From: lutemann@aol.com (Lutemann) Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar Subject: Re: Help! My left pinky locks up on me! Date: 6 Mar 1996 17:41:07 -0500 In article , Allison Johnson writes: >It's an old argument, between my left pinky and I. I keep my left wrist >straight, my fingers curved, and my thumb and my middle finger more or >less consistently lined up. Usually, pinky and I get along okay this >way, but when it comes to speed and reaching for the 5th and 6th strings, >the second joint locks. How do I convince it to stay curved? We've both >seen a therapist, but joint counselling doesn't seem to work... (sorry, that >kind of slipped out...:)) > This could be a lot of things. I've experienced a little of this myself. The left wrist should be slightly curved (flexed) when playing scales. Don't try to play on the extreme tips of the fingers. Also, on the 5th and 6th strings, check to see if the first joint of the 4th and 3rd fingers are slightly flexed and not over extended (this is what happened to me). The left arm should hang down toward the floor. You may be holding neck of the guitar may be too low. Remember, unlike right hand position, the left hand position is not static. For some reaches it is necessary to bend the wrist quite a bit. You could read Aaron Shearer's "Learning the Classic Guitar Part I (Mel Bay Pub.) pages 43-47 (complete with pictures). Players with long fingers often have trouble in the beginning. I really can't tell unless I see you. Please let me know how this works out. Kent From: jmbfintax@aol.com (JMBFINTAX) Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar Subject: Re: Help! My left pinky locks up on me! Date: 7 Mar 1996 08:18:24 -0500 Alison wrote... >seen a therapist, but joint counselling doesn't seem to work... (sorry, that >kind of slipped out...:)) Wonderful stuff, that! Very witty! I don't think I have the same locking up problem with my pinkie! Our therapist is quite good. Maybe you two should call him. In any event, our problems occur when shifting the 4'th finger from, say, sixth string to first string in a finger independence drill such as that found in Pumping Nylon. There is a definate pop. Rather than moving over the fretboard smoothly, it snaps from straight to fully curved. No in between. Are we describling the same thing here? If they are related, the problems, not the pinkies, and someone has a suggestion, as Ross Perot once said, I'm all ears. Joe B. From: Suresh Venkat Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar Subject: Re: Help! My left pinky locks up on me! Date: Thu, 07 Mar 1996 14:13:13 -0800 I have a similiar problem. My left hand pinky tends to stand straight out rigidly unless I am watching it closely - especially when I am playing something with a reasonably complicated left hand /right hanbd and can't pay too much attention to it. My teacher has told me often to relax the finger, but I'm finding that it's not so easy.. :( -- ______________________________________________________________________________ Suresh Venkatasubramanian From: bigfatmat@aol.com (Bigfatmat) Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar Subject: Re: Help! My left pinky locks up on me! Date: 7 Mar 1996 14:28:16 -0500 See how little pressure you can put on the 5th and 6th strings (with pinky) and still get a clear tone while playing pianissimo. Does your finger still lock up? If it doesn't, practice improvising on these strings with this light touch until your finger gains strength. It'll take a few weeks. Can you do slurs on the 1st-4th strings with your pinky? Ooops did I say "improvise," where did I think I was, back in the dark ages where classical musicians still improvised. Matt Faunce From: lutemann@aol.com (Lutemann) Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar Subject: Re: Help! My left pinky locks up on me! Date: 8 Mar 1996 07:10:50 -0500 Some good replies out there. Does the locking occur in conjuction with an over extension (Flexion is toward the palm,extension is away from the palm.) of the knuckle joint (the joint closest to the palm)? I'm curious. This locking happened to me after a long break (several years) from playing the guitar. Practicing slur exercises slowly, making sure the 1st knuckle joint is somewhat flexed. Keeping this strong position helped a lot. Kent From: mpaul@unlinfo.unl.edu (Paul Marxhausen) Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar Subject: Re: Help! My left pinky locks up on me! Date: 8 Mar 1996 19:21:16 GMT If you have any finger "locking up", or "popping"/moving in jerks, etc., you've got a non-trivial medical problem. This is tenosynovitis, aka "trigger finger", and you NEED TO SEE A DOCTOR. The sheath of the tendon gets injured/inflamed from overuse/abuse (gosh I love to use "/") and impinges on the tendon. This is nothing to fool with. Once it's at this stage (as opposed to just being sore) it's serious and needs professional attention. Ignore it at the risk of your career. [editor's note: on being challenged I backed off on my "diagnosis" since I am not any kind of medical person, & on reflection I remembered that other conditions such as focal dystonia can cause fingers to "sieze up" and malfunction also. If you are experiencing a distinct "pop" action, though, trigger finger is still a likely candidate. -PMx] -- paul marxhausen ```` ``````` ````````````` ```````````` ```````````` `````````` `` ` ` ` ` ` university of nebraska - lincoln ` ` ` `` ` ` `` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` grace ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` happens `