Numb Thumbs

[naka]

Sorry if this is a bit pedestrian but, I've recently begun playing concertina and find that both

my thumbs are constantly numb now from the wrist strap cutting into the area between the

thumb and index finger. I'm wondering if this is "part of the gig" one just gets used to

or if it is a common problem with a solution. I'm now using foam rubber to soften the

edge of the wrist strap but am still having difficulty.

 

thanks in advance for any help on this, doug

[goran rahm]

Quote:".....both

my thumbs are constantly numb now from the wrist strap cutting into the area between the

thumb and index finger. doug"

 

Goran:

1) what sort of instrument?

2) do you use the common 'strap' for it? (The term "wriststrap" is more suitable for the one used with Englishes. I look at the strap with Anglo and Duet as a 'handstrap')

3) even if the strap is fairly tight you normally don't expect neither nerves nor blood vessels for the thumbs to be affected if thumbs are kept rather straight so a guess is that you 'grip' some way with your thumbs...is that correct?

 

Please get back with some comments....

In the meanwhile have a thought about the insufficiency of the traditional handle in general:

 

http://www.concertina.net/goran_ergonom.html

 

Goran Rahm

[naka]

Yes, you are quite right. I am gripping the concertina "handstraps" with the thumbs and will now pay attention to keeping them straight. I'm playing a Hayden Duet.

Thanks so much for your input on this. doug

[goran rahm]

Yes, you are quite right. I am gripping the concertina "handstraps" with the thumbs and will now pay attention to keeping them straight. I'm playing a Hayden Duet.

Thanks so much for your input on this. doug

 

Goran:Fine, a small change of position may solve it if you are lucky...Not knowing exactly your instrument however most Duets suffer a lot more from balancing problems than Anglos due to larger size/weight and more eccentricity. In the long run you may face the choice between

- only playing with the instrument on your knee(s) or

- using some suspension (preferrably not a neckstrap, but some altarnative to that) or

- reforming the handle

- using some absurd/desparate way to avoid the problems

 

Goran Rahm

[naka]

Thanks again for your help with this problem Goran. You've got me thinking now of

moving the wooden bar that the strap attaches to up closer to the buttons. Seems I really have

to jam my hand way up into the strap so that I can reach the upper notes. Its a Staggi Hayden

Duet by the way. I'll figure something out. thanks doug

[Simon Wells]

I had a different numb thumbs problem a while ago.

 

I was suffering almost constant numbness along the outside edge of my right thumb. Just couldn't figure it. After a while I worked out it was from the pressure of the air button. My instrument was brand new, and the action on some buttons pretty tight.

 

So I just opened it up and removed one of the 2 springs on the button's lever. I was worried that this could have slackened the tension on the button and maybe cause a leak. But it was fine, and so now the button was so much easier to depress and the numbness vanished.

[SamW]

Hello Goran,

 

I am just starting to learn to play a 30 button Anglo (Hohner International) and do not find holding it very comfortable. It was interesting to read the thread on the different ways people hold them. I was wondering about the instructions to rest it on both knees (Bertram Levy's beginner's book) and whether that meant moving your legs to open and close the bellows. (I guess not).

 

I did follow the link you provided in this thread about a new design for the handles and straps. Are there plans or patterns available for the design? I would like to at least replace my thin straps with a wider pair. The wooden hand rest looks somewhat difficult to copy without some patterns.

 

Thanks,

Sam

[JimLucas]

I was wondering about the instructions to rest it on both knees (Bertram Levy's beginner's book) and whether that meant moving your legs to open and close the bellows.

I would suggest that if you use both legs for support, they should be used only for support, not to move the bellows. I.e., keep the legs relaxed, and use your arms to move the bellows, with the legs passively following the bellows movement, not producing it.

[Chris Timson]

I was wondering about the instructions to rest it on both knees (Bertram Levy's beginner's book) and whether that meant moving your legs to open and close the bellows. (I guess not).

I think it's worth experimenting until you find what works for you. What works for me is to rest the right hand end on my knee and hold the left hand end in the air. This gives me the freedom to move the left hand end around while keeping the rigfht hand end still where most of the melody work is going on.

 

(At least, that was the position prior to my stroke, now I'm finding my right hand is doing more of the work. I'm going to have to work on that !)

 

Chris

[RustyBits]

The same thing was happening to me when I started playing. . . numb thumbs. It went away as soon as I kept my thumbs loose. I rest my concertina on my left knee. For a while I put a pillow on the floor in front of me because it felt like the concertina would go flying without me gripping it, but it never did.

 

I also had the same question about the Levy book. . . do I move my knees to help the bellows??

 

I think all of us Newbies should form a band called The Numb Thumbs. We can sit on stage and move the bellows with our knees. Who knows, it could become the new fad of the concertina world! Everyone will want to join!