 [1653]Re:practicing (339 reads) |
2002-03-14 10:35:50 |
(The usual disclaimers apply: I'm neither a physician nor a physical therapist, but I'll offer the following from my own experience as well as that of some of my students over the years.) Did you gradually build up your practice sessions to the current 5-6 hour level, or did you just ratchet things up from, say, an hour a day, all at once? Playing marimba is a physical activity as well as a musical activity - and you wouldn't see an athlete switch overnight from half-mile walks to running a marathon. Are you "warming down" as well as "warming up"? It's important to let your hands' muscles and tendons make a gradual transition from "intense activity" to relative inactivity - the reverse of "warming up." Brass players are taught to do this, but it seems to get overlooked by many drum/percussion instructors. You can't just stop cold, and not expect some discomfort to develop. (This has been my experience - YMMV). Are you giving your hands time to rest each hour? Give yourself at least five or ten minutes off each hour - your hands need that kind of break. There's a difference between muscles feeling tired, and a feeling of pain. If your hands and fingers are just tired, that's one thing - you'll build up endurance as you go along (assuming, of course, that you're building up to these marathon practice sessions, and not just jumping headfirst into the deep end). Pain is the body's signal that something is wrong - whatever you do, don't "play through it," or expect it to go away on its own. You'll just be setting the stage for more problems down the road if you form bad habits now. http://www.malletjazz.com Remote Host: |
 [1652]practicing <billy> |
2002-03-14 08:57:20 |
 [1653]Re:practicing <James Walker> |
2002-03-14 10:35:50 |
 [1752]Re:Re:practicing <Ben> |
2002-04-15 11:49:19 |
| [1654]Re:practicing <jsb> |
2002-03-14 13:11:57 |
| [1662]Re:practicing <Lisa> |
2002-03-16 04:57:24 |