tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191952706132840163.post3462028649019644808..comments2023-04-25T23:46:07.460-04:00Comments on Building A Better Right Hand: A Journey of 1,000 Miles Begins with a Single StumbleTom Poorehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08153348883423482697noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191952706132840163.post-78003511435443830712011-04-20T10:28:53.219-04:002011-04-20T10:28:53.219-04:00Hi Tom,
I stumbled upon your site quite by acciden...Hi Tom,<br />I stumbled upon your site quite by accident and I am compelled by your comments. So much so that I am going to print off every post and read the hard copy, making notes as I go.<br /><br />Compelled because I have been going through the exact same experience as you. I spent years trying to fix my right hand only to find that it was getting not better but worse and worse until I could not play even the most basic of pieces. Things got so bad that I witnessed the "m" finger of my right hand curling in even as I picked up my guitar. I could barely play a single note.<br /><br />Eventually I was diagnosed with task specific focal dystonia (TSFD) and I thought that the world had ended. I went for seminars in Seville, Spain and since then I have been working to retrain my hand, posture and approach to playing. I can now play to a metronome! That is a huge victory. <br /><br />I still have a very long way to go, but I would be very happy to share experiences with you - either privately by email or in public. You can see what I have written on the subject here: miguelbengoa.com. If you select the category TSFD, you can read about y experiences. Please mail me or post a comment if you are interested in some form of mutual collaboration on this topic. I would be honored.miguel bengoahttp://miguelbengoa.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-191952706132840163.post-71422859142163959092011-01-17T20:34:18.864-05:002011-01-17T20:34:18.864-05:00This is an interesting experiment. You have offici...This is an interesting experiment. You have officially opened up a potential can of worms. That said, the worst that can happen is ending up David in a fight with Goliath that ends with a more realistic outcome. After reading your blog and considering "m" and "a" working as one "rockette" unit, I decided to do some i-ma alternation myself. I experimented with my normal i-m alternation (while watching the "a" finger.) Then I taped my "a" and "m" fingers together(with about a one inch thick strand of masking tape)to see if it would work as a "training wheel" type of effect. My results were interesting. It seems that when they are taped together that the "m" and "a" nail and flesh seem to attack the string simultaneously. Like doing a rest stroke with 2 fingers at the same time whereas when I do the same scale with the "a" finger not-taped to "m" it seems like my "a" finger compensates so as not to hit the string along with the "m" finger. This is just an initial observation and everybody's fingers have varying relative length but there may be added stress to "a" as it attempts to stay out of contact with the same string that "m" is striking.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09507209488969468175noreply@blogger.com