Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.piano Subject: Re: Physical dangers of amateur playing Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 13:53:43 -0800 Organization: University of Washington > I'm a late (well may be 'medium' is a better word for starting at 21) > beginner who has recently escaped a playing injury by a close call. > I've seen that a number of beginning players subscribe to this group > and I thought that by sharing my experience I may help some of the > others avoid the mistakes that I made by ignorance. > > It's natural that seeing people who started playing at 6 can make you > feel that you've lost time and need to practice twice as hard in order > to catch up, but 'no pain, no gain' is one motto that can kill you. > This is especially relevant to those who are trying to learn classical > or modern jazz and need to do a lot of technical work in order to > gain competence. Our dear friend Hanon sets up a trap that I think > many a beginner can easily fall into: "To obtain the good results > we promise those who study this work, it is indispensable to play > daily, at least once, the exercises already learned". Which is > exactly what I did. I had the whole part I under my belt and was playing > away all of the patterns back to back each day. The thing is, there wasn't > anything I was doing really wrong with my hands. Even my classical teacher, > who is extremely attentive to these things and will stop you at any time > to correct the hand movement, couldn't notice these little problems. > Still, little tensions that result from a slight discomfort were building > up in my wrists. They can come from everywhere: playing high-register > left hand parts, hand-pedalling, trying not to miss register jumps, etc. > The slight discomfort that I was getting from time to time was > insignificant enought for me to disregard it, but playing *through* it > led to its accumulation. I was practicing care free until one day I > tried to play and went "damn, this just hurts too much". A couple > of days latter I was having troubles holding a coffee cup... > > I put my playing on hiatus for 3 weeks, and I'm currently rebuilding > my technique from scratch, so I hope there's gonna be a happy ending, > but here's what I learned from this. Playing should be as effortless > as breathing and, if it's not, that means you're doing something wrong. > If you've never had piano lessons, do NOT attempt to go through heavy > technique development. Get a piano teacher who'll show you things > like wrist rotation and adjusting hand position for different > fingering patterns. Accomplished players can play an hour of Hanon > straight, but unlike us they also know every little bolt in their hands. > You can play Hanon daily, but not at once. Generally, try to alternate > things. Play a couple from Hanon, move to another piece, then come > back to play more. If you're feeling *any* discomfort, STOP, figure out > where it's coming from and correct it before doing the passage again. > Finally, it's not a bad idea to take 2 minute breaks every 20 minutes > and do some wrist relaxation exercises. IMO, it's better be a little > late and alive, than ahead of schedule but dead. > > I don't mean to make anyone paranoid, but I think a little caution doesn't > hurt. There's a lot of music to be made, it's a shame to go out like that. > > Peace > Michael > > I am an advanced player, but I have some beginning students and have had many friends who were beginners. I would agree with most of this - but would add - as a suggestion - it is sometimes a good idea to stagger your practicing throughout the day. Maybe do some exercises early in the morning, then practice a piece or two in the middle of the day, and maybe something else in the evening. This keeps you from practicing too much at one time (too much physically), and also keeps your mind fresh. Kim Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.piano Subject: Re: Physical dangers of amateur playing Date: 2 Dec 1995 22:26:36 GMT Organization: Bowling Green State University I agree with both of you cats, and very good suggestions from you as well. I have been playing for close to 14 years now, and around three years ago as a sophmore in high school, I got that obsession with building my chops. I did Hanon non stop and scales and made up my own kinds of crazy excercises such as playing broken octaves starting at the top note and going through all major, minor, and modes everyday. (Ask my father, DRLUHTA about the horrors of Hanon echoing throughout your home 24 hours a day! :) ) Luckily, I stopped this foolishness before it was too late. I always had pain after playing and I did nothing but increase tension in my shoulders and hands. My technique improved a lot, but I would never recommend this way of doing it. Even today, there are times when I've been playing for ten minutes and I'll feel pain. Now I stop the instant I get it and that seems to help a lot. This isn't saying things to build your chops are bad, but moderation is the key, as in everything. You have to work on technique to some extent, but it should NEVER become the focus of what you are doing. Technique is just a vehicle in making music. If it was most important, than we would have to say people like Miles Davis and Thelonius Monk didn't make superior music because their chops weren't as polished as some of their contemporaries. I've found that after a month or so of heavy practicing and playing, if I take a break for jsut a couple of days, my playing improves dramatically when I come back. Try it sometime. I think it just lets everything sink in a little better. Keep swinging, cats..... Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.piano Subject: Tendon Pain in the Arms Date: 5 Dec 1995 17:54:42 GMT Organization: General Motors Research and Development Center Hi, I've just joined this list so forgive me if this has been asked before. I would like to know what people have done to alleviate inflammation in the tendons that run just below the elbow. Also, I sometimes experience pain in the area just above the elbow on the underside of the arm. I am beginning to believe it's because the action on my piano is very stiff but it could also be from overplaying and/or bad technique. So before I go to the expense of having the action lightened I want to get some opinions first. Finally, how much practice time do people spend on finger strengthening exercises (i.e. Hanon, etc.) during an average week. I have been studying for six years and have recently purchased a Petrof grand. -- David Sabbagh Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.piano Subject: Re: Tendon Pain in the Arms Date: Sat, 9 Dec 1995 19:47:06 Organization: Griffith University >Subject: Tendon Pain in the Arms >Date: 5 Dec 1995 17:54:42 GMT >Hi, I've just joined this list so forgive me if this has been asked >before. >I would like to know what people have done to alleviate inflammation in >the tendons that run just below the elbow. Also, I sometimes experience >pain in the area just above the elbow on the underside of the arm. I am >beginning to believe it's because the action on my piano is very stiff but >it could also be from overplaying and/or bad technique. So before I go to the >expense of having the action lightened I want to get some opinions first. >Finally, how much practice time do people spend on finger strengthening >exercises (i.e. Hanon, etc.) during an average week. During the final year of my degree, I had a similar problem, although the pain was concentrated more in the wrist and lower arm. I found that physiotherapy which included ultrasound and heat therapy helped, also accupuncture, but was told that the only real cure was rest. In retrospect, the problem was caused by attempting pieces beyond my technical capabilities. Since then, I have found a new teacher who has helped me to pinpoint the problems with my technique which contributed to the injury, and have had no problems since. RE: exercises - 30 minutes per day while I was preparing for exams (but NEVER Hanon - Yuk!) and, now that the pressure is off, about 10 minutes a day. A word of warning - I have a friend who continued without treatment for 8 months after pain started (the same as yours) - she ended up failing her final exam, and was unable to play for six months due to the pain. It is uncertain even now (2 years later) whether she will ever be able to play 'pain free'. Hope this is of some help, Donna Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.piano Path: crcnews.unl.edu!news.mid.net!news.ksu.ksu.edu!news.physics.uiowa.edu!news.uiowa.edu!chi-news.cic.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in2.uu.net!eskimo!buddy Subject: Re: Tendon Pain in the Arms : I would like to know what people have done to alleviate inflammation in : the tendons that run just below the elbow. Also, I sometimes experience : pain in the area just above the elbow on the underside of the arm. I am : beginning to believe it's because the action on my piano is very stiff but : it could also be from overplaying and/or bad technique. So before I go to the : expense of having the action lightened I want to get some opinions first. : I have been studying for six years and have recently purchased a Petrof : grand. A couple of things came to mind when reading your article. One was that I found the Petrof to have a very heavy action; but, also one that I find very enjoyable to play. I developed severe tendon problems in both arms when I did a crash two year bout with Chopin's Etudes. I really didn't know what was going on for the longest while. Two things which I would suggest are less practice or none for awhile and concentrate on relaxation even when playing to your limits. If necessary just simply slow the tempo down. I have just about quit playing now for about a year and the tendon pain is gone. I intend to resume but paying very careful attention to the above. The best of luck to you!! Steve