after 12 months healing I can start playing again

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marduk

Posts: 600
Joined: Feb. 3 2010

after 12 months healing I can start ...

in december last year I had surgery on my right hand and then badly broke my left wrist resulting in a large metal plate, 16 bolts and a lot of nerve damage. I was told for months I will never play again because I couldn't get my fingers on the fretboard. I started slowly bending and stretching the wrist while it was still soft and broken and now 12 months later I can play well enough to start playing for classes again. it's incredibly painful to play but it hurts when I don't play as well so I am just going for it.

Its strange to be teaching my hand to work again, I am back to practicing beginner stuff but I make progress every day

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 9:16:07

gerundino63

Posts: 1743
Joined: Jul. 11 2003
From: The Netherlands

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

Wow man, you had bad luck, and you dealed with it.
Respect. Go for it. Try to be the best you can.
I whish you all the best.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 9:22:02

silddx

Posts: 570
Joined: May 8 2012
From: London

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

You are a triumph over adversity, I salute your stamina and perseverance. Congratulations!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 10:36:55

bahen

Posts: 378
Joined: Mar. 4 2006

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

All the best, Marduk! Hope the recovery continues to progress well.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 10:40:02

marduk

Posts: 600
Joined: Feb. 3 2010

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

thanks, accompanying dance classes is basically my social life so im glad to be back at it. I have a lot more limitations than before but im using it as an opportunity to work on the things i missed with my early technique before

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 10:41:03

Ricardo

Posts: 14797
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

My buddy went through it too, he is a pro player and broke all the fingers of the left hand. He had to adapt some new chord voicings and sometimes deliberately plays in certain keys with capo, but it sounds cool. Now he is doing great. Think of it as a reset. Many historians feel if Django hadn’t burned and fused his finger in the fire, he would have always been a mediocre guitarist.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 11:52:06

Escribano

Posts: 6415
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to Ricardo)

.... and there is Tony Iommi. Best of luck!

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 11:56:06

estebanana

Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

Marduk,

You’ve had a terrible time of it. David Serva my old friend and teacher broke both his wrists and continued playing. He was riding his bike down a hill and got out of control, as I remember it was Spring 2000. He had a metal bar with screws going into his arm and the bone holding it all together. It took about 6 months to get healed enough to begin to play. Oddly enough we met in a Sevilla because his wife was working on an academic grant to do genealogy work on Gitana family connections- he had a lot of time to sit and think and I asked him to give me guitar lessons even though his wrist was still not in playing condition. I told him he could still analyze and talk and that was good enough.

We started lessons a few days later. He said put the cejilla on the forth fret and he showed me some very elementary solea falsetas to begin with. I asked him about Diego del Gastor’s brother, known as El Mellizo, that got David off showing me a hand full of his falsetas. After lesson four or five, ten days later or so of some painful playing David called me and said he’d had a breakthrough. He was very excited and said “I got my sound back.” He was worried he’d never be able to get his touch back.

Eventually he managed to rebuild his technique, but there were some things he couldn’t do the same, for example the falsetas in his Alegrias. He rearranged and reworked them until he was happy. He said it made him rethink everything in terms of more economical playing.

We used to go out to bars and he’d play for singers, amateurs and professionals. After he’d play awhile I’d go buy us beers and get ice from the bartender so he could bring down the swelling in his wrist. But watching him retrain himself to play was interesting, it’s in your head, not your hand. Your attitude and your brain can coax a lot out of your hands. I know you can do it, step by step. You can get it back, because it in your beautiful brain.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 12:24:06

orsonw

Posts: 1934
Joined: Jul. 4 2009
From: London

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

Hi Marduk, wish you all the best with your recovery and progress.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 13:41:33

BarkellWH

Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

Marduk, you are an example of grit and focus triumphing over adversity. Keep up the good work, and you will be playing at a level you never imagined before the accident. The world would be a better place if more people demonstrated your grit and tenacity.

Bill

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And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 14:14:22

JasonM

Posts: 2051
Joined: Dec. 8 2005
From: Baltimore

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

Good to hear! I know the nerves can take a long time to heal. The irony of all this set back is the reward of perseverance!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 16:27:37

Pgh_flamenco

Posts: 1506
Joined: Dec. 5 2007
From: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

This is Pat Martino’s story:

“Martino had been performing since the early 1960s until an aneurysm in 1980 left him with amnesia and no recollection or knowledge of his career or how to play the very instrument that made him successful.”

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/music/2014/05/pat_martino_discusses_relearni.html

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 18 2023 17:50:27

marduk

Posts: 600
Joined: Feb. 3 2010

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

thanks all. when I couldn't play at all I realised that flamenco stopped happening around me. im glad to be back doing bits and pieces

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 19 2023 13:38:43

estebanana

Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

I’m happy to pass on an update on Marduk’s situation. He’s playing a lot, two festivals in recent days.

I’ll give photo credit and get back later tomorrow.

Shane Rozario Photography in Sydney-
Event Salón Flamenco and Sydney WorldPride festival ~

Some photos of our man- he’s going to performing with dancers in Adelaide as well ~

Images are resized automatically to a maximum width of 800px

Attachment (1)

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 3 2023 14:21:10

estebanana

Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

In Sydney

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Attachment (2)

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Mar. 3 2023 14:23:08

estebanana

Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to marduk)

Marduk could use a word of encouragement and support here and on his Facebook account. He continues to persevere through difficult circumstances with his hand injuries.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 5 2023 14:54:36

mecmachin

Posts: 171
Joined: Aug. 7 2010

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to estebanana)

Animo Marduk.

If guitar playing is getting too difficult, consider doing compas and jaléos, which is the most important thing in flamenco.

Mecmachin

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 5 2023 19:15:25

mark indigo

Posts: 3625
Joined: Dec. 5 2007

RE: after 12 months healing I can st... (in reply to estebanana)

quote:

Marduk could use a word of encouragement and support here and on his Facebook account. He continues to persevere through difficult circumstances with his hand injuries.

What's happening? Has he posted on facebook? I don't really do facebook... maybe he could duplicate posts here and keep us updated?

Things were looking positive in January, have they taken a turn for the worse? Or is progress just painfully slow?

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jul. 6 2023 13:45:09