 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: srb
Date: 2011-10-15 21:42
I have an 8th grade student that I have had for 2 years. She is an amazing player, but now that we are pushing into more challenging and faster pieces, her double jointed fingers are causing her a lot of trouble. I have been reading up on helpful techniques and thumb rests, however I am having a hard time finding anything about the left hand thumb. It seems to lock up while moving to and from the register key. Does anyone have suggestions on this? Thanks!
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2011-10-15 22:05
The normal motion of the left thumb is to rock onto and off of the register key. When is it locking - on or off? I've never had a student with this problem. But assuming it's locking when it's off the register key (when the knuckle is extended, the student's is hyper-extending and locking there), maybe somehow building up the thumb ring (and probably the metal sleeve) so the thumb stays slightly flexed all the time might help. Or re-configuring the register key with the same goal, to keep the thumb flexed to some degree all the time, an action I find hard to do with a normal thumb ring and register key.
Karl
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2011-10-15 22:59
Anatomy is destiny, but it won't prevent your student from becoming an excellent player. The perfect example is Jay Craven, a brilliant player, my first teacher and principal clarinet in the Chattanooga Symphony practically forever. His left thumb tip bends back more than 90 degrees. He places his thumb directly beneath the clarinet, pointing straight up, and bends the tip back so that it runs up the back of the clarinet. For him, his left-hand position is perfect.
Larry Guy addressed the problem at a Clarinet Symposium http://test.woodwind.org/oboe/BBoard/read.html?f=20&i=289&t=289. Go there and search for the topic COLLAPSING JOINT.
Ken Shaw
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2011-10-16 13:26
It's not 'double jointed' as such as that will mean having twice the number of bones and joints, but increased movement in the joints.
Sometimes my left thumb will bend back so the proximal phalange is at around 90° to the metatarsal, so I have to be sure to keep my hands as open as possible by keeping all my fingers rounded instead of flat. I'm lucky that neither of my thumb tips (terminal phalanges) will bend back at all as that offers plenty of support.
Skeletal diagram of the hand: http://visual.merriam-webster.com/images/human-being/anatomy/skeleton/hand.jpg
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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