BS: encouragement needed

Subject: encouragement needed
From: Bagpuss
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 03:57 PM

I am learning to play the english concertina, and I have got to the stage where the muscles down the side of my hands are aching loads from doing things they didn't have to do before. I know the muscles will adapt and stop hurting soon, but I just need some general all purpose encouragement to keep me going (also I have a broken toe and it hurts when I inadvertently tap my foot to keep time).

Anyhow, I thought this would be the place to get some encouragement and a virtual hand massage.... please...

Bagpuss

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Micca
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 04:18 PM

Hi Baggie, I hope this doesnt mean a reduction in the singing???? Long time no see/hear( Manch 2000)keep up the good work, and maybe see you at the Yorkshire 2002 at the Jug in May ??? hope the toe gets well soon, and you are back to being a contented "fluffy soft toy" in the window !!!

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Mr Red
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 04:21 PM

Bagpuss
Right Toe, Right Oh!
I think Mr Wheatstone, who's bicenteniel it is this year (spot the electronic engineer living near Gloucester) would concur that playing the concertina with the foot should for a metre. **g**
AND as Bagpuss is your appellation - Sandra Kerr must be your inspiration?
At least you can't kick the habit (very hard).
Encouragement you want? You got it!

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 04:22 PM

Put a soft, but weighty pillow on your foot as a reminder not to tap; or stick your toes under the rung of a chair or something.

Also, if I know Mudcatters, they are going to tell you to STOP whatever is causing the pain before you do some permanent damage! My accupunturist advised same when I got tennis elbow from too much computing. He had me use a tincture, kind of like tiger balm, on it, plus a warm compress. I used one of those pillows stufffed with millet seeds which is easily heated in the microwave. You can also do this with a bag of rice and wrap a towel around it. Be careful, though, NOT to burn yourself with it.

You ought to be able to find the most tender spot, too, and give it a gentle pressure massage to remind those muscles of how it feels to relax. Sometimes, though, it is NOT the most tender spot which needs the massage in order to find relief. Feel around the entire region and carefully pay attention. You will most likely find a corresponding point which, when gently pressured, birngs some relief.

Hope this makes sense and good luck!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: SINSULL
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 04:40 PM

kat? Are you offering bagpuss a hand job? Sounds to me like he has enough problems already. Behave yourself.

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: catspaw49
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 04:42 PM

Sins.......my gawd girl, you're worse than I am..........Well Done!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: katlaughing
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 04:46 PM

Why, whatevah gave yew thet idee, Mz. Sins?!**BG**

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Bagpuss
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 05:00 PM

for those who don't know me, this saggy old clothcat is a she...

And I was a bagpuss fan way before I met Sandra, though I was immediately jealous when I heard of her adventures with the cloth one.

Bagpuss

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Bagpuss
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 05:01 PM

maybe the mice can fix my toe?

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 05:17 PM

Well, Kat knows her Mudcatters all right - I read the Puss' message, went offline to gather a bunch of URLS, and came back to find a party in progress (what'd I miss?) but... anyway... here's my original post [clears throat]:

Bagpuss - Be very VERY careful not to simply disregard pain. It could be tendonitis, also known as R.S.I. (Repetitive Strain Injury) which is due to wear, and initially doesn't hurt enough to cause alarm, so people tend to just "work through" it. But R.S.I. doesn't go away, it gets suddenly, dramatically worse and can - if aggravated for long enough - permanently cripple you. This isn't the place for horror stories but the online support forums are full of them. The explosion in computer use has brought it to public attention in recent years; but musicians and handcrafters (such as knitters) have always been a high-risk group.

Please look at some of the URLs below and surf around via an engine (I used Google) and do some research. Don't just ignore it! Over and over again I hear people who are now disabled for life (I'm not exaggerating: I know some of them personally) say "if only someone had warned me". Well, someone is! It MAY be simple muscle pain (whatever exactly that is) but you don't know for sure and it's too big a chance to take.

Bottom line, you need to stop doing whatever is causing the pain UNTIL IT IS WELL GONE and let the injury heal, in case it's more than sore muscles.

There is a national R.S.I. Awareness Day coming up soon (Thursday?) so perhaps look out for info? Best of luck and keep us posted! Bonnie

www.repetitive-strain-injury.com

http://www.rsi-uk.org.uk/

http://www.engr.unl.edu/ee/eeshop/rsi.html Paul Marxhausen's page

http://www.ctdrn.org/rsi-support/index.html RSI forum for above

http://www.rsihelp.com/index.html Deborah Quilter's page

www.rsiprogram.com

http://www.rsi.about.com/

http://www.rsi-center.com/html/EN/rsisearch/ RSI-dedicated search engine

http://www.certifiedpst.com/arms/ Assn for Repetitive Motion Syndromes

http://www.leeds.ac.uk/law/it/RSI/rsi.htm University of Leeds

www.injurytreatment.com.au

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: harpmaker
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 05:22 PM

Well, your toe will heal for shure, as for your arms, go through the pain barrier. Stick with it, the pain will ebb, then the gains will be enormous!! good luck. J.T.Harp

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 05:23 PM

Suck it up!

Keep playing!

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Tig
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 05:51 PM

I appreciate the fact that doing things like that makes you go hurty. Have a virtual massage on those bits and then be careful NOT to overdo it again for a while. Try and make the Yorkshire Gathering and you can have a real one!

Sympathy goes more to the foot. My ankle still aches and it seems like ages since November.

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Bagpuss
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 06:07 PM

I dont think I have RSI. All the tutor books mention that your hands will hurt at first. Its just through supporting the weight of the concertina with only the thumbs and little fingers. Little fingers arent used to supporting the weight at first.

Micca - have you been counting the days?

Thanks for the sympathy and encouragement everyone, now I need you to tell me to stop whinging and being such a wimp and get on with the practising....

Bagpuss

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 06:08 PM

Isn't that what I said BP??

;-)

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: GUEST,micca at work.
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 06:52 AM

Baggie....Yes... I enjoyed your singing, and as I said at the time, you were/are the FIRST catter that does not look even remotely as I imagined....try for Yorkshire in May, It is a Blast...and best wishes for a fast recovery

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: greg stephens
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 06:56 AM

try a little rum and bum as variety.

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: GUEST,T-boy
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 07:47 AM

Count your blessings. You could be playing a MacCann and then your brain would be hurting too.

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Crane Driver
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 06:45 PM

Sit down and take some of the weight of the instrument by resting one end on your knee. Or if that feels too cramped, get a lanyard (length of string with loops at both ends), attach to concertina using the screw-in buttons on top of the thumb-straps and hang the thing round your neck. If guitarists can do it, so can we!!

Keep going - there can never be too many concertinas being played in this world!

Andrew

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: curmudgeon
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 09:35 PM

Hail Bagpuss!

First, follow Crane Driver's advice. Sit down, place one end of the box on your knee/thigh and play from that position. Most players I know set the left end on the left knee and let the right hand do the pushing and pulling. This will relieve your hands from the weight. Morris players often use a separate set of wrist straps to make it less strenuous to play while standing. You should also go to www.concertina.net. One of the regular posters whose name has slipped from my mind has some suggestions as to rater unorthodox ways to support concertinas -- but they do seem to be good ideas.

Which toe is broken? If the right, rest the concertina on that knee' you can't play and keep time on the same foot unless you are looking for a wha-wha effect which isn't particularly pleasant.

It is also possible that ypu are playing for too long a stretch. Pace yourslef. Play for only as long as it is comfortable and enjoyable. Ten stretches of fifteen minutes will yield more results than a long session of two hours or more.

I've only been playing English for twenty five years, but the only times my hands get stiff is after a medley of Road to Listoonvarna?Merrily Kiss the Quaker's Wife/Blarney Pigrim too fast.

Keep on squeezing -- Tom

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: curmudgeon
Date: 27 Feb 02 - 08:43 AM

When you do go to concertina.net, click on "Learning." There you will find a section on Health Issues which should be of some further help. -- Tom

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: DonMeixner
Date: 27 Feb 02 - 08:48 AM

Bagpuss,

I find that for real solid encouragement in a non-judgemental and fully nurturing environment one merely has to ask Dr. Laura Schlessinger advice.

Don "Who knows when to duck" Meixner

Subject: RE: BS: encouragement needed
From: Bagpuss
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 08:15 AM

Just to update you all: my toe is pretty much all better now, and yesterday I mastered my first tune (Drops of Brandy) without any hesitations or pauses and almost at a decent speed.

Thanks for the tip about resting the concertina on one knee - it really helps. The hands aren't hurting half so much now.

Bagpuss