Just got a Susato low D… fingers hurt. Ouch. just wondering about how long will it be til my fingers don’t cramp up every hour or so? ouch. thanx.
Hi!
Relax a little bit more. You might want to try playing in shorter timespans too. A little at a time.
-cj
Alhren`
Depending on the severity of the pain, you might want to soak your hands in medium hot water BEFORE your practice… also limber up your fingers before playing. Hand cramps could persist as little as a few weeks to as much as a few months. Much of this depends on persistance. Be consistant, analize your grip and don’t use a ‘death grip’ to over stress your hands. Should you continue to feel pain, keep in mind a few minutes each day is better than one longer practice once a week.
(disclaimer: start with warm and increase the temperature but never go past the point of comfort)
Alhren,
Are you using the “Piper’s” grip? If not, you ought to give it a try.
Blasted keyboard! Thanks for all your advice, and I do find Pipers grip easier- and I meant to type “1/4” hour- but my keyoard is random- I’m still trying to figure out why there is a at the end of my nick... should be "Alhren" not "Alhren"…
Anyway, thanks a lot.
I struggles with hand cramps and the like because I didn’t think I wanted to take the time to work on the piper grip. Once I made the decision it really was a quick and easy transition.
Playing for long periods of time is no longer a problem.
I have the same problem, even though I have long fingers. Guess I haven’t mastered the piper’s grip yet either.
I think that what goes on is that one attempts to cover holes by pushing harder. Once I could play the whistle, I spent a lot of time trying to make my hands very relaxed when I played, just covering the holes not pushing down on them. Made all the difference in the world in terms of hand pain.
Richard