 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: platinumdoor
Date: 2020-07-24 07:09
Hello, I am currently a senior in high school and take playing the clarinet pretty seriously. I am considering majoring in clarinet performance however, I fear having some type of physical injury in the long term future. I play with a neckstrap and while this definitely helps, sometimes I feel tension in my right forearm during and slightly after playing. I have been diagnosed with hypermobility in my hands; this makes them weaker than the normal person so I have found a neckstrap really helps with support. I am unsure how to combat this issue and am concerned about potientially going into music and having some type of health issue later in life (such as tendonitis). Is tension or tightness something to be concerned about? I wouldn't describe the sensation as painful however, I am just trying to consider long term effects when deciding my college major. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Author: LFabian
Date: 2020-07-24 09:22
Before continuing your search, are you planning to get an upgraded clarinet with an adjustable thumbrest, get a better clarinet, or are you planning to get a Tooiman and install on your clarinet? I am past neck cords and have both Tooiman models on my clarinets which are already top grade. I removed the thumbrest from my Moba but I will keep it in case I will sell it and keep the thumbrest. Note: If your thumb hurts after removing it from the thumbrest, you will have to readjust until your thumb does not hurt.
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Author: Tony F
Date: 2020-07-24 12:54
As mentioned above, a Ton Kooiman thumb rest will probably assist with your problem. I have arthritic hands and they have certainly helped me. They spread the load of the instrument over the hand rather than just the thumb.
Tony F.
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Author: kdk
Date: 2020-07-24 17:24
platinumdoor wrote:
> I play with a
> neckstrap and while this definitely helps, sometimes I feel
> tension in my right forearm during and slightly after playing.
> I have been diagnosed with hypermobility in my hands; this
> makes them weaker than the normal person so I have found a
> neckstrap really helps with support.
I suspect the suggestions about more supportive thumb rests may be the most straightforward answer to your question. There are also a few supports on the market (or discontinued but available second-hand) that take most of the weight completely off your hand. If the problem is primarily the weight on your thumb, some kind of mechanical remedy is certainly possible.
But from personal curiosity I'd like to know a little more about the problem. I've never before heard the term "hypermobility" and find when I search for it online that it's basically joints that hyperextend beyond their "normal" range of motion. It seems to be a more formal way of describing "double-jointedness." Is there more to it than that? Do you have this hyperextensibility only in your thumb or in all of your fingers? Does hypermobility of a joint necessarily imply muscle or tendon weakness?
Have you been able to analyze exactly what's causing the tension in your forearm? Is it just from the strain of trying to keep your thumb straight, or has your doctor found any sort of muscular weakness or a nerve problem in your arm? Is there a hypermobility-related problem in your wrist?
I've had "double-jointed" students for whom supporting the clarinet on their thumbs was hard because of their thumbs' tendency to collapse. I've also had students who had trouble keeping their fingers flexed when they pressed them down to cover a hole or move a key because the knuckles ended up turning inside-out with any pressure. It didn't stop any of them from playing - but none of them had professional aspirations.
"Tension or tightness" is a concern only because it indicates fatigue because the muscle is being overworked. That can interfere with technical control, but it should be avoidable if the overwork part is corrected by mechanical aids or adjustments to your technique. I suspect unless there's more to this than I've read about that there's no reason to fear unusual injury. You've probably already been over this with a doctor, maybe an orthopedist, and maybe also an occupational therapist.
My knee-jerk (and non-medical) advice would be to find whatever approaches help the most, go ahead with your plans and see what happens. Changing a major in mid-course isn't unusual, and you won't really know if your hypermobility is really a career-changer unless you try.
Karl
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