Hi y'all,
Originally a classically trained flutist since childhood, I've been struggling for a long time with left hand cramping using the classical finger/hand position on the wooden flute. I have rather short fingers and its a big stretch for my ring finger on most flutes. I've decided to switch over to piper style fingering on the left hand, seems to give me much more flexibility and allows my fingers and hand to relax. It also allows less confusion to my hands switching between flute, low whistle and the pipes. Other than keeping me from easily getting to the B-flat key (not an issue for me), I don't find any downside to using this style of playing.
To stabilize the instrument using piper fingering, I move my left thumb up towards the headjoint so it puts some pressure on the instrument towards the body. However, I find after playing for a few minutes in this position I'm starting to experience some pain in the joints of my thumb.
I was curious if anyone could recommend some good stretches to help me adapt to this style of playing.
Cheers and thanks,
Michael Eskin
http://www.michaeleskin.com