Pain in my thumb joins whilst playing the dizi

[edcat7]

I'm getting a pain in both my thumb joints, particularly in my right hand (i'm right-handed) whilst playing.

My grip loosens particularly when I go from say note 5 to note 3 and this affects my embouchure.

I've been told by a clarinetist that perhaps I should hold my dizi tighter against my chin. I know I should also relax more. Any suggestions.

[xindi]

Some of the smaller bore dizis (particularly high F ones) and the wider bore ones (like the low G and low F) are great for causing this kind of RSI (repetitive strain injury).

If you're playing, it's not unusual to develop pain ..particularly if you're not practicing regularly for short bursts. I try to hold mine lightly sprung - with a balance between both. I do tend to press too much into the hollow of the chin ... I can feel it pushing my teeth behind for more embouchure control too.

It's always the 4. note (no fingers!) from a 6 note (and back again! and again! and again for trills!) which rockets instability for me. This is one reason why the varnished finished bamboos are great - they have more grip texture than natural unfinished bamboo, particularly if the fingers work up a sweat.

You can get a thumb support for flutes - no reason why you can't apply one to a bamboo with adhesive, but I've never seen this done with a dizi...

ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21vDiqrgyIL._SL500_AA300_.jpg [/img]

I've never used one though I often wonder if they're as good as the reviews make them out to be. Hundreds of years of flute playing ...and suddenly these gadgets appear for flute players in the modern era

[davidmdahl]

Thinking "tight" is usually not a healthful approach for any musical instruments. If you are feeling pain in your hands or fingers, then your body is telling you to back off. These sorts of problems are what teachers are for. If the tension and pain come from playing challenging music, you might play easier tunes for a while that allow you to focus more on finding positions that work better for you.

Best wishes,

David

[edcat7]

Shame my teacher speaks little English and I no Mandarin. He taught me notes 3,2,and 1 solely by using the left hand so when note 3 is played the whole dizi is held by thumb and forefinger on the left and just the thumb on the right.

I have since seen from another source that the right ring-finger can also be placed at note 6 to steady the dizi. But this can be confusing and it's a little late to change.

With 5 days off work this week I may have just played too much.

I'll try the thumb support

[xindi]

Crikes - don't ever try holding note 3 with just a thumb and forefinger on a bass dizi!

The right thumb has to support the flute too. In longer recorders, there is a thumb rest - as in antique romantic flutes - they have a kind of screw on attachment to rest the thumb. Dizi flutes don't tend to have any kind of ergonomics, but as David says - the correct posture is important.

I'm sure I've mentioned using the right ring finger to stabilise the flute before. With a dizi, it doesn't mess up the pitch too much. A western Boehm flute, has a dedicated key for the little finger to hold down for most of the notes - and balance the flute too.

Yes you may have played too much

[edcat7]

My wife, kids and neighbours think so

[xindi]

Aug 6, 2011 22:28:18 GMT edcat7 said:

My wife, kids and neighbours think so

well that's a pain in the ... somewhere else!

[edcat7]

I think I've sussed out how to better solve the pain in my hands. My teacher most of the time places his right little finger on the dizi, I guess to stabilise it. My habit is to stick my little finger up.

To change a habit of 6 months is not easy but it definately makes a difference.

[xindi]

Definitely little finger down - if the little finger is up ... it would be quite tricky to find placement quickly in fast sections of music.

Note that it's not possible to do this in some non-dizi/non-xiao flutes, without flattening the pitch.

[vinh]

This is what I do to cure myself when I have pain like you:

Place your finger tip on the spot that give you pain and slowly apply some pressure on that spot. Just enough pressure to give you a pain level that you can still support it. Continue to do this with that constant pressure on that spot then you will notice that the pain level will drop in a few minutes and finally goes away. Keep doing this on all spots that hurt.