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Post by joepip on Jan 14, 2013 10:01:54 GMT
So I've been playing the pipa for a week now and while I've been making good progress on fingering rotation, my left arm (w/ fretting hand) gets tired and begins aching more often than it should.
Can someone offer advice on playing posture (e.g. pipa position, tilt angle). At first I thought the pipa was played with its belly in one's lap, but then found out its more on the left thigh. This caused my neck aches to go away, but my left arm continues to ache while playing.
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Post by davidmdahl on Jan 14, 2013 21:30:02 GMT
Welcome to the forum, joepip. Are you learning the pipa without a teacher? You have my admiration and sympathy. I had a pipa for a while and found it too much of a challenge without a teacher. My broken arm may have had something to do with it as well.
You are wise to ask for help for the pain and discomfort you are feeling from playing the pipa. It is possible to injure yourself badly if you try to play through the pain, if your posture is not right. I am not the right one to help you with the pipa. If no one here chimes in, you might check with a few of the pipa masters, such as Liu Fang. Another possibility might be to videotape yourself and compare the video with Youtube videos to see the differences.
Good luck!
Best wishes,
David
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Post by edcat7 on Jan 14, 2013 23:21:19 GMT
I had tuition on the liuqin and how it's held by the left hand is definately different than holding a guitar. Surprisingly for so small an instrument I found holding it comfortably, difficult. The liuqin is an exact smaller version of the pipa and the thumb is held behind the neck. Don't rest the pipa (I'm assuming it's the same as the liuqin) in the palm of your left hand.
Are you sitting upright? Are your shoulders square? Are you relaxed? I know this sounds strange but imagine you're playing from the left kidney, instead of your left fingers.
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Post by joepip on Jan 15, 2013 2:28:21 GMT
Thanks for the advice David. I also own a dizi and an erhu so getting a teacher would be somewhat difficult (choosing which instrument I want to learn more). Yeah, body pain in relation to bad playing habits is no joke. Learned a bad habit on the guitar that gives me pain now when I try to hold the right way. edcat7, from the size of the pipa, I don't think I could even try playing with my palm on its backside even if I wanted to  I do try to remain conscious of sitting upright, though I should pay a little more attention to the tension in my muscles when I play and make sure they are relaxed. I think I am playing with my left fingers instead of my left kidney...mmm, I may have figured it out. When I played with the pipa in my lap, I had neck pain, but when I play with it sitting on my left thigh I have some arm pain. This might just be because it was too close then too far away. I'll try somewhere in the middle and see if if that makes the difference. Thanks for the input. |
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Post by joepip on Jan 17, 2013 7:46:15 GMT
Turns out nobody really plays with it sitting on their left leg unless their legs are crossed, so it's placed in the center lap. Just needed to tilt it a certain degree. I also took another look at my thumb position and actually was wrapping my left hand around the back of the pipa too much. My arm pain has largely went away. Thanks for mentioning it edcat7.
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I do try to remain conscious of sitting upright, though I should pay a little more attention to the tension in my muscles when I play and make sure they are relaxed. I think I am playing with my left fingers instead of my left kidney...mmm, I may have figured it out.