Results 1 to 20 of 20

Thread: When you get injured...

  1. #1
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    1,733

    Default When you get injured...

    I had a fall two weeks ago, and hurt my left wrist and elbow, as well as my right knee. I had bruising, swelling, and pain, but no broken bones. My left (fretting) arm is still in rough shape. After a few days of not playing at all, I slung the strap over my shoulder and worked on right hand techniques: strumming patterns, tremolo, and pick pressure. I've been finding it valuable to be able to put all my concentration into my right hand for a while, without being distracted by what I'm doing with my left hand. Now, I've healed enough to be able to play a couple of tunes for about five minutes. And I'm concentrating of left foot toe tapping.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  2. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Ranald For This Useful Post:


  3. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Santa Rosa, CA
    Posts
    206

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Good on ya. Get well!

  4. The following members say thank you to Ranger Bob for this post:

    Ranald 

  5. #3

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

    A change of pace can be good for your playing too!

  6. The following members say thank you to El Serio for this post:

    Ranald 

  7. #4
    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Peace and Love
    Posts
    2,418

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Sorry to hear you’re not in such good shape Ranald, hope you get better soon.

    I’ve been playing a fifths soprano banjo recently, it really gets me thinking differently, especially pick hand flow.
    I’m also practicing a fair bit without a metronome too …and trying to dance more while playing.
    Also I’m thinking of the rhythmic patterns that exist in the melodic phrases influenced by underlying harmony, pick direction and key changes

  8. The following members say thank you to Simon DS for this post:

    Ranald 

  9. #5
    Registered User Jill McAuley's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Co. Mayo, Ireland
    Posts
    3,570

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Glad to hear nothing was broken! Good reminder that there's still things we can work on if one of our hands/arms is out of commission - keep up the good healing!
    2018 Girouard Concert oval A
    2015 JP "Whitechapel" tenor banjo
    2018 Frank Tate tenor guitar
    1969 Martin 00-18




    my Youtube channel

  10. The following members say thank you to Jill McAuley for this post:

    Ranald 

  11. #6
    Lurkist dhergert's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Blue Zone, California
    Posts
    1,867
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Sorry to hear about your fall and injury Ranald. Like you, I've found that sometimes being in a re-learning mode due to physical problems is a good thing, it can result in unanticipated improvements. Get well soon!
    -- Don

    "Music: A minor auditory irritation occasionally characterized as pleasant."
    "It is a lot more fun to make music than it is to argue about it."


    2002 Gibson F-9
    2016 MK LFSTB
    1975 Suzuki taterbug (plus many other noisemakers)
    [About how I tune my mandolins]
    [Our recent arrival]

  12. The following members say thank you to dhergert for this post:

    Ranald 

  13. #7
    Gibson F5L Gibson A5L
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Posts
    2,526
    Blog Entries
    1

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Continue to be patient. You are pursuing a return to health in the best way possible for your body and mind. Keep up the good work. R/
    I love hanging out with mandolin nerds . . . . . Thanks peeps ...

  14. The following members say thank you to UsuallyPickin for this post:

    Ranald 

  15. #8
    Registered User Frankdolin's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    near Boston, MA
    Posts
    859

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Get well soon Ranald! We can hurt a lot of things, but never our playing mechanisms! Definately stay patient and come back 100%.

  16. The following members say thank you to Frankdolin for this post:

    Ranald 

  17. #9
    Registered User Sue Rieter's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2020
    Location
    New Hampshire
    Posts
    1,987

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    You've got the right attitude, Ranald, and that's more than half the battle.
    Get well soon.

  18. The following members say thank you to Sue Rieter for this post:

    Ranald 

  19. #10
    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Rochester NY 14610
    Posts
    17,378

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    As I grope through my late 70's, I find the danger of falling continues to increase. I've taken several tumbles, luckily with nothing more than bruises and a bit of sprain in my right shoulder -- which luckily didn't keep me out of "playing position," and dissipated fairly quickly, though it sparked a brief romantic fling with ibuprofen.

    However, I read about how many "of a certain age" sustain serious injuries through falls; I have a friend who broke vertebrae, another who sustained skull damage. My neck of the woods gets lotsa ice and snow each winter, and I'm well aware that my balance ain't what it used to be. Grab bars in the shower, railings on the stairs, picking a careful way up and down stairs, over curbs, even on sloping lawns -- and cutting back on all the instruments I used to carry! Teaching beginning mandolin, and schlepping not only my Style A Martin, but a Flatiron octave and an Octofone for "show and tell" -- not the best judgment, I fear.

    Just be careful out there. I'm learning the meaning of the somewhat old-fashioned term "totter," as in "A few more steps to totter on the road, then My Old Kentucky Home, goodnight."
    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
    Flatiron 3K OM

  20. The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to allenhopkins For This Useful Post:


  21. #11
    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Peace and Love
    Posts
    2,418

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    So what tune are you going to record and post here as the come back, Ranald? -just so I can look forward to it, maybe learn it.

  22. #12
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    1,733

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Quote Originally Posted by Simon DS View Post
    So what tune are you going to record and post here as the come back, Ranald? -just so I can look forward to it, maybe learn it.
    Do you know any tunes with four notes: G,D,A, and E?
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  23. #13
    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Peace and Love
    Posts
    2,418

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    GDAe plus harmonics, I’ll bet someone has composed such a tune.

  24. The following members say thank you to Simon DS for this post:

    Ranald 

  25. #14

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Hope you feel better soon!
    Girouard Concert A5
    Girouard Custom A4
    Nordwall Cittern
    Barbi Mandola
    Crump OM-1s Octave
    www.singletonstreet.com

  26. The following members say thank you to Chuck Leyda for this post:

    Ranald 

  27. #15

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    I sustained a quite severe left hand sprain two years ago. I was running a weekly jam at the time and didn't want to shut it down, so I played charango - the only instrument I could manage with a huge wrist splint (lots of right hand figures; minimal left hand).

    Get well soon!

  28. The following members say thank you to catmandu2 for this post:

    Ranald 

  29. #16
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Ottawa, Canada
    Posts
    1,733

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Thanks, all of you, for your kind thoughts. I'm improving. I still can't play fiddle at all, so, yesterday, I started working on a fiddle tune I've been wanting to learn, "Wally on The Deer Trail"by Reg Hill, on mandolin. After a bit, I realized that I'd been playing for half an hour. Though I was using my wrist and elbow gently, I figured I'd better quit for the time being. I had some right-hand exercise, playing later in the day. Today, we had to clear out the kitchen and washer/dryer nook for re-flooring tomorrow, and those arm joints had much more exercise than anyone would have recommended. Now, the instruments are buried away behind other things. I hope the mandolin will be out again the day after tomorrow.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

  30. #17
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    30,753

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    So sorry to hear of your travails, Ranald. Sounds like you have an excellent attitude. Just be patient with yourself so you don't over do it. That Reg Hill tune sounds like a cheerful one to pick up your spirits.

    My wife is also a fiddler (as am I) but a few months ago took a fall in a pothole on a walk and broke her collarbone which basically put her fiddle playing on hold. She finally started playing in small bits but seems to be doing well. She also consulted with an excellent teacher, a friend of ours, who has background in playing so as not to stress the body, especially after an injury.
    Jim

    My Stream on Soundcloud
    Facebook
    19th Century Tunes
    Playing lately:
    1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1

  31. The following members say thank you to Jim Garber for this post:

    Ranald 

  32. #18
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2021
    Location
    Mississippi
    Posts
    71

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Quote Originally Posted by Ranald View Post
    I've been finding it valuable to be able to put all my concentration into my right hand for a while, without being distracted by what I'm doing with my left hand.
    I wrecked my left shoulder last summer in a mountain bike accident and did the same thing. After many years of playing, it was probably the best thing I ever did (musically)! It really taught me the importance of focused practice and changed the way I approach learning after a long, long spell of "just pickin'".
    Barry

    2020 Northfield 4th Gen #14
    Pavel Sucek F-5 w/Skip Kelly top
    1996 BellMaster F-5 (Carl Cates)
    A bunch of fiddles and a couple D-28s

  33. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Bacfire For This Useful Post:


  34. #19
    Moderator JEStanek's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States
    Posts
    14,284
    Blog Entries
    2

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    Heal well.

    Jamie
    There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946

    + Give Blood, Save a Life +

  35. The following members say thank you to JEStanek for this post:

    Ranald 

  36. #20
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
    Location
    Lewiston NY
    Posts
    269

    Default Re: When you get injured...

    First and foremost I hope you have complete recovery and get back to playing soon. Your attitude seems great and it should serve you well. I (we) have enjoyed your contributions and perspective from the Great White North, where I count many friends and relatives. And too many great times in Canada to remember!
    In my former working life I taught ladder safety and fall protection classes in industry and construction. For all the rules and regulations in place I used to emphasize only one law matters, and that's the law of gravity. it works like this: 32 feet per second. No getting around it. I urge all to be aware and stay safe.
    Ratliff R5 2007, Capek A5 2003, Washburn M5S-SB Jethro Burns 1982, Mid-Mo M-2, Epiphone MM 30 Bk mandolins, Harmony Batwing 1970's, George Bauer bowlback early 1900's Philadelphia.


    "Don't cloud the issue with facts!" Groucho Marx

  37. The following members say thank you to Bob Gnann for this post:

    Ranald 

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •