 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Tropicalfruitmom
Date: 2002-05-05 01:14
I know of several clarinet players who have had to give up playing because of DeQuervain's Disease. It is an inflamation of the sheath in the wrist that the tendons of the thumb go through. The primary cause: the placement of the thumb rest. Clarinet and oboe are the only instruments that make you carry the weight of the instrument on the thumb with a placement down by the second finger.
I started using a neck strap and placing my thumb ABOVE the rest, parallel to my index finger (similar to flute position). What a difference! I can play much longer with no pain. The flexibility of the Neotech strap allows for movement and the weight is non-existent.
I plan to take my clarinet to a good repair person in my area and see about having the thumb rest replaced with a cushion and loop. Any suggestions?
Ava
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-05-05 01:39
Hi, Tropicalfruitmom
While you're at the shop ask to handle an instrument or two with adjustable thumb rests. Then you can wiegh the possibility of your tech installing one on your instrument.
Could you explain a little more about the cushion and loop? I don't believe I've ever seen something like that. It may be better for you than an adjustable TR -- I haven't a clue but would like to be informed :|
- ron b -
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Author: Wes
Date: 2002-05-05 03:55
Ten minutes of calisthenics including weights every day has helped me eliminate thumb problems on my clarinet, oboe, and English horn. It also helped me to think of rotating the right hand while holding the instrument a little counter clockwise as viewed from the arm. In addition, the computer mouse use aggravated it some, so a mouse switch to the left hand helped. Good luck!
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Author: carmen izzo
Date: 2002-05-05 04:03
HEy,
I need an adjustable thumb rest for my Leblanc Concerto! Does anyone know if i can have the opus adjustable one simply attached to my instrument so i can place my thumb lower and avoid paon? My fingers are a bit long for the size of my hand! Im sure its feasible, but im asking if anyone has heard of it being done
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-05-05 04:09
Beware of adjustable thumb rests. Although all of them allow your thumb to be much lower down, that is not what most players want.
Most of them do not allow the thumb to go much higher than a standard thumb rest.
Some people unscrew a standard thumb rest and turn it up the other way, but it is uncomfortable where the thumb presses on the clarinet.
The best solution is to decide where you want it and bget a good technician to move it.
Note... The holes in the timber need to be drilled and tapped with an appropriate (normally very unorthodox) tap. It is not a do-it-yourself job! The old hoes can be filled to be practically invisible.
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Author: Jamie Talbot
Date: 2002-05-05 09:38
Ton Kooiman makes really good thumbrests that are adjustable
to any position and spread the weight of the clarinet across
the thumb.
His website is www.Ton Kooiman Products.com
Good luck!
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-05-06 06:29
What do people think about neck-straps and helping with carrying the weight of their clarinets?
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Author: Bob
Date: 2002-05-06 12:11
"What do people think about neck-straps and helping with carrying the weight of their clarinets?"
I had never given any thought about using a neck strap until recently due to occasional numbness when playing clarinet and using a computer mouse. Now I'm considering it. I do find that the Buffet adjustable tr causes less trouble than a regular one. Also,foam padding helps...probably because it allows slight changes in thumb position without causing "regular" thumb soreness. Sax and bassoon players have used neckstraps for years...so why not clarinets?
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Author: Mitch A
Date: 2002-05-06 14:36
I carved a new thumbrest out of Ebony (I make furniture). It's wide and contoured to fit the shape of my thumb, padded with "sticky" foam for traction. Much better than that rediculous pencil eraser sized pad. JEEZ!, who came up with that and who says it can't be changed for something more comfortable??
Try playing a bari sax for a few years. Despite the neck strap, it's heavy on the thumb just for balance and steering.
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Author: E. Michael Blake
Date: 2002-05-06 16:50
My problem with the thumb rest isn't as serious, or as influential on the rest of one's life, as a muscle or tendon stress condition (though I get some pain sometimes if I've been playing too long). My problem is that the placement of the thumb rest allows my cockamamie right index finger to graze the side e-flat key (the bottom of the four right-index knuckle keys) when it shouldn't, keeping the instrument from speaking on right-hand-down notes. (I have a Noblet 40). Does anyone have experience with lowering the thumb rest to prevent this, or would lowering just create a more severe pivot that sends the index knuckle into the e-flat key even more often? I don't want to have more holes drilled on a whim. Maybe just the addition of a really thick pad would both soften the point of contact and keep my index finger away from unintended keying. Whaddya think?
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Author: Ken Shaw
Date: 2002-05-06 17:44
Michael -
If you're a relative beginner, you should keep at it and learn to avoid the side Eb key. It has to be as close as possible to your right index finger knuckle to let you get on and off it quickly. In fact, I arch my right index finger up a little to get it as close as possible to the key.
Where on your thumb does the thumb rest go? If it's on top of the joint, try sliding your thumb out a bit so the thumb rest goes outside of the joint.
Also, watch yourself in a mirror and see whether you're curling your right index finger as you lower it and raise it. The two joints in the finger shouldn't move. Everything should come from the knuckle. If you do it that way, your finger shouldn't brush against the Eb key, particularly if you've moved your thumb out.
If it's giving you a lot of trouble, though, any good repair shop can grind the lower side of the key to give you more clearance. This may take away something from the resale value of the instrument when you trade up, but lots of people have key customization done. You do what you need to do to make the instrument play comfortably, and the Noblet is common enough that you could easily order a replacement key if necessary.
Best regards.
Ken Shaw
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Author: E. Michael Blake
Date: 2002-05-06 20:22
Mr. Shaw,
Thanks for the advice. I have to class myself as a beginner, because of the thirty-year gap in my clarinetting (I've been at it again for about four months; about 12 months on alto sax). Much of my finger trouble is comparable to my breakdowns in juggling: first a little mistake here, the correction for which makes a bigger mistake there, and on into a vicious circle. Hard to get back on course in the middle of a frantic run of 16th notes.
I've had vague thoughts about seeing if I could get some small modifications on the instrument; maybe a bit of sandpaper (or some other rough surface) on the left-pinky G# and C keys, so the pinky doesn't slide off when it ought to grab on. But first I'm trying to see if I can just train the fingers to do what they're supposed to. The fact that I still graze the throat A key while hastening to get the left index down for an F# shows how far I have to go. In short, I know how I should position, curl, and lift the right index finger, but in the heat of the action, when the other fingers on the hand are doing things that affect what the index will do, it's tough to keep it in line.
Since you asked, I address the thumbrest (Ed Norton: "Hellloooooo, thumbrest!") between the joint and the bottom of the nail. I have average-size adult hands.
Mike
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2002-05-07 14:08
Beware of thumb rests that stick out a long way. Great leverage is available for ripping the thumb rest off the instrument, maybe taking a significant chunk of the timber away with it. Handle with care, and don't drop!
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Author: Tropicalfruitmom
Date: 2002-05-08 02:59
Wow, I go to a couple of band banquets and look what I miss! Let me clarify what I am planning to do. First, of course, I'm removing the thumb rest and ditching it. I and going to add a loop just below the lower joint (where it thickens) so I have a place to attach my neck strap. Below that, I plan to get one of the cushions that beginning flute players use to keep their thumbs where they belong and locate that opposite my index finger (like the right hand position on the flute).
Since I have started to play with the neck strap and place my thumb above the rest, my technique has improved markedly. I don't know if the fact that I have small hands makes the difference, or if it is that my hand is in a more natural position, but I do know that my ortho was thrilled and plans to tell her other injured clarinet players to make this shift. Maybe we have something here. Who says that, just because its traditional, it's good?
Ava
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Author: diz
Date: 2002-05-08 03:12
I chuckled at your usage: "steering" when relating to barisaxes.
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Author: ron b
Date: 2002-05-08 04:45
Ava, you asked,
"Who says that, just because its traditional, it's good"?
Most people I associate with don't say that :
Most people who visit Sneezy don't say that :]
- ron b -
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