I'm playing for Jesus Christ Superstar this week - the music totally rocks! The trouble is, it is so percussive that I end up just kind of bashing my arms up and down. This used to make my wrists hurt, then I tried not to hold the tension in my wrists and it made my arms hurt. Then I tried not to hold the tension in my arms and now it makes my shoulders kind of seize up after a couple of hours! What is the solution? Is there a solution? I'm going to be a mess by the end of the week at this rate!

Don't know if this post is too late, but you could try altering your posture slightly so that there's less pressure on your arms, shoulders or wrists. If not, I find simply getting up and going for a quick half a minute walk helps my arms immensely, maybe because they become more relaxed through the movement of walking. Just walk out the door and back during dialogue if possible (only in rehearsal, obviously!), it may help.

Thanks IAGAS - unfortunately there's no dialogue in JCS - it's continuous music! Anyway the week is over and my arms haven't dropped off so I made it!