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my poor hands
- Thread starter Mtheory
- Start date
Sorry for your troubles. Strange reflex we have to save others not realizing the immediate consequences. Seven year old kid is very different than a 70 year old, anyway..
In regards to the hand stuff, as long as your brain works, your body will follow.
I would spend my time listening to music, live and recorded. You mentioned a fretless and that takes ears to play too, so use 'em while your hands catch up.
Talk to other players about the way they approach something you like about the way they play. How did they get to that technique, passage, fingering. Better keep a journal, digital voice looks like the ticket, so you can go back and use what you've heard in your time off to practice when your hands come back.
Best of luck to you and keep on playing. I keep a rubber ball around the store and just squeeze it during the day for strength exercises.
-richard
In regards to the hand stuff, as long as your brain works, your body will follow.
I would spend my time listening to music, live and recorded. You mentioned a fretless and that takes ears to play too, so use 'em while your hands catch up.
Talk to other players about the way they approach something you like about the way they play. How did they get to that technique, passage, fingering. Better keep a journal, digital voice looks like the ticket, so you can go back and use what you've heard in your time off to practice when your hands come back.
Best of luck to you and keep on playing. I keep a rubber ball around the store and just squeeze it during the day for strength exercises.
-richard
Great stuff with the piano, always an instrument worth learning for so many reasons.
I broke my neck and suffered paralisis on the right side mainly to my arm. As a result i had nerve damage substansial enough to cause muscle wastage and damage. As i recovered i made and used a hand board to exercise my fingers and only my fingers. Any excess movement in my arms caused pain to my neck. As i lay there, and slight movement started to come back, i would fit my fingers in to the bands and try and lift them up, or turn the boead over and with the back of my hand on the board, stretch the bands by curling my fingers. The board works left or right handed, palm down or up.
What it does best is only target the muscles being used. As i am lying down my arm is on the floor beside me on the board. So all muscles are relaxed except the ones i want to target... my fingers and fingers only.
Below is the board and some of the bands i used
I placed my hand on the board wich is about 24" long, marked where the ends of my fingers where and drilled holes small enough to put elastic bands through
The band were then secured on the back and held in place with some sticky tape,
Then i put my fingers throuth the loops and with my fore arm resting relaxed on the board( very important that part) started to lift my fingers
In the picture below i have it on the tabletop to show how the forearm should be on the board and how the fingers lift
I used this everyday to build and help speed my recovery for muscles for about 10mins, 4 times a day amongst other things i did.
If the tape is removed the pins that hold the bands put on the other side, then board turned over i will do the left hand, or the right hand palm up. i am sorting out some better pics and will put them on my Myspace page in the blogs with more ways used it. The bands need to be the weakest ones then build up the strengths. It is about putting some resistance in, not restiction..restriction will cause damage, so light resistance.
if this sound like something that might help you then build one and give it a go. I would lie there and read a book or TV and do it, it is non-intrusive so can be done most places. I still use it today about once a week.
Drop me a line(anybody else thats interested) if you have any questions, alway happy to answer them
Fergie
Try not to worry.. lots of good advice in here ...
Take it one day at a time.. You are young and you can overcome.
Inspiration 1
Inspiration 2
Take it one day at a time.. You are young and you can overcome.
Inspiration 1
Inspiration 2
First and foremost - Be absolutely grateful every that you're alive. Life is the one thing that too many people take for granted. When I was born, I weighed 2 1/4 lbs. That was in 1965. The odds of my surviving were less than 10 %. Yet, here I am. On days when I'm down, I just take a deep breath and remind myself of that, and if it doesn't get rid of the blues, it does make things a bit better.
Second. Yes. It will take a while to get back to your abilities. But, everyone is correct. Be Patient.
Second. Yes. It will take a while to get back to your abilities. But, everyone is correct. Be Patient.
honestly man when i couldnt play for a while due to injury and still cant i realized one thing... even though my techinique and physical abilities were nill
MY BASS playing got WAY BETTER than i could have ever imagined....
Because no matter what i played the bass in my head all day long and listented to music...
So dont worry YOU can get alot better by not even playing the actually instrument because remember the music comes from us (thanks victa)
imo if you can keep the music flowing in ur mind and spirit playing it is cake...
but rest and make sure your body heals fully
MY BASS playing got WAY BETTER than i could have ever imagined....
Because no matter what i played the bass in my head all day long and listented to music...
So dont worry YOU can get alot better by not even playing the actually instrument because remember the music comes from us (thanks victa)
imo if you can keep the music flowing in ur mind and spirit playing it is cake...
but rest and make sure your body heals fully
Remember in your recovery mis-use and over-use become a factor, be patient.:scowl:
In my case it was small steps each hr. of the day each day of the week. I would focus for 10 mins in every hr, to try and make my fingers move. For anyone to understand my frustration, stand in front of a mirror and wiggle one of your ears. You can see it, you can touch it, but you cannot move or control it, no matter what you think or try and feel it will not move.
I had a lot of things go on when i was sleeping, muscles twitching, fingers shaking, all in-voluntary movements, some times so bad they would wake me up. That was my muscles and neuro pathways sorting out what i had been doing and ordering it. Sometimes weeks go by and you feel no change, then you wake up on morning and a lot has changed, it comes in plateaus.
For me one of the funniest plateaus looking back was the day i tied my shoe laces. I was a clumsy effort but i done it. I un-tied them and done it again, and again, and again. I spent hours that day just tying my shoe laces. The reason i look back and find it funny is that the simple act of tying my shoes had been long learnt and was now a sub-concious thing, some thing i did not even think about when doing it.
Now it was a plateaus reached for me, i could not wear all types of foot wear with laces. Till this point i was bare-footed and wore flip-flops as i needed no hands to put them on. It is the all little things we can do you come to appreciate the wonder of, and why looking after your hands is so important to a healthy easier way of life.
I post many things on TB that players don't get where i'm coming from and question it with scepticism as it seems to against bass playing thinking. When you lose the use of your hands you realise bass playing is the smallest and most useless of your physical skills, but one of the most motivational mental tools you have. It stands to reason if you can play bass you can do almost anything with your hands that you put your mind to, and that is the key, stay motivated with small steps, accessable steps, you will reach those plateaus. Bass playing is an anatomical neuro- physical movement utilizing body mechanics, so it can be targeted and developed with exercise.
Good luck and keep in touch if you have any questions.
i hear ya. whenever i have had troubles in my past i would play them away. now i cant.
i was getting very close again to a girl my age, 21, and a couple days ago found out the hard way that she traded my friendship for a 37 year old f@ck buddy.
if i could play bass it would be easier to deal with..
i was getting very close again to a girl my age, 21, and a couple days ago found out the hard way that she traded my friendship for a 37 year old f@ck buddy.
if i could play bass it would be easier to deal with..
Maybe the owner of the car's insurance can kick in? Also, if you have uninsured/under insured coverage, that can kick in as well.
That's why I raised my medical to $100k and carry a $1m umbrella. The medical can get out of hand so fast that the minimum insurance coverage is so low that it almost amounts to nothing, especially when the medical can go to $250k pretty easily, especially if you factor in the long term.
I also found out that auto medical coverage for a specific accident expires after a specific time period(3 to 5 years).
My wife was in an accident(not her fault) and received treatment for her back for 3.5 years. After 3 years, the medical benefits stopped and we had to pay out of pocket for a few months until she was 99.9% okay and felt good enough to stop treatment.
So if you're on the hook for medical treatment for someone else and after 3 years they're still receiving treatment, you may have to pay out of your pocket.
Hope you're feeling better.
yeah got one hand out of the cast, its sooo stiff and weak, i can't even make a fist
so between the 2 guys i should get like 60,000 for medical insurance, and my insurance helps me with another 50
so 110,000, bills are over 200,000 now. I sucks because i basically sacrificed my health to save the guys life and im getting kinda screwed.
so between the 2 guys i should get like 60,000 for medical insurance, and my insurance helps me with another 50
so 110,000, bills are over 200,000 now. I sucks because i basically sacrificed my health to save the guys life and im getting kinda screwed.
It's going to be a fight, as I did. I can only play medium gauge at the best. Flat wounds are not for me unfortunately, or not for a long time, and for solo practice, to build strength in my hand.
Don't know what you have listened to.
On youtube you could check out some of these:
Lalo Cello Concerto
Strauss concerto for oboe
Strauss last 4 songs
Nielsen violin concerto
Nielsen clarinet concerto
Nielsen - Symphony No. 1.
Glazunov Violin Concerto
Kalinnikov symphony 1
Sibelius Violin Concerto
Sibelius: Andante festivo
Just to listen to these.
You do not need try to cop chops from these.
On youtube you could check out some of these:
Lalo Cello Concerto
Strauss concerto for oboe
Strauss last 4 songs
Nielsen violin concerto
Nielsen clarinet concerto
Nielsen - Symphony No. 1.
Glazunov Violin Concerto
Kalinnikov symphony 1
Sibelius Violin Concerto
Sibelius: Andante festivo
Just to listen to these.
You do not need try to cop chops from these.
get a lawyer and go after both the drivers/car owners insurance. Don't sign anything or verbally accept any settlement offers until you have a lawyer in your corner.
hey guys, sorry i haven't been on talkbass for a while.
well, i have both casts off and the pins removed now... my right hand is doing pretty good, i can still double thumb with it and all that, which i was excited about. My left hand, is still very stiff, achy, and weak, it's only been out of the cast since monday though so that's to be expected.... I can frett a note with any of my three smaller fingers, but it hurts pretty bad if i try to with my index finger, so i'm takin' it slow.
I have 3 different firmnesses of therapeutic putty, i've been using the softest one on my right hand, and i'm not supposed to use any on my left hand quite yet... actually if my therapist knew i was playing the bass, she would probably tell me not to...
i realized something great the other day though... when i picked up my bass for the first time..actually it's hard just to get the thing sitting in the correct position on my lap with out hurting my shoulder. Anyway, even though my left hand is so limited right now, i noticed that i still have the groove. I was worried i would lose that along with my muscle memory, but it's still there. Now i know, the groove isn't in my hands at all, it's in my soul. It was the greatest feeling
things are looking up.
as for the guy who caused it...he must have skipped town because nobody can find him... luckily for me i'm a poor college student with nothing to lose, so i know i'm not going to end up paying the 200,000+ medical bill, it sure as hell wasn't my fault.
well, i have both casts off and the pins removed now... my right hand is doing pretty good, i can still double thumb with it and all that, which i was excited about. My left hand, is still very stiff, achy, and weak, it's only been out of the cast since monday though so that's to be expected.... I can frett a note with any of my three smaller fingers, but it hurts pretty bad if i try to with my index finger, so i'm takin' it slow.
I have 3 different firmnesses of therapeutic putty, i've been using the softest one on my right hand, and i'm not supposed to use any on my left hand quite yet... actually if my therapist knew i was playing the bass, she would probably tell me not to...
i realized something great the other day though... when i picked up my bass for the first time..actually it's hard just to get the thing sitting in the correct position on my lap with out hurting my shoulder. Anyway, even though my left hand is so limited right now, i noticed that i still have the groove. I was worried i would lose that along with my muscle memory, but it's still there. Now i know, the groove isn't in my hands at all, it's in my soul. It was the greatest feeling
things are looking up.
as for the guy who caused it...he must have skipped town because nobody can find him... luckily for me i'm a poor college student with nothing to lose, so i know i'm not going to end up paying the 200,000+ medical bill, it sure as hell wasn't my fault.
