•6:06 PM
March 1, 2011 6:06 p.m.
You’ve all heard of sports injuries, but music injuries?
Well, it happened like this. Chips has been pretty excited about practicing two pieces on the violin for an upcoming competition, one in which he has an opportunity to win some nice green cash. So, needless to say, as money motivates Chips dearly, he is very motivated to practice for this one. So for about three days, he stepped up his level, length, and intensity of practice until he discovered on day four (last Thursday) that he had soreness in his left forearm during practice.
After hearing horror stories from our violin teacher about students having to quit violin after years of study, I told him to back off considerably, to play softly and conservatively, to practice only in 15 minute segments. He did this on Friday, and had some discomfort (he describes it as mild – t0 moderate pain – not sharp, not burning, more like “squeezing”) during the second 15 minute segment. Ditto on Saturday. So I told him not to touch his violin until he went to his lesson on Monday afternoon.
We did this, yesterday, and when we reported the situation to Miss S, she seemed rather alarmed. This did not make me feel better. I knew Chips had been practicing like Superman the week before, and 20/20 hindsight wasn’t going to do us much good, I was afraid. A bit later, Miss O arrived at Miss S’ house to practice with Chips (she is his accompanist for the March 6th competition) and she seemed alarmed, too, at first, but was more reassuring to us by telling us of similar situations she as been in (as a professional violinist) and how she has wrapped her neck and shoulder and used Icy-Hot, etc,. etc. It was a bit disconcerting to see the expressions on both women’s faces as they discussed the matter between themselves in Russian, while I sat and scratched my head and was afraid to ask any more questions.
So we decided to give practice a try with Miss O at piano, and Chips played very conservatively, with no vibrato. He played both pieces, and Miss S asked him if he felt pain. He said “No, not really”. She acted better after this. So Miss O left and the lesson continued on a bit, with Chips working out various details that needed correcting – but softly and carefully. Miss S sent us home with a bottle of Chinese Red Flower Oil. Very sweet and caring of her, n’est-ce pas? But when we got home, Chips’ admitted to me that the pain had returned by the end of the shorter than normal lesson, although it was slight.
We stopped by our pediatrician’s office on the way home and a nurse took a quick (free) look-see and decided that it is likely a muscle strain and not tendonitis. Just advised us to rest it, and take ibuprofen round the clock for a few days.
So we are going to carefully resume practice on Thursday, for a couple of days, because the competition is Sunday afternoon.
We are also going to set new guidelines for Chips’ practice sessions from now on. Shorter segments, rest periods, slower speeds, vary the music more, etc. Not repetitive jam sessions of playing a piece over and over again at full performance tempo, the way Chips’ likes to do it.
If there is anybody out there with any experience with this sort of thing, please send me a comment. It is hard to know how much healing time is needed. This is on my mind a lot this week. Thank you!
You’ve all heard of sports injuries, but music injuries?
Well, it happened like this. Chips has been pretty excited about practicing two pieces on the violin for an upcoming competition, one in which he has an opportunity to win some nice green cash. So, needless to say, as money motivates Chips dearly, he is very motivated to practice for this one. So for about three days, he stepped up his level, length, and intensity of practice until he discovered on day four (last Thursday) that he had soreness in his left forearm during practice.
After hearing horror stories from our violin teacher about students having to quit violin after years of study, I told him to back off considerably, to play softly and conservatively, to practice only in 15 minute segments. He did this on Friday, and had some discomfort (he describes it as mild – t0 moderate pain – not sharp, not burning, more like “squeezing”) during the second 15 minute segment. Ditto on Saturday. So I told him not to touch his violin until he went to his lesson on Monday afternoon.
We did this, yesterday, and when we reported the situation to Miss S, she seemed rather alarmed. This did not make me feel better. I knew Chips had been practicing like Superman the week before, and 20/20 hindsight wasn’t going to do us much good, I was afraid. A bit later, Miss O arrived at Miss S’ house to practice with Chips (she is his accompanist for the March 6th competition) and she seemed alarmed, too, at first, but was more reassuring to us by telling us of similar situations she as been in (as a professional violinist) and how she has wrapped her neck and shoulder and used Icy-Hot, etc,. etc. It was a bit disconcerting to see the expressions on both women’s faces as they discussed the matter between themselves in Russian, while I sat and scratched my head and was afraid to ask any more questions.
So we decided to give practice a try with Miss O at piano, and Chips played very conservatively, with no vibrato. He played both pieces, and Miss S asked him if he felt pain. He said “No, not really”. She acted better after this. So Miss O left and the lesson continued on a bit, with Chips working out various details that needed correcting – but softly and carefully. Miss S sent us home with a bottle of Chinese Red Flower Oil. Very sweet and caring of her, n’est-ce pas? But when we got home, Chips’ admitted to me that the pain had returned by the end of the shorter than normal lesson, although it was slight.
We stopped by our pediatrician’s office on the way home and a nurse took a quick (free) look-see and decided that it is likely a muscle strain and not tendonitis. Just advised us to rest it, and take ibuprofen round the clock for a few days.
So we are going to carefully resume practice on Thursday, for a couple of days, because the competition is Sunday afternoon.
We are also going to set new guidelines for Chips’ practice sessions from now on. Shorter segments, rest periods, slower speeds, vary the music more, etc. Not repetitive jam sessions of playing a piece over and over again at full performance tempo, the way Chips’ likes to do it.
If there is anybody out there with any experience with this sort of thing, please send me a comment. It is hard to know how much healing time is needed. This is on my mind a lot this week. Thank you!
2 comments:
Oh, no! I hope Chips heals quickly. Best of luck in his competition.
I think you're doing the right thing. My daughter has had left arm pain for several years now (sorry to tell you this!). She has seen a neurologist who has given her the all-clear on it being a trapped nerve or indeed anything that he can find. It comes on when she plays for a long time, so she manages it by breaking practice down into smaller segments. However since she is in school all day, very often there is no option but to do a longer practice in the evening, and to put up with the pain. The neurologist thinks she will grow out of it. Massage helps - she goes once a month for deep tissue massage on her back, shoulders and neck, and this seems to dispel tensions that might be then feeding down through the arm.
Longer term, can your teacher look at Chips' playing and see if he is tensing up? What might also help is Alexander Technique. It may be quite hard for someone of Chips' age, since much of it is to do with consciousness of posture, but students at specialist music schools do it, so it must be possible.
Just a little cheeky British aside - I couldn't help smile when you remarked that your nurse's visit had been free!
Good luck!