LeslieUpchurch.com

Just write something - start - and the rest will follow!  This is true for me, but not everyone writes the same way.  One very famous author I know personally does one handwritten page a day.  A well crafted hand written page is their goal. Me, I just babble on and on. I am not a famous writer so this is perhaps not the method to be successful.  Oh well!

I thought that I had written about 2 advanced students that I am currently working with who have playing injuries.  I now think that I talked about them to someone and thought that I had written it.  Better to be organized and well crafted, but that's not going to happen so here goes.  (Just reread and did write about them - but here is some more.)

First, I realized that I started writing again when my current roommate decided to move out.  He is so unfriendly that the energy in my apartment has been terrible.  I am getting a friendly roommate so that will be much better.

Also, I am not doing Bikram Yoga and that is changing my brain.  I am going to start doing it again on my own because I am a bit scrambled. I have done a couple of sessions of Vinyasa Yoga and will continue that as well. Just need to keep the old with the new.  They are both called yoga but are completely different. 

The two very advanced pianists I am working with for playing injuries both attend the same university.  One is about to get her bachelor's degree but injured herself playing Chopin.  the other is about to get her doctorate and also has just her final recital to do in terms of playing requirements.

I started with the doctoral candidate first.  She has a thumb in the right hand issue.  It is most likely tendonitis.  Her basic approach to playing even a single tone was to overwork her fingers.  She also had no sense of aligment and proper seating.  We have worked together twice so far, after a few initial quick tips that led to her wanting a lesson with me.  She is so fast at recovering that I am amazed by it.  She is highly motivated and has changed so quickly. She says I am her "bestest teacher".  She is from Thailand and that is how they speak.  (My daughter went to Thailand and she told me that when things are the same they say "same, same" but when they are different they say "same, same, but different"!  I believe her about me being her bestest student.  She would not be completing her doctorate in piano had she not found someone other than her teacher to show her how to play better technically.

The rules I gave her apply to everyone - she even took a picture of them on the chalk board (yes, people some schools still have chalk boards) and posted them on Facebook.   I was teaching her as my first lesson with an injured pianist other than students I had in the past who were at other programs.  The picture is attached.  It is entitled "My Rules".  Also, a picture of "Me and My Rules".

Now, a list of what to think about:

Pianist overuse injuries

How to sit on the bench.

How you transfer your weight to the keys – involves standing up.

How to start playing – start with hand or hands on your lap or at your side – depending on your basic hand position in the first approach.

How you use your fingers for single note passages.

How your hand follows your fingers – the red dot!

How to cross your thumb under or cross over your thumb.

How to play scales.

How you play more than one note at a time.

How to play chords in closed position.

How to play octaves - start with 5ths and work your way up - or start with the biggest interval that is still comfortable for you.

How to play large intervals with additional notes – such as chords with an octave stretch.

How to play 2 note or more phrases with multiple notes played at one time

How you sit related to the harmony.

How to change registers for beneficial positioning of body as you practice difficult passages – think ballroom dancing box and its fixed position.

How to use mirror image to make passages more efficient.

How to practice long periods of time – breaks, water, fruit, walking, stretching.

Overall health related to your physical fitness to sustain all that you have learned.  A weak body will weaken the mind and you will not be able to focus enough to implement the above ideas, even if you understand them.

Other things to consider:  massages, yoga, Alexander Technique, Feldenkreis, Applied Kinesiology, physical therapy if things are really bad. 

Things to avoid: surgery, more than one cortesone shot in any area – this relieves intense pain and can be used once without permanent tissue damage.

My second student is completing her bachelor's degree and has severe playing injuries.  Will finish up later today - have to do some real life stuff for a while.