Klarinet Archive - Posting 000279.txt from 1996/09

From: Roger Shilcock
Subj: Resting bell on knee, etc.
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 1996 23:37:13 -0400

There seems to be a close association between not holding the clarinet at
a reasonably acute angle and getting pain in the right thumb and wrist.
This can happen (for me) when playing in cramped surroundings, especially
when sharing a stand. As a total amateur, I rarely play for a session of
more than about two hours, and I don't get *any* long-term wrist or arm
effects doing this - one might expect them from the rare longer sessions,
but this is not so, either. Am I just not playing for long enough at a
time to get these symptoms - or has most of a generation of American
players been taught to hold a clarinet the wrong way? There doesn't seem
to be any widespread problem over here - at least, people don't complain
about it much.
Roger Shilcock