Klarinet Archive - Posting 000414.txt from 1998/02

From: nelsona@-----.net
Subj: Tendonitis & Anchoring
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 1998 08:55:07 -0500

Neil Leupold wrote:
>
> On Sat, 7 Feb 1998, Amanda L. Fortenberry wrote:
>
> > Many clarinetist will probably disagree with this
> > notion (Even I was opposed to it in the beginning), but after one gets
> > used to it, you much prefer anchoring to intense pain. What do I mean by
> > anchoring? Anchoring the clarinetbetween your legs. This allows you to
> > not only relieve the tension off of your hands and wrists, but also it
> > allows your embouchure to loosen. I would suggest trying this if you are
> > unwilling or unable to stop playing.
>
> Clarinetists might not disagree with "anchoring" if it didn't mean
> altering one's posture and head position to do it. If your body
> proportions are of the perfect configuration, it means you can sit
> up straight, head up, face horizontally forward, clarinet at a
> 35-40 degree angle to your body, and the the lower edge of the
> clarinet bell just happens to make contact with the surface of the
> knees or upper thigh without changing any of the other parameters.
> I don't know anybody whose body is proportioned in such a way
> that this happens. Thus, using the legs as a rest for the
> clarinet bell involves altering one of the basic elements of
> proper body configuration, which can lower optimum performance
> ability, i.e.; the person must: slouch, raise the angle of the
> clarinet to the body, crane the neck, or face downward (which
> affects neck position, as well as angle of clarinet to body).
> Doing any of these things regularly over time can result in
> chronic physical stress problems in the neck and/or back --
> stress which, while not necessarily felt in those two main
> areas, is manifested sympathetically throughout the body.
> This has a dramatic effect one's ability to improve beyond
> a certain point, and ultimately on their ability to play at
> their very best. And when the angle of clarinet to body is
> too great, the embouchure does not function at its optimum
> capacity.
>
> Many reasons to avoid using the knees as a resting place
> for the bell, and better to get a neckstrap, which affects
> none of the elements of optimum body configuration.
>
> Neil
Smiling... Neil the requirement is to be precisely 5' 2" tall (as I
am)...then the bell rests exactly in the perfect position.