Quote:
Originally Posted by Illfavor  When I play my instrument, my right shoulder blade protrudes more than my left. Is this natural? It seems to be your shoulders and body should be balances. Also, my right shoulder sits about 1.5 inches lower than my left, and despite my efforts I cannot seem to get them even. All of this is resulting in pain in my right shoulder, on the front side of my body.
Any ideas to solve this problem?
Thank you for any information! |
Hi. I am sorry you have pain playing the bass. Someone should really observe you playing, and perhaps an assessment can be made. Likely you are "holding" up your joints with muscles that really are not serving your playing. This unbalanced level in your shoulders I believe SHOULD be looked at. I do my utmost to not stress the body (muscles or joints or bones) any more that required to play vigorously. But if you are using muscles to do something in addition to playing, this is where you need someone to identify the over-use (an example
ne can stretch one's hand without actually playing the bass, but the energy used to spread the fingers is "wasted" and serves only to create more tension across the top of the hand, reducing the movement of the tendons - needed for playing). It could be that you lift your shoulder due to tension or stress or somewhere along the line someone told you that it was an appropriate position (perhaps for vibrato?) Anyway, yes a balance is important for longevity ... I think. But it does not have to LOOK as if they are evenly at the same level. It could be your spine is a bit tilted or maybe something unrelated to your shoulder. Pain should always be considered an indication that what you are doing is not working well for your body. Tho'... there is the "no pain, no gain" attitude. Leave that for more muscular activity like body building. The bass takes muscle yes, but not in the kind of attitude or manner that a body builder has. We are supple and athletic, but not bound-up.
Finally: left higher than right is pretty common for bassists. We must on big instruments, reach far down toward the bridge while playing a "low" f high above our head. For MOST playing though, try not to lift the shoulders. And do not lift left arm over shoulder height even if that is what so-and-so told you to do to have nice vibrato. You can do it all without lifting over shoulder height. I keep my elbow low and change the angle of the fingers to the string (fb). I had eight years of tendonitis and bursitis and I refuse to get it again (that was more than 20 years ago now!). Good Luck!
Patrick
