up one day and being so overcome by pain
that I cannot play. That's why I'm trying to analyze the crap out of
the problem now (at age 30) prior to it becoming a problem.

--
Josh Lawrence
http://www.hardbop200.com




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