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tense shoulders?
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TGerman
Posts: 138
Joined: Nov. 27 2005
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 RE: tense shoulders? (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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Hi Miguel,
Though I have only just started playing I can tell you I suffer from the same thing. Here are my observations and some possible solutions:
The problem with sitting classical style and prolonged sitting with one ankle crossed over onto the opposite knee is that when the postural muscles of the back and abs (core muscles) tire you tend to slouch over and rest a bit onto the guitar, when this happens the muscles of the upper back and shoulders elongate and, most likely, the pain that we feel is an elongated and now weakened muscle trying to stabilise the shoulder.
Sitting in these positions for extended periods of time can really be horrendous to the body. It can all start from the pelvis, when we sit the psoas (so-az; basically connects our lower half to our upper half from the inside top of our leg to the spine just under the ribs) becomes shortened and tilts our pelvis forward this, invariably, causes low back pain (sound familiar?). This can start off a series of muscle imbalances, the front of the body becoming shortened and tight from hunching over the guitar and the back, in compensation, becomes lengthened (and a long muscle is usually weak).
Some possible solutions:
Stretch and strengthen. Stretch the front of the body so the back doesn't work so hard. Strengthen the back and shoulders with simple exercises such as:
- Using stretch cords you buy from any fitness store perform reverse flyes.
- Hold each end of the cord and stand on the middle, with a straight back bend from the hips now pull the ends of the cord straight up to your sides squeezing your shoulder blades together.
In the meantime when playing the guitar try to keep good posture also try sitting on a higher stool rather than a chair and raise the righ leg, do not cross it. This will increase the angle at the hip and you will find the you have to slouch over and rest on the guitar, you can now lean over bending from the hip.
I realize that this is a long post to a, seemingly, simple question but, as I have learned, there are no simple easy answers.
Miguel, I hope this helps and if you have specific questions about exercises don't hesitate in asking, I will send you links to the exercises.
Take care,
Todd
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jan. 16 2006 11:36:43
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ToddK
Posts: 2961
Joined: Dec. 6 2004
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RE: tense shoulders? (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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I wish i could be of help here.
All i can say is, there definately IS a way to play in flamenco position
with no shoulder or back pain.
I do ALOT of playing in this position, and i never have pain.
I dont have an especially strong back either. I pull muscles in my back
quite often, usually closing/opening my rusty garage door.
But never from playing.
From time to time, i can feel my right shoulder get a little tired, but its
never persists beyond a half hour break.
Stretching certainly couldnt hurt, Todd's right there.
Are you taking breaks every 10 or 15 minutes??
Remember to do that, if you're not!! Most of us know this, but
its so easy to break that rule.
I met a massage therapist recently, and she says, we tend to hold tension
in our shoulders, even when we're not doing anything at all. She demonstrated
on me by grabing my shoulders and telling me, "relax". At that moment, i
could feel all the tension i was holding, just sitting there doing nothing.
Make a consicious effort to really make sure you're dropping your shoulders
when not playing. Yours needs its rest badly. 
TK
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jan. 16 2006 11:54:03
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rickm
Posts: 446
Joined: Jan. 23 2004
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RE: tense shoulders? (in reply to Miguel de Maria)
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Miguel, a long time ago I had similar problems. I dont now. One thing you might try, all the talk about positioning notwithstanding, is practicing in front of a mirror. (they gym analogy) you should be able to see the tenseness or how you are carrying your shoulder. My son pointed it out to me years ago that I tend to tense that shoulder while playing. I never made a conscious effort to change anyting, but it went away. Another trick a flamenco taught me was that several of the flamenco moves so to speak, like remate is actually carried out preferably bu the weight of the arm. We want to indicate momentum of the fingers continually as we strike the strings, but just by incorporating the weight of the armthe strike is better,more controlled easier and less fatigueing as it expends less effort. But the key to that weight of the arm philosophy is that the arm, and shoulder must be totally relaxed. We spend a lot of time on fingers, less on wrist and less on total body placement, but the mechanism must be relaxed to play well, for a long time w/o fatigue etc. The other thing is since I'm sort of a gym rat is shoulder exercises to strenghten that joint, but more importantly the control of the muscle, connective tissue etc. I had a problme with bicep curls for a long time, analyzed what I was doing, incorporated more shoulder exercises, and the weight I did with the curls jumped noticeably. And yes I understand for you critical purists out there the bicept should be doing all the work, but we forget it is all connected and at some point the shoulder does assist. I think that is the salient point for this discussion, it is all connected, the fingers will not play well unless the shoulder is relaxed or at least get overworked in the process. and the back and the neck and the never mind. hope this helps.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jan. 17 2006 15:33:34
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