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A question has come to me through private email about shoulder pain:
I’ve recently started playing horn again after many (many) years away, and I’ve developed quite a pain in my left shoulder. I think I can definitely attribute the pain to playing.
Is this common? Are there strengthening exercises I can do? I never had any pain when I was younger, but maybe being 50+ has something do to with it…or could it be the horn?
I am not a doctor and from a distance one can only guess at what might be causing the shoulder pain in this particular instance. That being said, here are some general ideas that I hope might help readers in a similar position.
As someone who has experienced periodic numbness myself (in my left hand and thumb), the first place that I look at is the angle of the instrument and the body parts in relation to the instrument.
With all things in the body being connected, the issue of shoulder pain may not even be related to the shoulder itself, but rather towards something else. Practicing in front of a mirror and/or consulting with a teacher is crucial in this discovery.
The angle of the fingers and hand
A good place to start would be to look at the angle of the fingers on the left hand – are they in a natural curved arch, or do they look flat and extended?
From an article I wrote in 2008, “Get a Grip for Better Comfort”
One common, tell-tale sign for a strained left-hand position is something that I call “the claw.”
This hand position reminds me of how my cats wrestle and play-fight with their scooped paws raised in the air. It happens when the wrist of the left hand is bent at a forward angle and the fingers are extended beyond a natural curve. Players doing the “claw” are most likely over-reaching for the valve levers or straining to reach the range of the pinky hook and thumb valve.
For most people, the arm, wrist and hand work best when positioned in a straight line or at a slight angle. The spread of the hand should feel natural and not stretched. A large angle – the “claw” – in most cases indicates a mismatch between the instrument and its user. A mismatch like this impedes the player’s finger control and arm support, and may cause undo muscle strain.
(In this article I used to have pictures as illustrations and somehow they have gotten lost, but I hope that this written description makes some sense.)
Valve levers
The height and length of the valve levers can have a significant effect over the long haul.
From the same article mentioned earlier:
The height of each valve lever should relate to the player’s natural finger curvature. Personally, I prefer different levels for each lever, depending on the length of its corresponding finger. For example, my third valve lever is the lowest of the three as my pinkie is the shortest. My middle valve sticks up a little bit to compensate for the extra length of my middle finger. My first valve lever is slightly higher than the middle lever as this feels natural to me. This escalating system works for me, but others may prefer something different; for instance, all the levers positioned at an equal height. It is all a matter of personal preference and comfort.
The length of valve levers can vary greatly from instrument-to-instrument. While on my Patterson/Yamaha horn the length seems right, on my Conn 8D the stock levers are too short.
My solution is to solder extensions (US dimes to be exact) on the ends of the valve levers to expand their reach. A few horn and instrument manufacturers sell flat, brass discs specifically made for this purpose.
Besides looking cool, the dimes serve a practical purpose. As seen in the underside-view picture above, the dimes on my Conn 8D extend the pedal reach by several millimeters. As a result, I have a more relaxed and natural finger curvature and can avoid the “claw.”
Body angle
Is the horn itself angled to within 60 to 45 degrees? (In asking this question, I am not referring the angle of the leadpipe to the face, but rather to the horn’s position between the two hands.)
A horn that is angled too high or too low can cause problems in other areas of the body. A few players, myself included, benefit from turning at the waist level – either clockwise or counter-clockwise – in order to reduce or increase the angle of the instrument.
A small shift at the waist can have a significant impact on the weight distribution of the horn. Turning the angle of the chair in tandem might also help.
Arm angle
Related to this, and perhaps more importantly, is the angle of the left arm itself. I have taught a few students whose left arm looked too spread out, like a bird getting ready to take flight. Some students would conduct with this arm in a misdirected attempt to “feel the music.”
In many instances this positioning seemed entirely psychological.
It seemed that in the attempt to get a big sound, to get a big breath or to “feel the music,” the student adopted a bigger body posture, one that manifested itself in a left arm angled outwards – at 45 degrees or more.
While this might work for a young student with extra energy to burn, for older players this may not work so well. Myself, I tend to keep my left arm as close as I can to a 80-90 degree vertical angle, as perpendicular as possible to the head and shoulders.
Other considerations
Of course there may be other factors to consider beyond the discussion of angles and the left-side and these will be points to explore in another article – for instance:
- Using a hand strap or “flipper”
- Right arm and leg support (I use a SockBlock for this reason.)
- Warm-up stretching exercises
- Strength-training with weights or yoga
- Proper rest – before, during and after practice sessions
- A more serious medical condition
On this final point, I would relate the story of a colleague of mine who experienced shoulder pain for several years. It ended tragically for this player as it turned out that he had developed cancer in that shoulder and it eventually took his life.
While this is an extreme case, it does illustrate that in some cases the problem may be medical. If pain persists over a long period of time, a medical professional should be consulted.
This extreme aside, a good place to start is to look at the angles, beginning with the left arm and left hand in particular.
