G'day Jennifer,

I've played various button accordions for some 40+ years ... starting with a little melodion - then moving to a couple of Hohner Erica button accordions in the mid 1960s. (I presume you actually play a button accordion - the sort of thing modern folkies ... but not the makers ... call melodeons.) I found, once I was regularly playing in a "Bush Band", that the bigger Hohner Corona III I now played could cause some aches and pains (many related to pre-existing back injuries).

I started making my own straps, so they fitted and supported well and that improved things somewhat - then I realised a lot of strife was caused by working to microphones on stands. Since then, all my stage-work accordions have been internally miked ... and the freedom to move about the stage - flex my shoulders and arms while playing ... and come back to a secure, comfortable 2-strap hold really got rid of all those problems.

I can't imagine that switching to a single strap would do anything but make your friend's problems worse ... The more you force a set of muscles to concentrate on a single, repetitive function ... the more you ask for trouble. Well designed and fitted shoulder straps should never restrict blood flow ... bad posture will; lack of "movement breaks" will; use of those bloody thumbstraps will! (The great virtue of two-strap arrangements is that you free that right thumb ... better circulation ... freer playing techniques ... all precious alternation, both physiologically and musically!

Incidentally, I have suffered from two spells of lateral epicondylitis - so-called "Tennis Elbow" - in recent years. Both were brought on by identifiable (non-musical) incidents involving the classic combination of lifting / gripping and pronating movements that can tear arm muscles and trigger "Tennis Elbow" ... and in both episodes I found that playing the button accordion brought considerable easing of the pain - and hastened recovery!

Certainly, the fact that I also play a wide variety of other instruments that exercise different muscles and ligaments: concertinas, mouthorgans, whistles, bones, lagerphone and tea-chest bass means I can "spread the load" and avoid repetitive strains - but sensible balancing of playing load will always help. Incidentally, too much slogging over some difficult passage can get to be an RSI source!

Regards,

Bob