 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: rfunes
Date: 2021-07-16 17:35
The middle joint of my RH ring finger buckles and "locks" when I push down the hole for low G/clarion D. This slows me down during fast passages.
I tried to experiment a lot with my hand position, but I could not find a way to make it reliably stay curved. I am positioning my thumb in the thumb rest in what I think is the correct way, basically horizontal and supported near the top knuckle joint. I have no issues keeping the other RH fingers curved.
My thumb rest is adjustable, and is positioned between my index and middle fingers, which is the position that seems most natural and relaxed for me.
Any tips to prevent the joint of this finger to "lock"?
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Author: prigault
Date: 2021-07-16 18:29
Don't focus on the shape of your finger, rather remember that only the slightest pressure is needed to close the hole properly. In other words, try to be as soft as you can when you put your finger down.
You could try several ways to exercise this:
- for slow passages (finger stays on the hole), try to find the position that barely shuts the air. Once you find that limit, you just have to go slightly past that, and focus on a gentle touching sensation with your fingertips.
- for fast passages, imagine that you are putting your finger on an extremely hot surface, and try not to burn yourself. This will also keep the focus on lifting the finger afterwards, rather than on pressing it down.
That works for a soprano, but not for a bass clarinet with a double register key, as that right ring finger has to exert a lot more pressure on that key to have the register key mechanism work properly.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-07-16 18:49
The position of the thumb rest is NOT arbitrary, nor is it necessarily what looks natural to a resting hand position. Its position SHOULD be guided by relationship of the RH index finger to the lowest side key while holding the weight of the clarinet. The RH index finger should naturally hover over the lowest side key. IF the index finger tends to be higher (such as over the third side key or even higher) then there is inherent strain trying to get back DOWN to the lowest side key....causing all sort of carpal tunnel like issues.
The thumb rest should sit comfortably on the left thumb BETWEEN the tip of the thumb and the joint.
If all of those factors are correct then you can begin to look at things like NOT putting any strain into maintaining a curve of your ring finger as well as only putting as much effort on the tone hole needed to get a clear low "G" or clarion "D" (that is to say almost no pressure at all).
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2021-07-16 21:42
Paul Aviles wrote:
> The thumb rest should sit comfortably on the left thumb BETWEEN
> the tip of the thumb and the joint.
Left???
Karl
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Author: Chris_C ★2017
Date: 2021-07-16 23:04
Get medical advice on "Trigger Finger" and its treatment with steroid injection or surgery. May or may not be applicable in your case...
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-07-16 23:31
Thanks KDK, I mean the right thumb.
But I suppose if you could play with hands inverted, you'd be pretty awesome!
:-)
...............Paul Aviles
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Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2021-07-17 04:17
This may be what is referred to in football circles as "jersey finger." My grandson was a free safety/wide receiver and grabbed too many jerseys during his time on defense. He chose the PT route for the repair of his finger rather than surgery.
HRL
Post Edited (2021-07-18 15:30)
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2021-07-18 10:15
>> The thumb rest should sit comfortably on the left thumb BETWEEN the tip of the thumb and the joint. <<
This is true sometimes. If I did this, I would have to stop playing. In fact I have done this. Moved the thumb rest to the generalized supposedly best position and held the clarinet in the supposedly best way, like you describe here. In a matter of weeks I could barely play, with unbearable pain. I tried other methods to solve the problem, unsuccessfully, before moving back to my previous "wrong" hand and thumb positions, playing this way without any pain for a few decades now.
Of course it's worth trying, but "should"? Definitely not.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-07-18 22:31
Sorry Clarnibass,
What I mean is that with a standard hand configuration (no odd sizes or physiological issues), one should avoid strain. One really good thing to keep in mind is NOT having your right index finger past the last side key that we use ALL THE TIME. What happens if you do is that you have to "push up" with your thumb, creating MORE strain on the right hand.
Naturally individual situations are important, but the original poster spoke of configuring the thumb rest based on where there fingers and thumb lie in a position of rest. I've heard that before and tried that, causing all sorts of strain much as you describe. There is NOTHING about holding a clarinet that is like a natural hand position at rest (unless you usually stand or sit at rest with a clarinet sized weight upon your thumb ALL THE TIME).
Of course one needs to find the position of the fingers and thumb that is most "comfortable" holding the horn in playing position and requiring virtually no movement of wrist, only fingers to reach all possible playing combinations. Sometimes this just requires sitting there quietly with your horn in your hand in front of a mirror until you figure this out. THEN continue to monitor what you do as you play to make sure the theory and the execution are consistent with each other.
................Paul Aviles
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Author: Max S-D
Date: 2021-07-19 23:13
Have you considered a neckstrap, at least for occasional use?
I used to struggle with repetitive motion issues with the clarinet, especially back in college when I was playing a lot, but nowadays exacerbated by my bad posture habits at my desk job. Sometimes I start to have locking issues on that same finger when I am building up too much tension across the shoulder, arm, hand, etc.
Sometimes I feel like that lack of flexibility and adaptability in the arm/shoulder/hand system makes it hard to get good stability balancing the clarinet right on my thumb and I use my fingers to stabilize too much.
Get a non-stretchy neckstrap to allow you to take all of the strain off of your hand entirely.
If you don't get along with neckstraps that just wrap around the thumbrest (I don't), I got Stephen Fox's thumbrest mount neckstrap extension rod to minimize thumb interference, but I actually prefer to use the rod with the less invasive "ring mount" that can attach to a normal, middle-ring lyre holder.
I don't use a neckstrap all the time, but it is good for me to use one to stop and reevaluate what I am doing with my hands without the weight of the clarinet distracting me. I can then bring some of those good habits back to playing without the neckstrap, which is my preference, mostly for freedom of movement. The neckstrap is also a godsend on bad shoulder days.
Also, make sure that your clarinet doesn't have leaks. When I go a long time without taking my instrument in, sometimes leaks develop slowly and I don't really notice that I am gradually compensating more and more by pressing harder and harder on the keys to get pads to seal. That can lead to a lot of excess tension and is easy to overlook.
Last thing: I had a very good tech set up my clarinet with action as light as possible all around. I'm not sure if the physical weights make much of a difference, but the psychological effect of feeling like I can use a lighter touch does seem to help me keep away from really squeezing, which is where I can get into trouble.
Hope some of that helps. I don't know if the causes of your locking finger are the same as mine, I am not a doctor, physical therapist or even a clarinet teacher anymore, so take it with as many grains of salt as needed!
Post Edited (2021-07-19 23:23)
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Author: rfunes
Date: 2021-07-20 16:06
Thanks, I will try to apply the lowest amount of pressure necessary to close the hole properly, and maybe will try to get a neck strap to see if it helps.
My feeling about the thumb rest is that maybe my hands are too large, therefore the shape of my right hand is forced to be too closed, which may be causing me to stretch my RH ring finger in such way that it locks.
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Author: ACCA
Date: 2021-07-20 19:10
no one has mentioned these yet- some of my students have used them with good results.
https://www.tonkooiman.com/index.php/products/etude3
Good luck.
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Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2021-07-20 20:01
So, to my mind's eye, large hands mean big (and long fingers). I too have large hands and as such need to get the horn further from my palm (placing between tip and knuckle of right thumb) so as to avoid too much "curling of the fingers." I also apply the application of an approach called for by Elsa Ludewig-Verdehr. What she does is to turn the palm clockwise a bit with the critical aspect being to point the right thumb UPWARD slightly (following a line from the base of the thumb to the tip). This does several important things. The most critical is a natural dispersion of the weight across the arm (and full skeletal system). The other is that it gets your right pinky closer to the pinky keys (and curling the pinky is easier and more natural for the pinky than the other three fingers). It is important to note that this will also take your index FURTHER from the side keys and may necessitate moving the thumb rest higher.
however
I'd suggest giving it a shot for a few weeks and see if that can work for you.
.................Paul Aviles
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Author: DougR
Date: 2021-07-23 14:48
There are a lot of good suggestions here for relieving stress on fingers, etc., but I'd particularly like to echo Chris C's suggestion: GET MEDICAL ADVICE.
That's just my own preferred approach; first find out what it IS, then figure out how to treat it.
I have a delightful (NOT!) affliction in my LH ring finger, where the finger feels ike it locks. Turns out it's "mallet finger," where one of the long tendons in the finger gets injured (or, worst case, severed) from some random impact. Happens all the time, but to horn players it's a big deal.
Turns out there's some time sensitivity involved with mallet finger, and if that's what you have, get it diagnosed and treated NOW, while there's perhaps still time for the tendon to heal and/or reattach itself.
(IF that's what it is, of course, and you won't know that till you get to the orthopedist.)
In my particular case, I sought treatment too late, and I'm stuck with the finger doing what it does, which is flattening out over the ring key and feeling like it's beyond my control (which, unfortunately, it is).
(Just to add, I'd avoid surgery at all costs for hand issues; I'd try everything under the sun first--but only under the knowledgeable care of health professionals.)
See if you can find a hand orthopedist who specializes in treating musicians' injuries, by the way. They're out there.
Good luck.
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