Klarinet Archive - Posting 000962.txt from 1999/10

From: "Gene Nibbelin" <gnibbelin@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] RE: Hand Problems - Gabriel Blasberg
Date: Sat, 30 Oct 1999 12:22:10 -0400

Tried to send this directly to you, Gabriel, but evidently my server
couldn't handle the distance.

-----Original Message-----
From: Gene Nibbelin [mailto:gnibbelin@-----.com]
Subject: Hand Problems

Gabriel -

Sorry I can't reply in your native language, but learning other languages
never was a strong point for me. English gives me enough problems.

I am a 71 year old who returned to playing clarinet in 1996 after about 43
years in banking. (As a student, I had studied for about 15 years to be a
professional clarinetist.)

In 1994 (after retirement), I fell on my right hand and messed it up rather
badly. After 3 operations, I was able to make a fist and begin being able
to grip objects. Fortunately recovery did proceed fairly well. The loss of
some control of my 4th and 5th (little finger) was the only hand problem
that I experienced when I returned to playing. I worked around the problem
by placing a 1/4 inch X 3 inch around the base of my 4th & 5th fingers in
order to borrow some strength from the 5th finger for the 4th finger. This
procedure kept my 4th finger from bumping the "sliver" key.

In April of this year, I resumed private lessons with a very good teacher.
About the same time, it seemed that some additional control and mobility
returned to my hand. Apparently it takes a long time for some nerves to
grow back.

One problem that still bothered my playing was that if my hand wasn't
relaxed, it didn't work too well. In other words, my right hand wasn't
reliable. In studying the problem and watching my hand and finger
movements, my teacher observed that my hand didn't look like it was
positioned comfortably. So, we did the following:

I play Leblanc Concertos (Bb & A) They have well positioned thumb rests,
but not for my situation. So I reversed the thumb rests, which raised my
hand slightly on the horn. To overcome the fact that the thumb rest is
concave when reversed, and very uncomfortable digging into the thumb in two
places and to additionally adjust the hand position, I placed appropriately
sized sections of 1/4 in. latex surgical tubing over the thumb rests. This
has greatly helped my hand position and enabled me to keep my hand more
relaxed. (And, it helps with my arthritis, too.

In addition, I've learned to play resting the bell on my legs. With your
problems, you probably are doing this already. But, if not, taking a lot of
the weight of the horn off your thumb gives your hand and finger movements a
freedom that really will help your technique and speed.

Hope this helps, even if only a little.

Best wishes,

Gene Nibbelin
Cape Coral, Florida

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