Klarinet Archive - Posting 000947.txt from 1998/03

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: NeckStraps
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 22:53:03 -0500

on 3/15/98 11:33 AM, Bill Hausmann wrote:

>NOW he tells us saxophone players!
>
>Of course it transfers some of the weight to the neck/shoulders muscles.
>But I'm quite sure that my shoulders can bear considerably more weight for
>a longer time than my thumb.

Yes indeed. But the point my PT made was that overstretching those
muscles, which run out of the neck into the shoulders and upper arm, can
cause just as many arm/hand problems down the road as supporting the
clarinet with the thumb. This is because all the muscles are linked in
various ways, and any overstress on one muscle group is transferred up or
down the line to the next group when the stress can't be handled by the
first set of muscles. As another example, I no longer use a shoulder
strap for my double case - the PT said my hand (carrying a lighter case!)
was stronger than my shoulder/upper arm scrunched up to keep the case
strap in place.

Of course the case of the sax is different. If my hazy distant memory of
sax playing days is correct, it would be well nigh impossible to hold the
sax without a strap of some kind, even if it was the same weight as the
clarinet, which it's not. And there are some straps which distribute the
weight better than others, thus making them more useful.

I'm not saying you should absolutely not use a strap. But on the
clarinet, I think it's better to exhaust the other alternatives (posture,
strengthening and stretching) before relying on a potentially equally
damaging device.

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/