Klarinet Archive - Posting 000738.txt from 2001/06

From: Neil Leupold <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] A Thought on the Right Hand
Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2001 10:27:32 -0400

--- "Dee D. Hays" <deehays@-----.net> wrote:

> That doesn't mean that all are destined to have problems but that those who
> do have a problem need to address it and should not be made to feel that they
> are substandard because they cannot support the instrument without strain.

Again the discussion gets redirected to whatever stigma exists about people who
require additional support. Personally, if a neck strap and wrist brace are good
enough for the likes of Ricardo Morales, there's no reason for anybody else to
feel put upon by purist nay-sayers. I'm trying to stay away from that wrinkle
in the thread.

> Unless you have taken structural engineering classes, you are not qualified
> to comment on whether the thumb is a proper support structure for this
> usage.

That seems like quite a leap. Do college classes on structural engineering
qualify somebody to comment on the intricacies of human physiology, or even
lend one relevant insight into the subject? I know next to nothing about
structural engineering, but in the context of a discussion about whether or
not the human thumb is suited to the endeavor of playing the clarinet, the
numbers seem to suggest other, more specific and immediately relevant, rea-
sons for the problems that crop up for players. Whether or not the thumb is
a "proper" support structure is not terribly important. Human beings adapt
their bodies to all sorts of crazy irregular things for the sake of one pur-
suit or another. My dad ran (and won) the Western States 100-mile Endurance
Run ten consecutive times, each in under 20 hours. Most people would consid-
er such a feat completely beyond the "intended" design of the human body. He
did it anyway...and I can't silence this nagging suspicion that he's going to
outlive me. The guy is in phenomenal good health (just ask the Stanford Univ.
scientists who tried to test him). If a person's thumb enables them to play
perfectly well, even reach the excellence level of a Drucker or Combs, should
they bother with the question of whether it makes a good support structure from
an *engineer's* point of view?

> Human beings have a long history in all areas of using things in ways they
> were never intended and they often get by with only that "underwhelming mi-
> nority" ever having problems. That doesn't mean such usage is correct.

Ah, "correct". So what's the conclusion? *Every* clarinet player should adopt
ancillary means of support, because the thumb is not an ideal means of holding
up the instrument? You can see the flaw in that logic. Whether or not the
thumb is the "correct" structure is not useful information with respect to
how successfully somebody plays the clarinet. Some players have problems
and hopefully find a way to play without the pain, while the majority of
players don't have the problem to begin.

I would rather turn our attention to the causes of problems for the minority,
rather than attempt to make a pronouncement about the degree of inherent suit-
ability of the body part. It's personally important to me, and may be useful
to those others, because I've discovered that when I experience pain in my wrist
while playing, it's not caused by an innately defective thumb. "Oddly", I only
experience pain when I'm under stress at work. And I realized that when that
stress rises, I start to type on my computer keyboard less efficiently. I type
90 wpm, and if I'm not relaxed while moving my fingers and wrists around that
quickly, things begin to tighten up in the wrist, the carpal tunnel area spe-
cifically. What a liberating discovery for me personally, albeit nothing mind-
blowing for the general population. It brings to light the fact that the act
of playing the clarinet, in itself, is not the cause of the pain that I some-
times experience. This is *fantastic*. Psychological stress, and its effect
on something that has nothing to do with me as a clarinetist, is causing prob-
lems in the act of making music that means so much to me. The wholistic inter-
connected nature of individual human existence. I pay attention to the stress
that I experience, and monitor the efficiency of my typing technique, and sud-
denly I have a customized prescription for ensuring that I don't experience
pain in my wrists while playing the clarinet.

Might others be able to look closely at themeselves and identify areas in
their lives, apart from the clarinet, which may be at the root of their pain
when they play?

Neil

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