 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Maylana
Date: 2024-04-03 05:03
I was playing my clarinet and I noticed that my right thumb is sort of flatter on the side, and it sort of juts out a little bit towards the front, on a sort of a diagonal. Its sort of flatter right where it is on the thumbrest...is this normal?
Have I been holding my clarinet wrong the past five years?
--Edit: Sorry about the double thread...not sure how that happened
Post Edited (2024-04-03 05:04)
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2024-04-03 07:18
I don't think I follow.......not getting a mental picture of what is going on.
Ideally the thumb rest should sit between the tip of the thumb and the thumb joint. Further you should support the weight employing the thumb joint muscles (at the base of the thumb) by holding the clarinet with the thumb at a horizontal position. There is a theory about the thumb actually angling upward (a line starting at the base of the thumb moving toward the tip). Elsa Ludwig-Verdehr is a strong proponent of this idea and insists her students hold the clarinet in this manner. That approach does distribute the weight through the skeletal system even more efficiently than the horizontal position.
The only "diagonal" I would recommend avoiding is when the the thumb is allowed to sag under the weight of the clarinet. This position causes unwanted strain at the base of the thumb leading to pain very much on the order of carpal tunnel.
..................Paul Aviles
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Author: crazyclari
Date: 2024-04-04 10:41
Hi Paul, from my experience the finger and thumb I think we are talking about helps lay the right index finger towards the side trill keys and opens up the space for the right hand little finger keys. It also reduces the need for hand movement, potentially increasing dexterity. There is a biomechanical model by Chaffin. They have developed a program called 3DSSPP. It calculates the forces through the body. I have used it extensively. I do not believe Elsa's theory would be supported by this standardised assessment tool. The general idea is too reduce the joint being outside/ too far beyond the mid-range of movement. I should note my right thumb nail is wider...
Not sure about the logic of a horizontal thumb. It likely places the thumb closer to midrange. Functionally I initially used the horizontal approach, I initially changed/ moved the crows foot so that I could move the F#/C# key lower to fit in. In the end I changed to the angled approach as above.
Post Edited (2024-04-05 02:41)
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