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Major Problem in my Right Hand

Author: Mario Poirier
Date: 2010-10-06 16:44

Dear fellow clarinetists:

First, many thanks for this excellent resource and for your responsiveness to all of us on this board. I have read your thoughts for many years and learned immensely from them. This e-mail is to share with you a major developing problem in my right hand in order to see if some of you have seen it before and most importantly to understand what to do about it.

My specifications:

1. Serious, advanced 50+ amateur with 30 years of experience.
2. Active musician in my community.
3. Extensive training (still on-going) with first rate teachers both in Montréal and Ottawa.
4. Practice extensively every day and is thus in good shape.
5. Both hand static positions appear to be fine according to my teachers.

Symptoms:

1. Over the last year, my right hand small finger (R.H. pinky) has simply refused to move up from any static position. For instance, a Bb scale (with a transition C-D-Eb involving a pinky arc from C to E-b) is now impossible to play.
2. When the R.H. pinky move ups, it wants to bring the R.H. ring finger with it, thus forcing me consciously to apply lot of pressure and concentration on this ring finger pivot. Physical tension and mental fatigue of having always to worry about these 2 fingers quickly sets it – let alone basic fluency which no longer exists.
3. This is not a speed problem. Even at super slow speeds, the tension sets in my R.H. which locks and refuses to move. Naturally, any fast movement is now out of the question.
4. Pinky hovering over the R.H. keys (say, for a D) is also extremely difficult. The pinky wants to stay low (curled) or way high, straight up.
5. A natural position on top of the R.H. key is extremely difficult to maintain and generates lot of tension which I can feel (and my teacher can see) all the way up my arm. I sometimes experience a slight discomfort in my right shoulder when I play a sustained D with my pinky at the right place.
6. I had my teacher holds my R.H. fingers onto their tone holes while I move my R.H. pinky. He could feel the pressure upward in my R.H. as all fingers (especially the first pivot) attempts to move up in synch with the pinky.
7. I have absolutely no problem with the left hand. I did an experiment whereby I reversed my hands to see if the problem would follow the position of the lower hand. When reversed, the left hand (now holding the clarinet and hovering on top of imaginary keys) works perfectly, while the right one remains extremely sluggish and tense when its pinky moves.

I have tried neck straps, thumb rests adjustment and various pinky movements, under coaching. I am currently seeing a physiotherapist who cannot explain what is going on. I might have to go to Montréal to see a real specialist in musician issues.

I am actually desperate. This problem prevents me from playing anything cleanly. Even simple material containing some manner of upward movement from the R.H. pinky is now extremely difficult. For instance, try to play the Brahms sonatas or the Mozart quintet with a R.H. pinky which refuses to move up - works I played many times (and relatively well) in public in recent years and are now out of reach.

If you have seen this problem before or have any insight at to its causes and remedy, I would be eternally grateful.

A million thanks in advance for your help.

Mario Poirier

Post Edited (2010-10-06 18:00)

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