Author: shmuelyosef
Date: 2018-02-21 00:52
When I first started playing clarinet about 10 years ago (already played saxophone) I had all manner of difficulties with my thumb. As a teenager I partially severed my thumb at the base, and it has always had an awkward angle.
I tried and used the Kooiman rest for a while, but found that it strained against my natural thumb shape, and was far too restrictive of even small motions. I experiments with rests in different positions, but each clarinet design is a little different.
I have also noticed that it is very rare for anyone to want their thumbrest in a lower position than the factory stock, and it is easy to add material (cushion) to correct. My default when I get a clarinet that I intend to play is that I install a high quality adjustable thumbrest in a position where it's lowest spot is approximately where the original rest was and all the adjustment flexibility is upwards. For my thumb, I generally end up about 12-13mm (1/2") higher than 'normal'. I used the Buffet adjustables for a while, but now use the Leblanc style which I get from Votaw.
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