Lowering the tension

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Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

Lowering the tension

I seem to have gotten a little case of tendinitis. At least I think so... although I have taken off a few days, my joints are still cracking to an alarming degree. And my hands still have a bit of an ache in them. I had recently upped the intensity of my practice, and also started playing a little harder than before. Has this happened to anyone else? I'm thinking about lowering the tension of my strings since my hands can't seem to take the workload I want to assign them.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 17 2004 16:09:36

TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

RE: Lowering the tension (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Happened to me not too long ago. In fact you gave me some good advise. I don't think you need to lower your tension. Just lay off for a while. Give your hands a rest. They probably just need to get used to the increased work load.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 17 2004 16:17:12

duende

Posts: 3053
Joined: Dec. 15 2003
From: Sweden

RE: Lowering the tension (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

I got some muscal problems in the beginning when i started to learn flamenco.
Rasguados really killed my right arm. I held up for about 2 and a half month.

Anyway. What worked for me was to do exercises to strenghten my lower arm muscels.
and wrists. If i were you i would practice les for awhile. If it´s realy bad it will never go away. so be careful!

Henrik

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 17 2004 16:53:30

Ron.M

Posts: 7051
Joined: Jul. 7 2003
From: Scotland

RE: Lowering the tension (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Mike,
I always start off playing really quietly, just till my hands loosen up.
Maybe 15 mins or so.
I always take a break every half hour for 5 mins.
A good way of getting the stress out of your hands is to let them hang loose by your side and shake then with the fingers loosly open. (A violinist told me that one).
Be careful if your practising anything "hard" (with more force than usual).
You tend to tense up more, and that's when bad things can happen, even if it's just breaking a nail.
When you are playing "hard" it shouldn't feel hard.
Better working within your relaxed range and increasing slowly.
Remember it's the technique which is making it louder, not the force.

As for your joints cracking, I'm no medical expert, but I got that shortly after starting Flamenco and it's with me still. No big deal IMO.
My hands feel like they've had a "workout" after playing for a good few hours, but I wouldn't say "sore".

Go easy on the force, that's what's doing it IMO.

(All this my own inexpert opinion based on my own experience only of course!)

cheers

Ron

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 17 2004 17:16:11

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: Lowering the tension (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

I've only been playing about 1 gig a week lately, and it seems like after that gig, my hands are shot for a few days! I wonder what that's all about. It seems I actually expend more energy playing solo than when I used to be mostly strumming.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 17 2004 17:38:26

Jon Boyes

Posts: 1377
Joined: Jul. 10 2003

RE: Lowering the tension (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Miguel de Maria
I've only been playing about 1 gig a week lately, and it seems like after that gig, my hands are shot for a few days! I wonder what that's all about.

Aha, then your problem is most likely that you are tensing up during performance. This is pretty natural - its becomes easy for experienced players to spot tension building up whilst practicing, because you are in a relaxed environment with no pressure, but in a performance situation its much harder - too many other distractions, much more pressurise.

Jon

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 18 2004 8:16:46

Miguel de Maria

Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ

RE: Lowering the tension (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Not to mention, often uncomfortable chairs!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 18 2004 15:26:12

Guest

RE: Lowering the tension (in reply to Miguel de Maria)

Miguel,

You already know what to do. To change to a lower tension string, and most of all, stay away from carbonfiber composite trebles. They are hard for the fingers and nails. Also cut your nail a little shorter, it makes the impact smaler. And find yourself a good quality folding chair you can bring with you to your gigs. And finally think of how to relax as much as possible. All the above mencioned things goes this way.

good luck
Anders

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 23 2004 8:37:43