fhalaw
Oud Junkie
Posts: 144
Registered: 7-9-2009
Location: Montreal, Qc
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Safe playing
This is a question most likely answered by the doctors in the (chat)room.
What ergonomic advice do you have for playing, related most to the hands.
Sometimes , I am in the mood or have a show and I practice for 5 hours straight. Having been at work all day where I program software, I feel my hands
reallly tired, strained forearms..etc
How does how much time you play relate to future artheritis or carpal tunnel etc.
Although I am 25 and not really worried.. its nice to know how to play safe  And
what is good and bad practice
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littleseb
Oud Junkie
Posts: 224
Registered: 10-14-2008
Location: london - uk
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my advice - skip your day job and concentrate on the oud. future health implications will be worth it! )
on a more seious note - repetitive strain injuries are the real problem for people working in IT, and they can seriously screw up you playing. make
sure you use wrist support etc.
personally i never experienced problems with long stretches of practising. in fact, i found the gain of strength beneficial. don't know how i'll feel
in 20 years time though.
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oudtab
Oud Maniac
Posts: 85
Registered: 3-17-2009
Location: France
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Bonjour fhalaw,
Be careful of your hands : http://www.acguitar.com/issues/ag93/handinjury.shtml
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DaveH
Oud Junkie
Posts: 526
Registered: 12-23-2005
Location: Birmingham, UK
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Hi Fhalaw
I don't think there's anything wrong with muscle tiredness after playing for a long time. There's a difference between the kind of muscle ache you get
from fatigue and the pain from the beginnings of an inflamed tendon. I think mostly you'd realise pretty quickly if you were straining anything - I
don't think oud is like typing in that if you're doing something wrong, it hurts pretty fast, rather than building up over weeks. At least that's how
it seems to work for me.
The only tendonitis-type pain I've experienced has been from pinching the tendons in my inner forearm by exerting too much pressure on the oud with my
right arm. The combination of this pressure and the movement of the tendons in your arm as you move your hand does create inflamation. And the cause
in my case was always too much tension, particularly from pulling the neck towards me with my left arm. It's very easy to get into the bad habit of
doing this - putting too much pressure on the fingerboard - with the result that the oud pivots about its body (on your belly!) and you have to
counteract with increased pressure on the body with the right arm.
This is why it's a very useful excercise (and I try to do this for a few minutes every time I play) to warm up just by playing open strings with the
left arm by my side. This gets you used to using the right hand in the correct position, with no counter-pressure from the left hand.
The only other issue for me is how much to bend the wrist of the right hand. There are different opinions on this. I was initally told to keep it
pretty much dead straight to avoid strain on the wrist joint, but I no longer subscribe to this point of view. I was later shown how, while keeping
the whole body relaxed, to play with the wrist comfortably bent. I find that with a straight wrist, you have to make a "flapping" up and down motion,
with the hand moving in a plane in which the wrist isn't at its most flexible and right angles to the forward and backward plane. With the wrist bent,
the hand "swivels" more making good risha contact, and consequently tone, easier, and not producing undue strain.
But to sum up, the most important thing is to relax. This is a lot easier to do than to say and for me at least it took some really good advice and a
lot of practice. Also, in order to relax, you have to play within your technical limits, allowing speed to come by itself gradually, rather than
forcing things. But if you're playing for 5 hours at a stretch and not injuring yourself, it's likely that you've pretty much got this down.
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fernandraynaud
Oud Junkie
Posts: 1865
Registered: 7-25-2009
Location: San Francisco, California
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I can add that I've been playing guitar and keyboards for something over 5 decades, at times many hours a day, and I get much more stress from typing
and especially mousing without support under the wrist. Maybe I'm mistaken, but it seems to me that everybody is built a little differently, so
(preferably AFTER learning what the prescribed angles and positions are), I believe everyone should fall into what is natural for them.
I have some minor injuries and thus some positions that are proper on all instruments are difficult. The smart thing is probably to obey your limits
and screw what is proper. Maybe you're just not built to hold the oud correctly? Holding it "your way" might cost you some performance, and it might
not. Django Reinhardt was one of the greatest guitarists ever and he sure didn't finger "correctly" with only two fingers in his left hand that
worked. I would guess that imposing correct technique is a lot like forcing left handed people to use the right hand: some people adapt and do well,
while others only get messed up. If it doesn't feel natural, is it more likely to cause some damage long term?
On the other hand there is nothing "natural" about playing an instrument as a virtuoso, so maybe the "what feels natural" argument is all wrong? Any
thoughts?
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Cocomaan
Oud Lover
Posts: 16
Registered: 2-8-2010
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Quote: Originally posted by DaveH  | | But to sum up, the most important thing is to relax. This is a lot easier to do than to say and for me at least it took some really good advice and a
lot of practice. |
This is quite true. While I've only been playing for a little while, it takes discipline to relax!
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