How I View Pain, Part 2
If you’ve been reading my little missives lately you will remember that a few days ago I wrote that a certain amount of aches and pains are part of the violin bargain; especially so if you want to improve.
Well, after that newsletter went out I got a response taking me to task for such a position. The writer offered that all pain experienced from playing is generated through the inefficient use of the body; that dynamic tension – 2 muscles working at odds to one another – is the culprit.
Well, I didn’t buy it as the ONLY source of playing discomfort.
I’ll certainly agree that many violinists DO suffer pain because they haven’t successfully dealt with hidden tensions, and are producing tremendous strain by having their way on the instrument through force.
Yet there is no way I can see this as the whole picture.
In my response I pointed out the discomfort MOST will inevitably feel when merely holding an arm out straight for as little time as a minute or two. I say most because there are those so endowed – shorter arms, barrel chests, efficient lactic acid metabolizing ability – as can do such a thing indefinitely without registering the slightest discomfort.
They are the exception.
And when muscles are used dynamically – as in moving around a violin – variations in musculature and muscle elasticity will affect the sensations each player experiences.
This is all part of natural aptitude; ‘talent’, if you will.
Now, does this mean that one should interpret the first signs of discomfort as an indication of genetic deficiency, at least where violin playing is concerned?
Absolutely not.
If you love the instrument you’ll find a way to make peace with whatever discomfort comes your way; to listen to it, understand it, and ultimately extend a path through it.
My guiding principles are these; A) if a pain arises from muscle fatigue or rigidity, I will extend myself until I can no longer hold form, and B) If the pain fails to diminish, and in fact grows, over a period of several days, I will back off and re-evaluate.
You see, in some situations involving nerves and/or muscles, things have a way of getting worse before they get better. And that’s ok, in my book.
One time, for instance, I developed a pinched nerve in my neck. The way it came about had nothing to do with violin playing, yet it certainly had an impact on it. Eventually I was hauling pillows to recording sessions to prop up my left arm.
After a couple months of this I finally sought out a recommended chiropractor/physical-therapist – funny how long types like myself will defer self-maintenance.
First thing he said to me was, ‘What I’m going to have you do will probably make your pain worse for a few days before it gets better.’
He was absolutely right.
The exercises and stretches made my life almost intolerable for a couple days. And then things turned around dramatically.
Within a week I was pain free for the first time in 10 months.
But getting back to violin practice, and the reason for my going into this – i.e. extending to the FULL limits of one’s ability – it’s essential that have a certain amount of now-how.
The now-how I’m talking about is what comprises good form.
If you understand this, and stay within the ultimate limits it places on you, chances are you will make steady and sure progress to the goals you set for yourself.
So, if you are at the beginning of a violin journey and want your best foot out front, join dozens of others getting it all right from the get-go at with Violin Mastery’s Beginners Circle.
Been playing for a couple years, but sill searching for the real goods on violin playing? No problem, I think you’ll find it in spades with Violin Mastery’s Allegro Players.
All the best,
Clayton Haslop
P.S. I didn’t mention, in my little pinched nerve anecdote, that the good doctor stressed the importance of form whilst doing the prescribed exercises. Form and content, you really can’t have one without the other. And now speaking of content, there’s much more at Violin Mastery than the two programs mentioned above.
