Double Bass Wrist pain

[Jericho]

Hello All,

I've played electric bass off and on for about twelve years, and recently decided to make the move to double bass. I bought an Engelhardt EM1 and a Glasser French bow. Going through the method that my instructor uses (F. Simandl), I can barely make it through one exercise without severe pain in my right wrist. I did a search in this forum and discovered that I may be causing myself some unwarrented pain by using the Glasser, and bought one of the brazilwood french bows on urbbob.com. That didn't seem to help matters at all. When my instructor watched my right hand, he discovered my pinky may be coming up, but I have since worked on that, still with the same pain. When playing electric I have experienced slight pain before but nothing like what has been going on with the double bass.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Heifetzbass]

Maybe you do something else in life that exacerbates the pain... Do you lift heavy objects, type on the computer a lot, etc...?

There may be carry-over into this realm that is hurting you. Has your teacher noticed anything out of line in your technique?

BG

 

[Jericho]

Just my pinky coming off the stick. I don't do much heavy lifting, and I do everything basically in a comittee for my job, so I probably type less than most people.

 

[mahlerbass]

Make sure that your back, shoulder, entire arm, wrist, etc. are all as relaxed as possible. Relaxation is a big theme with just about anything on the DB. Think "loosey Goosey", if you want.

I would highly recommend practicing with a fairly large mirror, so you can pinpoint possible issues when you start "hurting".

With the wrist specifically, make sure it looks "natural". It shouldn't be bent too much. Try having your wrist straight relative to the bottom of your arm. I wonder if you are gripping the bow too hard, or "pressing" the bow onto the strings.

Also, when you feel any discomfort, stop and take some time to relax. When I started DB, I developed many bad habits from trying to play through pain. 1 hr of relaxed and efficient practice is WAY better then 5 hrs of pain and stress.

Try looking at these webpages too
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
http://members.aol.com/dspondike/basslesson.html
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
http://www.uvm.edu/~mhopkins/string/pedagogy/bowstroke10.html

 

[Glider]

Make sure that your back, shoulder, entire arm, wrist, etc. are all as relaxed as possible. Relaxation is a big theme with just about anything on the DB. Think "loosey Goosey", if you want.

I would highly recommend practicing with a fairly large mirror, so you can pinpoint possible issues when you start "hurting".

With the wrist specifically, make sure it looks "natural". It shouldn't be bent too much. Try having your wrist straight relative to the bottom of your arm. I wonder if you are gripping the bow too hard, or "pressing" the bow onto the strings.

Also, when you feel any discomfort, stop and take some time to relax. When I started DB, I developed many bad habits from trying to play through pain. 1 hr of relaxed and efficient practice is WAY better then 5 hrs of pain and stress.

Try looking at these webpages too
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
http://members.aol.com/dspondike/basslesson.html
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
http://www.uvm.edu/~mhopkins/string/pedagogy/bowstroke10.html

Thanks for the links, I have been dealing with a sore wrist for about 3 weeks now to the point that I have backed off practicing, not sure what set it off but it could have been work. At any rate I'll continue to research proper hand positioning untill this thing heals up.

 

[Davidruby]

Two cents here - I have known so many string players that have had all kinds of repetitive injury problems. The consistant advice they get from physical therapists that specialize in musicians' injuries is NEVER to play through the pain. It appears that the saying "no pain no gain" does NOT apply to making music. I hope you can find a good physical therapist in your area to work with that fits into your medical plan or at least is sensitive to musicians issues on that score.
All the best,
David Ruby

 

[Jericho]

Thanks everybody. I did go to a therapist yesterday, and was informed that I probably have the start of CTS and I should take a break for a couple of weeks.

 

[Justin K-ski]

You should get a german bow.

 

[BMason]

I think you may be supporting the bow with your first finger and thumb which can put severe strain on your tendons. Try holding the bow with your thumb under the frog for a week or so. By doing that you can rely more on the weight of your arm to produce the sound.