Klarinet Archive - Posting 000209.txt from 2001/12

From: "Karl Krelove" <kkrelove@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl]Double Jointedness
Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 12:39:25 -0500

Lorie,

I am not "double jointed," although I have had students who seemed to be.
But my recent (in fact still continuing) bout with a painful "trigger
finger" condition in my left thumb gives me some additional sympathy with
the problem. I've been playing despite it (I am also getting medical
treatment for it), but if I were to have to put up with it as a natural
anatomical feature forever, I think I would probably pay a long visit to my
repair tech with a request to redesign the register key so I could play with
my thumb either always fully extended or always flexed. I have become
acutely aware (because the pain happens primarily when I need to change from
flexed to extended or back the other way) of how many times your left thumb
needs to change position.

The placement of the register key very close to the thumb ring, which is a
very convenient place if a locking thumb is not a problem, turns into a
nightmarish arrangement if straightening and bending your thumb is difficult
(or painful). So my suggestion, short of having your thumb
double-jointedness somehow "cured," would be to investigate the possibility
of an alternative register key arrangement. It would require some
sympathetic and helpful insight from a very good tech who is able design and
fashion the needed keywork. This is by no means inexpensive. Maybe someone
else will have a less labor-intensive suggestion for how your technique
could be modified to accommodate your "stuck" thumb problem.

The other fingers, I think from my experience with students, aren't so much
of a problem because they really should be slightly flexed all the time.

Karl Krelove

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ms. Sherwin [mailto:surewin120@-----.com]
> Sent: Saturday, December 08, 2001 2:17 PM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] Re: klarinet Digest 8 Dec 2001 09:15:01 -0000 Issue 3500
>
>
> I have a question on double-jointedness. I was
> searching the net on double-jointed fingers, and I
> found a couple webpages which said that those with
> double-jointed thumbs should not play the clarinet,
> but didn't explain why. Does anyone know why?
>
> I'm double-jointed, and I was trying to find out how
> to get my fingers to move freely, without getting
> stuck. Does anyone have any suggestions?
>
>

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