Shoulder pain

[michaelgilleran]

Hey TB

Ive been playing a lot of the bach cello suites lately and after I hit the 2 hour mark or so in playing, I get really stiff pain through my left shoulder. I mention Ive been playing bach because it only happens while Im playing that particular music...

I have an unpadded leather strap about 2.5 inches wide, I wear it with the horn about at my nip, and its a pretty heavy bass.

Fix me! (lol)

[fearceol]

Some suggestions :

1. Get a wider padded strap.

2. During your two hours practice session, take a couple of five minute breaks and do some exercises like this one (the shoulders are featured at around the 1.03 minute mark) ;

Dahn Yoga: Shoulder Exercises For Shoulder Pain - YouTube

Also do the exercise before and after your session. There are other exercises if you do a search.

3. Make sure that you are not unconsciously tensing the shoulders. Sometimes when we are concentrating hard on what we are playing, we tense up without realising it.

[Russell L]

A wider strap is a good idea. I won't play with anything less than 3". Nor wider, because then it digs into my neck. Even in a classical concert setting you never play that long at a time. Take breaks. You might also want to rest your bass on your leg to relieve the weight. Some like to rest it on their left leg (right-handers) like classical guitar, and even use a foot rest. I prefer not to rest mine on my left leg because the bass neck is too long, IMO. But, whichever you choose, still take breaks. I played a solid, fast, fifteen minute blues thing the other night and had my shoulder hurting, sitting down with the bass on my right thigh. I took a good break after that.