Broke my arm. What can I do while it heals?

[john09121]

Slipped on the ice and broke my left arm. Can't move my elbow for the next few weeks but I have a decent amount of mobility in my left hand. I REALLY miss my mando. Are there any exercises I can do so I'm not miserably rusty when the cast comes off?

[Bigtuna]

My left arm is my fretting hand and I assume its yours too. So I would suggest Mike Marshall's open string exercises in his Finger Busters book. Great right hand exercises.

[Jim]

depending on your Drs advice , you could use a rubber ball to squeeze and a rubber band to provide some resistance while extending your fingers against it to maintain some strength in your left hand.

[David Rambo]

I know how you feel. I had rotator cuff surgery (again) at the end of February. I hope to be able to play again in a few weeks. It is hard to look at the mando cases sitting there, and not be able to play them. What is harder is knowing that your fingers are going to hurt for a while when you can finally play again. I wish I had a good answer for what to do. Jim's advice is good, if it's OK with your Dr. If there's a physical therapist you can talk to, maybe they would have some other ideas for working the fingers and keeping them strong. Good Luck!

[jasona]

Sorry to hear about your accent. Get well soon!

[Chip Booth]

My left arm is my fretting hand and I assume its yours too. So I would suggest Mike Marshall's open string exercises in his Finger Busters book. Great right hand exercises.

This!

I posted an article on my website about things to do to practice music when you can't play. Check that out for some other ideas.

http://www.chipbooth.com/articles.htm

[citeog]

I'm in the same boat. I took a tumble five weeks ago and broke my right arm where it meets the shoulder. I'm a lefty player so that's my fretting hand. The break itself didn't hurt too much but the muscle spasms were a thing to behold. I opened my bouzouki case last Friday (the first time since 6 March that any of my stringed instruments have seen daylight) and tuned it up, with great difficulty, I might add. I tried one D chord and put the zouk back in the case. I can be impatient but I'm waiting until I'm done with physical therapy before I play. In the meantime I've been doing some reading on music theory and memorizing tunes in my head. Good luck.

Paul

[oldwave]

I broke my shoulder in 2006 and when I got home form the ER drugged up, the first thing I did was open the mando case and start fretting. Ask your doc though. I kept playing through the recovery, (not fiddle alas)
I play better now than ever.

[f5loar]

I broke my left shoulder blade and was out for about a month before I could feel a fretboard again. So in the meantime I used my right hand to guide my mouse to buy more mandolins to stave off my serious MAS. It worked!

[Paul Busman]

Learn harmonica?

[P.D. Kirby]

I broke my left shoulder blade and was out for about a month before I could feel a fretboard again. So in the meantime I used my right hand to guide my mouse to buy more mandolins to stave off my serious MAS. It worked!

[mandroid]

Sing A Capella.. or Doo-Wopp, with your friends , 4 part harmony..

[citeog]

Learn harmonica?

I found my old harp rack, stuck a G mouth organ in it and relearned "Heart Of Gold". A nice trip down memory lane for me.

And Paul, I'm now able to play whistle again so that cooktown ironwood Busman of mine is earning it's keep once more.

Paul

[Folkmusician.com]

I broke my left shoulder blade and was out for about a month before I could feel a fretboard again. So in the meantime I used my right hand to guide my mouse to buy more mandolins to stave off my serious MAS. It worked!

As if an injury is not expensive enough! hehe


I haven't broken an arm, but I have broke my leg three times. It takes a while to come back from an injury and it is going to be discouraging. There is just no way around it. Practice some ear training, brush up on theory, do some song writing and spend a lot more time on the Mandolin Cafe.

[Cheryl Watson]

John, I'm sorry that you broke your arm. I really fear doing that, almost more so than breaking a leg. I'd do the picking hand open-string exercises, as BigTuna first mentioned, and take the opportunity to listen to a lot of new music. Atrophy of your fretting hand is going to be a concern, so I'd do what your physical therapist suggests to ward that off. Also, I'd walk a lot if it does not hurt your left arm.

[Pete Martin]

I broke my left shoulder blade and was out for about a month before I could feel a fretboard again. So in the meantime I used my right hand to guide my mouse to buy more mandolins to stave off my serious MAS. It worked!

[Pete Martin]

Because music is so mental, we can work on ANY of that side of things when we can't play.

1) Learn anything you want by ear by singing it out loud, very slowly.
2) If you are an improviser sing improvisations as you'd want to (be able to) play them
3) Study some music theory
4) Listen to a LOT of music
5) Using mental imagery, imagine yourself playing, exactly as you'd like to hear yourself

I had to stop playing for about 3 years with severe overuse injuries in the 90s. When I came out of it, I was a better player due to doing the above.

[Murphys Bread & Beer]

I've heard this said and I believe it to be true, to keep your fingers active and moving is a good musical exercise. Touch the tips of your fingers to the tip of your thump, vary the order vary the tempo but keep the fingers moving. I do this a lot, one time I was doing this exercise in a cafe and someone asked me if I played the banjo, I said no, just the fiddle and guitar! You'll be pickin soon, don't get discouraged!

[Austin Bob]

Well, that sucks, hope you heal quickly.

You could always read up on music theory, lots of good sites out there to help. I have found this site to be easy to understand and helpful.

Do you read standard notation? If not, now would be a good time to start. The TablEdit page is a great resource. You can pick a tune, then practice counting out loud as you follow along. Once you get the counting down pat, the rest will fall in place once you pick up the mando again.

Finally, try transposing on the fly. Pick a very easy song in G and write down the notes. Now write them in C, then D.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are mental things you can work on while your body heals. Good luck.

[katygrasslady]

This is when a nose flute comes in handy.
http://mouthmusic.com/humanato.htm

I can say from too much experience, you can make music with a variety of broken bones or cut fingers if you have one of these around. And they are also very handy to keep pesky children busy. Used to be 25 cents when I started playing, so buy them in quantity. I can play some Bach on mine. Cheap, portable and versatile.
Kathryn

[stevedenver]

i wish you a speedy recovery
be patient..
let it go, for now
that was really hard for me decades ago

i have had long breaks due to travel or work even school



heres the good news

enjoy the break,
dont 'fret about it'
read, listen to music
walk (safely)

youll come back to your music stronger and refreshed

if you dont like this suggestion
then
mentally play songs-no joke, think about playing and your muscles will respond minutely
wokrs with singing too and other sports as well

[mandocrucian]

Because music is so mental, we can work on ANY of that side of things when we can't play.

Pete is right on target here. The more advanced a player one becomes, the less and less it's about the physical and more and more about the mental.

If you don't put your EAR in charge, you'll end up "playing" memorized finger patterns and/or digital (as in finger digits) diarrhea. The fingers should follow the ear, not the other way around.

Work on your sol-feg; you'll get your ear training and your theory all rolled into one.

Niles H.

[Jim Ferguson]

Sorry to hear that John.........I agree with Pete Martin.........listen to lots of music & focus on some new tunes that you can throw yourself into once you've healed...:-)
Get well soon.
Peace

[MikeEdgerton]

I am now in month four after some serious left shoulder surgery. I can finally play some guitar and mandolin. Looking back I should have taken up the bowed psaltery during my recovery.