Cello - Arm Ache Options

[meerkat]

I'm still getting a terrible ache in my arm when I'm practising at home. It doesn't happen at all in my lesson, so it's a bit difficult to explain the problem to my teacher. Any ideas what might be causing it? It seems to radiate from my right shoulder (bowing arm).

I have my spike out, and the cello tilted. My 'hold' on the bow is reasonably loose. The bowing sounds fine, so I don't think it's anything to do with the action of the bow. I'm stumped - particularly I can't understand why it happens at home, but not at my lesson.

[frumpybabes]

is it the chair you are sitting on? different height, too hard too soft different angle?

[meerkat]

I had wondered about that - can that make a difference? At my teacher's there's a nice backless typist style chair (you know, padded on wheels) and it is a bit lower than the dining room chair that I use at home.

I feel like I'm clenching my shoulder, but can't seem to make it drop (I'm a psychologist, and pretty good at relaxation exercises, so think this must be something in the nature of the way I'm tackling the activity of bowing).

It's frustrating me a lot, because my cello is really coming along, and I feel like I'm making fantastic progress, but practicing at home for longer than about fifteen minutes is getting painful. (It's only possible for me to practice in the evening, once my daughter's in bed, so shorter practices through the day don't work for me - I need my half hour to and hour at night, really).

[sarah-flute]

Disclaimer: I am not a cellist... BUT... I can well imagine it makes a difference the height and tilt of the chair you are using. At the Sat. music school I used to work at I played viola in a quintet, and the cellist who took our chamber group had all sorts of blocks etc for making the school chairs reasonable for cellists to use, and she was very fussy about getting it just right - as a professional cellist who plays in at least 2 big orchestras and gives recitals, and had had some sort of problem I think with her back. I'm inclined to think she knew what she was talking about. So ask your teacher about sorting that out somehow. I think tilt and not just height has an affect? Again, I'm no cellist, but she knew what she was talking about.

[Suepea]

Perhaps the reason that you don't get the pain in your lesson is that in a lesson (if it's anything like mine) you stop more frequently and are able to relax your body while your teacher goes over something. At home I expect you keep playing, and possibly tense up when you are trying to get something right.

Seeing sarah-flute's answer reminded me that you can get

cello chair blocks

These tilt the chair to a better angle for playing.

[SirPrancealot]

i'm not a cellist either but did have a go on one [which is why i'm not a cellist now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) ].
quite aside from having a hel.luva time tryin'a get it under my chin because of this spiky thing........

no seriously, i was shown how to hold the bow, its slope and other details and i can tell you that after playing on the d and a strings for a few mins my right arm started aching and how! [it wasn't so bad on the c and g strings].

i asked what was wrong. the person said it always happens at first and i'd get used to it. it was the position of holding the bowing arm out at fair angle from the body and reaching across.

i didn't progress beyond the week. to this person's surprise i could play vibrato! but that cuz i play violin - just needed to exaggerate a bit more. so janos starker doesn't have to watch out this week!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Storini]

You might take a look at the book "New Directions in Cello Playing" by Victor Sazer: it addresses many issues in connection with pain during playing.

His website is here: http://home.earthlink.net/~vsazer/cello1.html and the section "Seating" is worth looking at.

More on his views here: http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/sazer.htm .

[immy]

I wonder whether the fact that you are concentrating in a different way when you are with your teacher makes you less aware of the pain. I too suffer from various aches, in both hands (though not as badly as you appear to) and it tends to be worse when I am practising at home. In my own environment I am much more aware of a range of distractions (because I am relaxed), including pain, than when I am having a lesson, when I need all my brainpower to concentrate on the task in hand.

On the physical side, you could try Alexander Technique. Many Alexander teachers have musicians as their clients and know what they are talking about.

[frumpybabes]

I only mentioned the chair because my son was a small 7 when he started and we got a stool for him as on a normal chair he couldnt reach the floor. He found it easy to play everything as long as the stool came too. Then last year he grew out of the stool and can sit on normal sized chairs excep that the bucket seats always give him bad posture, he never gets comfortable. So he always goes and tries chairs out and then gets the cello out !! He is 9 and he looks like he is messing about or playing musical chairs !!

[meerkat]

Um yeah, harpsicord person, I'm a restarter. Clearly you're a novice to psychology, unlike I who have three degrees... (you may wish to check your grammar, too btw - 'I' takes 'have' not 'has' ).

Thanks immy and storini, for the helpful posts. I did Alexander as part of my drama degree - it's been a while, but I reckon I could resurrect some of the exercises. And storini, that website is great, thanks!

[elisabeth_rb]

You're clearly a novice to the cello then, unlike I, who has 3 diplomas.

Is that supposed to helpful? Or merely boastful?

[cherskie]

I don't get a pain in my arm but I do sometimes feel terrible pain from my wrist ( bow-holding hand), and then I have to stop for a few seconds to shake the pain off, then start again.

[Chaos_91]

In the lesson I had this week with my cello teacher she was complaining to me about how my right arm was slouching and she was trying to get me to raise my right elbow to get a better sound from the a string and when i did it made my right shoulder really hurt, though when she played her elbow seemed to be a lot lower than what she wanted mine to be (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) that's the only time i have had arm ache and it REALLY hurt my arm.

[fay]

I don't get a pain in my arm but I do sometimes feel terrible pain from my wrist ( bow-holding hand), and then I have to stop for a few seconds to shake the pain off, then start again.

I have that problem a lot. It only ever seems to happen at home, never in lessons.