Klarinet Archive - Posting 000064.txt from 1995/04

From: SCOTT MCCHESNEY <scmcchesney@-----.NET>
Subj: neck/waist straps
Date: Fri, 7 Apr 1995 07:18:35 -0400

Well, it's been a while, but I have returned to this list - though it
is doubtful many of you will remember me.
In any event, a question was posed about neck straps and waist straps
as to what they look like, how they work, etc. I thought I might as well dive
in and give up all I know.
First off, most neck straps I have seen for instruments other than
beginners (which oftentimes have a ring on the thumbhole to hook a strap hook
i "attach", if you will, at the thumbrest. They are in a bent "U" shape that
doesn't slip off over the thumbrest. But, I have seen straps with hooks on the
end - again, mostly for beginner instruments with that "thumb ring" - and I
have seen (very few) professional instruments with those rings, though I
imagine if you wanted one the modification (i.e. replacement of the thumbrest)
would be child's play.
Neck straps are designed not to impede movement or dexterity at all -
else, they'd be a poor addition and not have survived! They tend to go in and
out of fashion (at least around here in Iowa) for a number of reasons ranging
from teaching improper right-hand placement (the strap holds the instrument,
allowing the hand to sit pretty much any way that will work for the child) to
not building up the muscles of the hand (again, because the strap holds the
instrument). I really don't think they cause all that many problems myself,
and I did start out using one for a short period of time. I quit using it
after about 6 months, I think - might have been a bit longer. If I were
teaching new students, I think I would be inclined to use them to start - it
would allow me to teach proper hand placement without having to deal with the
weight of the instrument, initially. Just MHO, though.
As for "waist straps", I HAVE actually seen one, though I never could
understand why anybody would use one over a neck strap. The one I saw actually
SCREWED into this fitting above the thumbrest and held the clarinet that way.
Seems rather clumsy and overkill-ish to me - anybody else out there know more?

-- Scott McChesney
-- SCMCCHESNEY@-----.NET