I’ve searched the forum and haven’t really found a discussion on this one:
There’s a thumbrest on my Low D… Now I haven’t really played without it - ever, but I’m starting to think that I should -
Seems my thumb lower joints begin to sore after doing many fast rolls.
For a long time the tumbrest was under my right thumb, lately I’ve pushed it up to my left thumb, because of the horrible pain. And even then that thumb also started to sore
Anyone who’s using thumbrests here? Or maybe it’s advisable to just take it off? And why does the thumb hurt - maybe something is wrong with the placement of it …
I wouldn’t blame the thumbrest for the pain, Trip, but if it doesn’t help you play, just remove it – no big deal. Some people like a little support there especially with the low D’s, but I thought it got in the way and got rid of mine.
I wouldn’t have thought a thumb rest in itself could be responsible for horrible thumb pain but who knows—maybe it is causing you to hold your thumb funny. Did it just start when you started doing “many fast rolls”? Then maybe that is where the problem is. If you continue to have the horrible pain without the thumb rest and when you don’t do many fast rolls, then you must do something about that. You should not be having pain when you play an instrument. It could worsen and you will not be able to play at all or you will have to lay off for a long time. I am speaking from experience.
If the pain goes away, here are some exercises you can do to warm up and to take breaks during your practice: http://www.mindspring.com/~shin-on/handcare.htmlThese exercises aren’t for injured fingers—they might make the injury worse!!!
I myself would stop regular practicing at this point and concentrate on how you are holding the whistle. Are you gripping it tightly? Are your shoulders tense? You just want to be touching that whistle as lightly as possible. When you put your fingers on the holes, you just want to cover them so the air can’t leak out. You don’t want to be pressing down. If the note sounds bad, DO NOT press harder. Move your finger until it is in the correct position. Pressing harder works because it makes your finger fatter and you can cover the hole more easily. But it causes TENSION in your fingers which can cause injury and also will prevent you from moving your fingers quickly. The whistle should just be resting lightly on your thumbs. Don’t be tensing up your thumbs with the thought that the whistle might slip. If you get pain when practicing rolls, then you have to change what you are doing. Maybe you are doing too many at a sitting. Maybe you are tensing up. I don’t know. But you cannot play with horrible pain in your thumb. You can solve the problem once you have gotten rid of the pain.
Cynth may be on to something in that last paragraph. This really sound like a case of Death Grip to me. You may be squeezing tightly while doing the rolls, I know I have done that before. What notes were you rolling when your thumb became sore?
I use them on my lower key whistles - G on down to D. Even bought some extras to put on my non-Susatos(hope I haven’t broken some whistle code of ettiquete) . I find it lessens fatigue for me. It might be from playing sax but they really work well for me. Did I mention that I have some artristis?
If something worked well for me I would use it. You know the title of the book by Richard Feynman? What do you care what other people think? There’s no way a thumb rest could inconvenience anyone else. If someone thinks it’s funny, so what? Let 'em have a giggle. Practice hard and you’ll have the last laugh.
In terms of low-whistle geekdom, I go one step beyond thumbrests: neckstraps. I’ll do just about anything to get rid of hand tension when playing, partly from years of playing a very heavy old blackwood clarinet. I just take a loop of leather string, make a girth hitch around the whistle between the third and fourth holes, and hang it around my neck. Handy for doubling, too.
Mate, thanks for the good and important tips. To make a few points on the topic, my right thumb began to sore basicly with the thumbrest (I never had the thumbrest off) - when I moved the thumbrest up the whistle to my left thumb, the right thumb clearly started to sore much less, but every now and then it still sores sometimes.
With the thumbrest on my left thumb, now this one started to sore, esspecially when playing alot of A and B rolls or playing B->C->D notes up and down quickly. I’m also managing to tap the C note using the right hand - which kinda brings tension, since it’s not regularly I use that ‘trick’.
I must admit, tension is allways there with unknown tunes, with unknown finger moves - unlike with the known ones which are allready in the subconscious mind kinda.
Either I’m too tenesed, either i’ve put the thumbrest on some wrong place for the thumb - at first any place for the thumb feels ok - but it’s the 15 minutes of playing that starts revealing the pain.
Or maybe it’s both tension and thumbrest combined into a horrible outcome.
One last thing, there are times I play for an hour - and I don’t really feel any pain - but when I put down the whistle - I feel like all my fingers and arms are covered in gypsum (having a cast). So I try to squeeze my hands into fists to ease the feeling. I really enjoy my low whistle, but I’d hate it to hurt my hand joints.
For those who have had thumb pain where in the finger is it located? I also have arthritis and have had one joint fusion done (on my righti ndex finger which makes playing some runs fast kinda tricky). My pain is in the knuckle closest to my wrist..the joint is clearly enlarged.
After too many years with clarinets I have a callus where the thumb rest used to lie. I find that even though I don’t have thumb rests on either my recorders (including the tenor) or whistles I hold the instruments with them resting against the callus and my thumb at a slight angle to balance them there.
I usually would as soon not use the thumbrest, though on clarinet it was a nice thing to have. I think one of the things is, a clarinet is generally heavier than even a low Susato.
Your last symptom sounds like what I had in my wrist and fore arm. No pain while playing but stiffness. I started to have some pain with it and then I had it all the time I wasn’t playing. I finally got worried and stopped practicing. It took 6 months to go away. I am starting to practice again, trying to re-train myself to relax, do exercises, and take breaks. It is very difficult. If I have trouble again, I am going to have to find a professional to help me. And I won’t wait until it gets bad this time. The least twinge and I have to get that problem taken care of somehow or I won’t be able to practice! I hope you can get this problem solved too. These injuries get worse and worse until they become serious. That’s why I’m lecturing you so intensely!
On my Susato low D they rest is right at hole #4 and I push up with my right thumb nail/knuckle very supportive and comfortable when playing fast I like it
so cynth,
something must be wrong - I don’t wanna lose my fingers ;/
I’ll try to lose the tension as more as possible - but what about thumb position?
I hold the whistle with the side of my thumbs - my right thumb never reaching the 4th hole that’s for sure. (unless 4th means from the middle downwards).
As you see in the pictures on that page, the player’s right-hand
thumb is slightly lower than his right hand index finger (which
covers the fourth hole). I played clarinet, so I also use the side of
my thumb, which puts it a little higher on the whistle, probably just
above the index finger.
Let 'em have a giggle. Practice hard and you’ll have the last laugh.
But who knows maybe I’ll need to 
