Klarinet Archive - Posting 000467.txt from 2001/06

From: Mike Dowler <syo@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Right Hand Thumb Position
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2001 15:48:14 -0400

What I was saying is that the cause of the tension IS the thumb. It
spreads to the whole hand, and probably the whole arm and shoulder.
Try taking a pencil and balancing it on the nail side of your thumb.
Now wiggle your fingers. Feel the tension in your fingers and arm?
Now put the pencil down and wiggle your fingers as usual. Feel
better? Of course, with the clarinet, the balance is a bit different,
but the main concern is still the same - don't drop whatever it is on
your thumb!

Mike Dowler

>I don't know about Mr. Neidich and his pupils, but, surely, if the whole
>of the right hand is suffering tension, then there is something badly wrong.
>THere should be no need for this to happen.
>Roger S.
>
>
>
>In message <f05100300b74ee4309c07@-----.124]>
>klarinet@-----.org writes:
>> I have also used the Kooiman Etude thumb rest on both my A and Bb. I
>> have almost eliminated pain and fatigue in the thumb area, and in
>> fact I found it increased my general playing endurance. In a
>> masterclass, Charles Neidich suggested much of the pain in the thumbs
>> is due to the fact the thumb rest is so small and we must constantly
>> tense our hands to keep the clarinet balanced on the little stub of a
>> thumb rest. With a neck strap, IMHO, there is still tension where the
>> player must constantly push the clarinet out from the player, and the
>> restrictiveness of the strap connecting the clarinet to the neck
>> makes one generally more restricted in their motions, and therefore
>> more tense while playing. The Etude is in some ways better than the
>> Maestro in that Mr. Kooiman has chosen an optimum positioning for the
>> hand, with only vertical adjustments in both the thumb rest and the
>> hook (they both adjust separately) to worry about. And on top of that
>> it is less expensive, $35 Canadian, I believe.
>>
>> Mike Dowler
>> --
>> http://www.mp3.com/mikedowler
>>
>
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>
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>>
>
>>
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>
>--
>For own past is covered by the currents of action,
>But the torment of others remains an experience
>Unqualified, unworn by subsequent attrition.
>People change, and smile: but the agony remains.
>
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