Bottleneck for music therapy: easy way?

Subject: Bottleneck for music therapy: easy way?
From: Marion
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 12:27 AM

Hello all. As I've mentioned in some other threads, I live in a community for people with mental/physical disabilites, and I aspire to do some music therapy/modified music lessons with the folks here.

We try to keep the folk's guitars tuned to open chords. I'm thinking it might work well if I put stickers on the guitars to mark the fifth and seventh frets, then people could play three chord songs by barring the fifth or seventh frets all at once.

I don't know anything about the way bottleneck guitar is normally done. What I want to know is: what would be the physically easiest way to do the barring? With a finger or an object? Which finger or object? Although the oncept is simple it seems to me that it must be fairly difficult physically to do all that 6-string barring. I assume that the "real" way to do it is to press a glass bottle against the strings, but then don't you need to get a thumb behind the neck so that there's pressure from both sides? Sounds a little awkward.

Thanks for help anyone can offer,

Marion

Subject: hmmmmm...
From: GUEST,DocJohn
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 05:51 AM

So what you have is a bunch of guitar for people who are disabled or elderly and you want to teach them to play along easily. And you'e winering whether straight fretting or slide would be better?

Well, it seems to me you are on the right track to do some good work with these folks. I agree, plae a sticker or some kind of fret markler so they can find the next fret easily. Kinda like a dulcimer, it's hard to play the wrong note when the wrong frets are all taken off.

Whether to use a slide or not? I think many of your folks will be able to fret with fingers. For some the addition of a slide will complicate things. On the other hand others may find a slide easier. And others may find that laying the guitar down and playing slide lap style will be easier. Adn for your purposes you can do it all on the same guitar.

What kind of slide? I'll bet you can get a hold of some metal slides made out of a pie of metal tubing. You don't want glass for fear of dropping and breaking it. A few fairly large slides would help those hlding it lap style. Other will want a pie of pipe to stick their finger in . Have them use their pinky or ring finger.

I recently had a patient come in for therapy after breaking her left arm and having pins in the wrist. She can't rotate her wrist now. She's a fiddle player and teaches music in the schools. She is very very upset.

She won't be able to fidle for a while, so I suggested she get a mandolin and start playing it to strengthen the arm muscles and help avoid atrophy. she was amazed when I wrote a prescription to play "Irish Washerwoman" several times a day, slowly at first, gradually increase speed.

sounds like you're on track

I hope I helped

John

Subject: RE: Bottleneck for music therapy: easy way?
From: Marion
Date: 04 Oct 00 - 03:03 PM

Thanks for the tips John. It sounds like you're a physiotherapist, or maybe an occupational therapist?

The members of my community have learning disabilities because of Down's or Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, so my idea in trying open chord tuning would be to make the guitar intellectually easier - I'm sure barring all strings at once on a certain fret would be easier than learning different chord shapes.

I'll look for a metal slide, but I'm wondering if it's a real strain on the hands to use it, or if it takes a lot of practice to know just how much pressure to apply.

Thanks, Marion

Subject: RE: Bottleneck for music therapy: easy way?
From: reggie miles
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 12:26 PM

Marion, I think the slide idea is a good one. I've been playing slide for many years. There must be a million three chord songs out there. I know because I play most of 'em.

Either way of holding the guitar, flat (lap style) or upright (the normal way) works for slide playing.

Perhaps you or someone you know can show your group the different methods of playing and then allow each person in your group to choose which way is more comfortable.

A guitar with a flat saddle and nut will make playing with a straight sided slide sound less buzzy and require less tension applied to the slide to achieve the best results.

I use a big heavy bottleneck/slide. It's actually a frictionless marine propellershaft bearing or cutless bearing. It's made of brass or maybe bronze with a rubber lining. It's bigger than most slides and I find it easy to use. It's not something that you'd want to drop on your toe if you're not wearing shoes, ouch. Because of it's size it's easy to grip and because it's machined well it has no sharp edges. The only drawback is that they can be expensive at those marine supply houses.

I have to remind my friends that like to tease me because of the size of my slide. It's not the size of your slide that counts it's the slide of your size. ;~) Nobro

Subject: RE: Bottleneck for music therapy: easy way?
From: Bert
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 12:29 PM

Years ago they used to sell a horrible device called 'a chord box' that fits on the neck of the guitar and you play a chord by pressing a button 'a la autoharp'. I don't know if you can still get them.

Subject: RE: Bottleneck for music therapy: easy way?
From: GUEST,John Leeder
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 01:15 PM

I think the slide/fret question will have to be determined individually, depending on the condition of each person.

My friend Joe Adams played the guitar despite extreme rheumatoid arthritis crippling his hands as well as much of the rest of his body. He used an open tuning and a slide (I believe an ordinary Hawaiian guitar slide), and a capo of his own devising so that he could play in different keys without retuning. He used a Hawaiian guitar nut to raise the strings, and the capo had a piece under the strings as well as over them, to maintain their height above the fingerboard.

When Joe's condition got too bad to play the guitar, he played harmonica. A very inspirational guy -- reminiscent of Joan MacIsaac's song "When I Can't Play I Will Sing".

Subject: RE: Bottleneck for music therapy: easy way?
From: reggie miles
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 09:25 PM

John, last weekend, while driving around checking the garage sales in the hood, I happened upon an old guy who spoke right up when I asked about musical instruments. He said, "You ain't gittin' my gittar."

When I inquired further of him about what sort of music he played he told me a story about how he had almost lost the use of his hands to arthritis. He choked back tears as he related how he had come to find a cure for himself. Now, after years of his guitar sitting idle, he can play again.

If it will help and I hope it does as it did for this man here is what he's been taking. He told me he drinks 2 tablespoons of dark vinegar (apple cider vinegar I guess) with a cup of apple juice and he sweetens it with 1-2 tablespoons of honey. He drinks this twice a day.

His hands have gone from being knarled, with huge lumps where his knuckles are, to smooth and normal. I can't convey how emotional this man was. He thought he had lost so much because so much of his life involved the use of his hands. He was so thankful to have found a simple, inexpensive, readily available solution to this illness. Perhaps you could pass this along to your friend Joe and see if it will help him as well. Reg

Subject: RE: Bottleneck for music therapy: easy way?
From: GUEST,DocJohn
Date: 05 Oct 00 - 10:47 PM

Marion - actually I'm a chiropractor, but don't hold that against me. My practice is quite unique. I work closely with other traditional clinics in town including a large rehab hospital, and am a team doctor for a major NCAA school. I mostly treat their football team as well as all other scholarship athletes.

I treat a lot of musicians for musculoskeletal disorders working either with an orthopod or on my own. I simply apply sports medicine principles to peole whose sport is playing an instrument.

regards

John