Klarinet Archive - Posting 000565.txt from 2001/06

From: Bilwright@-----.net (William Wright)
Subj: Re: [kl] Right Hand Thumb Position
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 16:13:12 -0400

=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0<><> Ann Satterfield wrote:
I suspect you will have relief if you think of quiet, stationary, poised
rather than
R*I*G*I*D or *hold*.

<><> I wrote:
Point taken !! @-----.

Perhaps I am making too much of this point because it represents my
primary difficulty. However, to state the obvious:

In order to be poised, every finger (right thumb included) must
have some tension in it. Otherwise your instrument would fall to the
floor or hang the wrong way from your strap, and all of your fingers
would droop like wilted lettuce. I remember once when my teacher told
me to relax my shoulders, and so I went into a total slump. After a
moment of embarrassed silence, she said, "Bill, you still need to
breathe!"
So if 'rigid right thumb' means locked into immobility, then it's
wrong. But if 'rigid right thumb' means constant support (steady
connection between thumb and embouchure) without restricting motion in
the other fingers, then it's valid. Independence of each finger is the
issue, isn't it? Referring to the pencil exercise, you need to keep
the pencil balanced and motionless while the other fingers feel
unconstrained and free to move; and if they don't, then you don't have
perfect control yet.

....enough verbiage, sorry, my own demons are too obvious.

Cheers,
Bill

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org