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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000042.txt from 2005/09

From: Joel Verkaik <joel@-----.ca>
Subj: [DR-L] Student Hand Position
Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 10:59:27 -0400

Judy,

I have not had a specific experience similar to your student's, but I
can sympathize a bit with her situation. I too am 'double-jointed,'
and have been playing oboe for 12 years. The term 'double-jointed' is
a misnomer; in my case it means I have weak joint capsules, for which
my arm muscles have had to compensate, resulting in tendonitis and
arthritis. It is certainly NOT an excuse for poor hand position, and
if your student is using her 'double-jointedness' as such, it may
indicate more significant problems: does holding the oboe (properly or
otherwise) cause her pain? Does it make the proper movement of her
fingers difficult?

I think approaching the problem using long tones and simple exercises
(using a mirror or looking down at her hands, as long as she knows what
they are supposed to look like) is good. Make note of her wrist
position - if her hands are out of alignment it's likely her wrists are
as well, and also possibly her elbows and shoulders.

I would say, be sympathetic to her claims of double-jointedness but try
and get her out of thinking that it necessitates bad hand position. If
she continues to play, I would strongly recommend strengthening
exercises for her arms and hands (a 'stress ball' to squeeze, a latex
band or bungee cord to pull in order to strengthen the forearm), lest
she end up with major problems down the road, as I have.

Best of luck,
Joel Verkaik

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