Klarinet Archive - Posting 000724.txt from 2001/06

From: Neil Leupold <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] A Thought on the Right Hand
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2001 23:18:01 -0400

--- Mark Charette <charette@-----.org> wrote:

>> From: "Neil Leupold" <leupold_1@-----.com>
>> Yes, of course. That explains why thousands of players around the world
>> have played their entire lives, decades on end, without debilitating
>> effects from using their thumb -- not even severe discomfort -- for
>> many years before neck straps, Kooimans, or any other modern remedial
>> devices were invented.

> Of course, the same can be said for many sports and other instruments. 99%
> do just fine - and 1% gets the debilitating injury from subjecting the body
> to an unusual configuration and use some aid to keep their body from being
> hurt. Damn those 1%'ers. Don't they just make your life miserable?

Yes, I've always detested the underdog. Why can't they just quit while they're
behind? ;-) Silliness aside, the 1% who require an aid to prevent (or mitigate
the effects of) an injury hardly serve to bolster the notion that, in the case
of the clarinet, the thumb is as poorly suited to support the weight of the clar-
inet as is being portrayed. Given the numbers of players who have been and are
successful without additional help, there are numerous other reasonable explana-
tions for the problems which necessitate a remedial device. You don't see me
knocking the problems -- or the need -- associated with additional means of
support, so don't go down that road with this discussion. I'm addressing the
assertion that the thumb is by design and default an inherently unsuitable
means for supporting the clarinet. The empirical facts and numbers over time
do not logically bear this out. Can anybody think of one or two other reasons
to explain some players develop severe discomfort and might want to look into
means for increasing support or redistributing the weight?

Neil

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