Indeed mandolin grip is different than on a guitar.
However, I don't play mandolin.Also, I do not play guitar. I play *octave* mandolin. Octave mandolin and mandolin are two seperate instruments. It is nearly the length of a guitar. It's basically a bouzouki except a tad shorter and better for melody playing. However, I'm guessing octave mandolin is to be gripped nearly identically to how one would grip a guitar. It is the same size, and similar thickness of neck to many guitar necks. It isn't a mandolin. It is one octave below a mandolin. Certainly much much closer to the size of a guitar than it is to the size of a mandolin.
That's actually why I'm buying a mandolin (not octave mandolin). The grip will likely be very different on the hand, and therefore might not be causing stress on the same part of the hand as the *octave* mandolin does due to the extremely different size and method of gripping the instrument.
My problem is basal joint arthritis. I believe it was brought about by the work I do, not by musical instruments. My hands are doing repetitive tasks which puts stress on this joint thousands of times per day. Luckily I got a better position at work where I am no longer doing such harmful tasks, however it does not undo the problems I am having now.
I think perhaps you misunderstood my post, and perhaps thought that I was talking about pains while playing mandolin, which is an instrument that I do not play, but rather one I am considering switching to, with hopes that it will stress my hands less than octave mandolin does.
And beyond that, I'm wondering about specific ways people might have changed thier grip or playing, or changed thier choice of instrument, or dealt with arthritis affecting thier music playing in general. Surely there are many other people who play stringed instruments who have had this problem. The thumb becomes arthritic more easily than other joints due to the fact that it moves in more directions than the fingers generally do. Also, any force at the top of the thumb is multiplied 12x, and that is approx. the force you have absorbed at your basal joint. Double jointed people have even more wear and tear against this joint, and an increased liklihood of developing arthritis in this joint.
I'm hoping perhaps this will all get a bit better when the cold weather wears off. I'm considering getting a cortisone injection for it. However, the point of this post is solely looking for ways that musicians have had luck bettering this issue by means of changing instrument to some octave mandolin skill might transfer to, or have reduced this problem via modifying thier method of playing, or how they have made the issue have less impact on thier musicplaying in general.
Regardless, many thanks for the response! Hope all is well! It is very good to know that mandolin will perhaps put less stress on the thumb than the octave mandolin does. This is very good to hear. Hopefully that will be true for me when mine arrives, and if so, I'll invest in a better mandolin. I'm simply trying out mandolin as an experiment to see if it is better on the hands.
Tim2723 wrote:
First, I'm not a doctor and I'm glad you're going to see one about your problem. Best of luck to you.
It sounds like something that might be helped by some special exercises to strengthen the muscles of your hand. Other than that, it sounds to me like you're approaching the mandolins from a guitar perspective. One of the common topics on the Mandolin Cafe is the proper grip for the mandolin family instruments. Almost invariably, guitarists taking up the mandolin will write in about problems with their grip and hand comfort. In a nutshell, the mandolin should be held more on the flat part of your first finger rather than with the thumb against the neck. Because of the way guitars are strung and tuned, the player needs to reach across the neck from treble to bass strings, so having the thumb on the back of the neck with the hand free to move is important. But the narrow neck and the tuning of the mandolin instruments requires us to reach farther down the neck from each position. That is, to reach down more frets rather than across lots of strings. In short, guitarists reach across from high strings to low, mandolinists reach lengthwise from the nut toward the bridge. The mandolin is not just a small guitar and the techniques are different. Adjusting your grip that way might help.