I'm sure a book could be written as to the advantages of keeping a straight left hand wrist, but what about the flip side?
Are there also advantages to be had by holding the neck in the heel of your palm? Are there players whose unique technique would be destroyed if they adopted a more classical hold on the neck?
Any players out there who have given both ways a fair go, and decided not to keep a straight left hand wrist?
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I can't see any advantage in playing with a bent wrist. There is a false feeling of security because you get a better grip on the neck, but that's exactly what you don't want, to grip the neck. The hand should be relaxed and free to move easily, even if you don't need to change position.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Here is a woman who's helped me with such matters - she was a classical violinist but is against the stressful and sticked classical hold on the neck etc - She prefers the the bow and wrist holds of the Gypsy violinist / fiddler's -
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I have noticed that some very good fiddlers, including Liz Carroll, play with a bent wrist, and have tried it myself, and was shocked at how difficult it was - I felt as though my hand was tied in a knot. It was explained to me by a fiddle teacher that if that's the way you learn in the beginning and you're used to it, it's no as much of a problem.
Sorry to say, I couldn't make much of the video - couldn't tell if she was fer it or agin it. Seems she might have been encouraging a straight wrist, but it would have been great to hear what she was saying - since she had everyone's rapt attention, it must have been brilliant.
There's straight, and there's stiff, with the former being the preferable, I believe.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Sara -
Use the wee red button that says in white letters CC
and you'll get Subtitles' of what she's saying - Her English is not
great just like mine - But she's from Hungry - lol.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Dezy Donnelly plays bent - which really amazes me since he's
always sliding up into the higher positions. Martin Hayes is
another top player who's "bent".
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I remember Trevor "lazyhound" on this site writing something
on this subject a year or two ago. He said the Baroque
fiddlers played this way for extra support since they did not use a
chinrest or shoulder rest.
I have a tendency to let it sag if I'm not concentrating. But
the intonation is better and it's generally more 'crisp' with a
straight wrist for me - I need all the help I can get.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Thanks for all of your input, I appreciate it. I've been playing for 20 years, started off learning classical with my teacher despairing at my collapsed wrist. I stopped learning when I was 13 and started busking. By the time I was in University I was busking maybe 6 hours per day, sometimes I would go through a stage of trying to open my wrist up for a while, but I just couldn't get the same tone.
Now I'm at the stage where the collapsed wrist is integral to my technique. I have long fingers so intonation on the 3rd and 4th fingers isn't an issue for me.
I find it difficult to explain why I prefer the collapsed wrist, but I find that especially on long notes I can 'pulse' my finger into the fingerboard in a rhythmic fashion. To me it seems to fit my style better than traditional vibrato, which I can do but choose not to. I realise vibrato is not usually used in reels, jigs, etc but its more of a tone thing that I find very difficult to explain.
Now I still have a lifetime of improvement to make when I'm playing, but I have the feeling that when I ask for advice in improving my playing, people just say 'straighten the wrist', which is something that is off the table as far as I'm concerned. I don't want to straighten my wrist, it would make things a bit easier no doubt, but I would sacrifice something, I believe.
In any case Liz Carroll is probably my favorite fiddle player, so at least I am in good company. It would be a brave soul to wander up to her and ask her to straighten her wrist!
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I think it's a mistake to cite good or great players as examples of "X does it, so it must be okay." Liz Carroll has had problems with her wrist, pain and stiffness, in large part because of how she holds the fiddle. Some people might be able to get away with it, but many will end up with carpal tunnel syndrome or worse, and that *will* limit your playing ability.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Off hand I;d say I am a straight wrister, yet at times I slip into the bent. There ARE advantages to the bent wrist when it comes to vibrato. Not the classical vibrato mind you, but a type of vibrato that fits traditional music. A bent wrist really helps me get a nice tight vibrato. Again, I usually have my wrist straight.
I have no extra stresss on my left hand whether I choose bent or straight. Oftene times I will slip into bent when my left hand is tired. WIthout methodically or scientifically testing it, I'd say that a bent wrist is more relaxed for me and creates less tension. Then again it may be my personal bias or rebellion against what is "proper." I think I just may have enough celtic blood-- and native american blood to make me contrary to what is "correct."
Bottom line-- it's fiddling. There is no rule book.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I think of it as akin to pitching sidearm in baseball. Almost all the great fastball pitchers who threw lots of complete games have been overhand or three-quarter delivery pitchers. There have been a few sidearmers, but very few. The sidearmers who have achieved a lot of success have been relievers. Kent Tekulve, Don Quisenberry. You really have to go back to Walter Johnson to find a great starter who threw sidearm. And he was truly, truly great. But a lot of times, I can watch a young pitcher on TV and predict arm trouble down the road, because of poor fundamentals. A rushed delivery, short-arming, sidearming.
Great talents can get away with it for a while. But eventually the limits of their technique catch up to them, and the injuries set in.
I can't think of an advantage to a bent wrist, though I know some terrific players who play that way. I think they are great IN SPITE of their flat wrist, and not because of it.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Anatomically speaking it is easy to determine the position of function of the wrist - bend your elbow and hold your hand and wrist in front of you with the fingers extended (straight) and wrist in a straight line, close your eyes and then close your hand. When you open your eyes and look at your hand you will almost always find that the wrist is bent back about 20 degrees or so. I've had some interesting arguments with my music teacher about the most functional position of my left wrist,
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Bruce, either I'm reading you wrong, or your little test doesn't make any sense. My wrists don't bend back at all when they're completely relaxed, hands open or closed. Besides, the angle you describe is a big part of why so many people get carpal tunnel syndrome using computer keyboards and mice.
Maybe *you're* wrists are different.
A more accurate way to find "neutral" for your wrists is to lie down with your arms at your sides and completely relax the muscles of your forearms. Most people's wrists go straight to curving slightly inward (opposite of back). This position is neutral for both the flexor *and* extensor muscles. To bend your wrist back at all requires contraction of the extensors. That's not relaxed or neutral.
But what causes problems in a wrist bent back is that the bend compresses the median nerve and flexor tendons. Bending your wrist back tightens the transverse carpal ligament against the nerve, tendon, and artery bundle there, smashing it against the carpal bones. Over time, this leads to inflammation, scarring, and the resultant symptoms of tingling, numbness, and lack of fine motor control and grip.
You're also overworking the extensor muscles and tendons, which often leads to tendinitis in the common extensor tendon at the head of the ulna.
Some people may be able to get away with a bent wrist and no symptoms, but most people will eventually end up with pain, nerve problems, and/or weakness.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
If I have this correctly my hand is in a neutral position without flexing or extending the fingers or wrist. But, when I look at my hand, in a neutral position, it *appears* to be slightly flexed fingers with slightly extended wrist.
This seems to match what I heard from my physical therapist. Sorry to crash the fiddle thread. I play flute.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I must have simian over-developed flexor muscles, then, because my wrists are neutral when straight or just slightly flexed in, with fingers curled over the palm.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
My bad! I don't have my flute at the moment. In any case I wasn't curling my fingers over the palm. That's what I get for responding on a fiddle discussion.
Ben
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Ben, if you use the Rockstro grip with the upper hand, then you're bending the wrist back and risking RSI injuries. It's important to *not* squeeze the flute with those fingers, and to take frequent breaks to relax and stretch the wrist.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Will, I'm very happy to see this thread focusing on taking good care of our hands & wrists. Thank you for any advice regarding flute position. But, before we go there ... I do want to have that discussion, just not right now because I'm hoping to logoff. For what it is worth my hands & wrists have never felt better & I've played more flute in the last six months than I have in the last six years.
I do plan to bring up a discussion on flute positions.
For the time being I'm trying to suss out what my physical therapist (injury 5 years ago) said about a neutral hand position. I think I'll pay her a visit.
What do you think of this bit I found about splinting a hand injury in the neutral position?
"The neutral position is used for basic splinting of an injured or infected hand. The purpose of the splint is to allow the hand to rest in a safe position -- that is, a position that will not lead to hand dysfunction if stiffness results. The wrist is placed in 20° of extension, the MCP joints are positioned in 70° of flexion, & the interphalangeal joints should be straight."
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Fair play. I injured my fingers, but never the wrist. Perhaps the method of splinting is different. I did see (in my searches) some splinting of the wrist straight, though I was mainly looking for what physical therapists consider the neutral position.
You know what sucks about Google? Most of the searches yield carpel tunnel syndrome ~ due to typing on a keyboard. Think they're trying to tell webaddicts something? Occam's razor strikes again. ;)
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I've broken each of my fingers at least twice, some as many as five times. Only had a cast for that once--basically destroyed my left thumb (both joints of the 1st metacarpal). They cast that one straight so I could hold a ski pole. Went skiing the next day. Heh, to be young again....
Thinking about all this, one possible plus to holding the fiddle with a bent wrist is that it makes it somewhat harder to get much of a death grip on the neck.
For me, my wrist just feels most relaxed when my wrist hangs slack from the neck. And it's much easier to reach the ring and fourth finger notes that way than if I extend my wrist.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I try to play with a straight wrist, but growing up around old time music and learning that first on the fiddle gave me some 'bad' habits regarding my left wrist. So, unless I'm actively thinking about it, my wrist is probably a bit bent. I think when I play ITM, it's usually straight, now that I think about it, but other styles not. huh.
I can play just fine both ways, but wish I could remember to keep my wrist straight more often. To be honest, I'm usually more concerned about my bowing wrist because it's pretty much destroyed beyond saving (breaks, cysts, tendinitis, torn ligaments, surgery, etc), which leads to very strange bowing on my part to avoid pain.
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Actually, I played out all night yesterday, and noticed my wrist is straight all the time now. Guess I finally trained myself to keep in in a more 'proper' position!
Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I'm sure a book could be written as to the advantages of keeping a straight left hand wrist, but what about the flip side?
Are there also advantages to be had by holding the neck in the heel of your palm? Are there players whose unique technique would be destroyed if they adopted a more classical hold on the neck?
Any players out there who have given both ways a fair go, and decided not to keep a straight left hand wrist?
I'm genuinely interested.
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by Moondyne Fiddler
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I can't see any advantage in playing with a bent wrist. There is a false feeling of security because you get a better grip on the neck, but that's exactly what you don't want, to grip the neck. The hand should be relaxed and free to move easily, even if you don't need to change position.
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by Gallowglass
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I played with a bent wrist for years. Then changed and got exponentially better in no time.
But are you gonna tell Liz Carroll that?
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by ...
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
No, but her chiropractor might! [rim shot]
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I first read this as 'Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed WALLET'
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
That's a topic I'd be more interested to read about...
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by deltasalmon
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
From wrist to wallet there is a fair jump. Are you Scottish?
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by Gallowglass
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I didn't know if I play with a straight or bent wrist, but I just checked and it's straight. Phew. Bent feels very difficult.
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by Bernie 29
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
how can you tell which Finns are extroverts? They're the ones looking at other people's shoes
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by airport
Split Enz...
I don't understand these jokes about the brothers who formed Crowded House and Split Enz...
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by yhaalhouse
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Here is a woman who's helped me with such matters - she was a classical violinist but is against the stressful and sticked classical hold on the neck etc - She prefers the the bow and wrist holds of the Gypsy violinist / fiddler's -
Right Arm movement -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmj8evzP5nU
Left Hand movement -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAe0AadmqZw
She has many more Videos there -
jim,,,
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by FIDDLE4
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
That explains a lot.
# Posted on January 27th 2011 by ethical blend
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I have noticed that some very good fiddlers, including Liz Carroll, play with a bent wrist, and have tried it myself, and was shocked at how difficult it was - I felt as though my hand was tied in a knot. It was explained to me by a fiddle teacher that if that's the way you learn in the beginning and you're used to it, it's no as much of a problem.
Sorry to say, I couldn't make much of the video - couldn't tell if she was fer it or agin it. Seems she might have been encouraging a straight wrist, but it would have been great to hear what she was saying - since she had everyone's rapt attention, it must have been brilliant.
There's straight, and there's stiff, with the former being the preferable, I believe.
# Posted on January 28th 2011 by sara505sings
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Sara -
Use the wee red button that says in white letters CC
and you'll get Subtitles' of what she's saying - Her English is not
great just like mine - But she's from Hungry - lol.
jim,,,
# Posted on January 28th 2011 by FIDDLE4
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
PS --
Her Web Site - http://www.katohavas.com/index.html
jim,,,
# Posted on January 28th 2011 by FIDDLE4
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Dezy Donnelly plays bent - which really amazes me since he's
always sliding up into the higher positions. Martin Hayes is
another top player who's "bent".
# Posted on January 28th 2011 by Hup
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I remember Trevor "lazyhound" on this site writing something
on this subject a year or two ago. He said the Baroque
fiddlers played this way for extra support since they did not use a
chinrest or shoulder rest.
I have a tendency to let it sag if I'm not concentrating. But
the intonation is better and it's generally more 'crisp' with a
straight wrist for me - I need all the help I can get.
# Posted on January 28th 2011 by Hup
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Thanks for all of your input, I appreciate it. I've been playing for 20 years, started off learning classical with my teacher despairing at my collapsed wrist. I stopped learning when I was 13 and started busking. By the time I was in University I was busking maybe 6 hours per day, sometimes I would go through a stage of trying to open my wrist up for a while, but I just couldn't get the same tone.
Now I'm at the stage where the collapsed wrist is integral to my technique. I have long fingers so intonation on the 3rd and 4th fingers isn't an issue for me.
I find it difficult to explain why I prefer the collapsed wrist, but I find that especially on long notes I can 'pulse' my finger into the fingerboard in a rhythmic fashion. To me it seems to fit my style better than traditional vibrato, which I can do but choose not to. I realise vibrato is not usually used in reels, jigs, etc but its more of a tone thing that I find very difficult to explain.
Now I still have a lifetime of improvement to make when I'm playing, but I have the feeling that when I ask for advice in improving my playing, people just say 'straighten the wrist', which is something that is off the table as far as I'm concerned. I don't want to straighten my wrist, it would make things a bit easier no doubt, but I would sacrifice something, I believe.
In any case Liz Carroll is probably my favorite fiddle player, so at least I am in good company. It would be a brave soul to wander up to her and ask her to straighten her wrist!
# Posted on January 28th 2011 by Moondyne Fiddler
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Thanks, Jim!
# Posted on January 28th 2011 by sara505sings
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I think it's a mistake to cite good or great players as examples of "X does it, so it must be okay." Liz Carroll has had problems with her wrist, pain and stiffness, in large part because of how she holds the fiddle. Some people might be able to get away with it, but many will end up with carpal tunnel syndrome or worse, and that *will* limit your playing ability.
# Posted on January 28th 2011 by Will Harmon
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Off hand I;d say I am a straight wrister, yet at times I slip into the bent. There ARE advantages to the bent wrist when it comes to vibrato. Not the classical vibrato mind you, but a type of vibrato that fits traditional music. A bent wrist really helps me get a nice tight vibrato. Again, I usually have my wrist straight.
I have no extra stresss on my left hand whether I choose bent or straight. Oftene times I will slip into bent when my left hand is tired. WIthout methodically or scientifically testing it, I'd say that a bent wrist is more relaxed for me and creates less tension. Then again it may be my personal bias or rebellion against what is "proper." I think I just may have enough celtic blood-- and native american blood to make me contrary to what is "correct."
Bottom line-- it's fiddling. There is no rule book.
# Posted on January 28th 2011 by horatio spens the blademan
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I think of it as akin to pitching sidearm in baseball. Almost all the great fastball pitchers who threw lots of complete games have been overhand or three-quarter delivery pitchers. There have been a few sidearmers, but very few. The sidearmers who have achieved a lot of success have been relievers. Kent Tekulve, Don Quisenberry. You really have to go back to Walter Johnson to find a great starter who threw sidearm. And he was truly, truly great. But a lot of times, I can watch a young pitcher on TV and predict arm trouble down the road, because of poor fundamentals. A rushed delivery, short-arming, sidearming.
Great talents can get away with it for a while. But eventually the limits of their technique catch up to them, and the injuries set in.
I can't think of an advantage to a bent wrist, though I know some terrific players who play that way. I think they are great IN SPITE of their flat wrist, and not because of it.
# Posted on January 28th 2011 by jwvansteenwyk
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Anatomically speaking it is easy to determine the position of function of the wrist - bend your elbow and hold your hand and wrist in front of you with the fingers extended (straight) and wrist in a straight line, close your eyes and then close your hand. When you open your eyes and look at your hand you will almost always find that the wrist is bent back about 20 degrees or so. I've had some interesting arguments with my music teacher about the most functional position of my left wrist,
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Bruce
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Bruce, either I'm reading you wrong, or your little test doesn't make any sense. My wrists don't bend back at all when they're completely relaxed, hands open or closed. Besides, the angle you describe is a big part of why so many people get carpal tunnel syndrome using computer keyboards and mice.
Maybe *you're* wrists are different.
A more accurate way to find "neutral" for your wrists is to lie down with your arms at your sides and completely relax the muscles of your forearms. Most people's wrists go straight to curving slightly inward (opposite of back). This position is neutral for both the flexor *and* extensor muscles. To bend your wrist back at all requires contraction of the extensors. That's not relaxed or neutral.
But what causes problems in a wrist bent back is that the bend compresses the median nerve and flexor tendons. Bending your wrist back tightens the transverse carpal ligament against the nerve, tendon, and artery bundle there, smashing it against the carpal bones. Over time, this leads to inflammation, scarring, and the resultant symptoms of tingling, numbness, and lack of fine motor control and grip.
You're also overworking the extensor muscles and tendons, which often leads to tendinitis in the common extensor tendon at the head of the ulna.
Some people may be able to get away with a bent wrist and no symptoms, but most people will eventually end up with pain, nerve problems, and/or weakness.
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Will Harmon
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Is Bruce describing a *relaxed* position with the palm up?
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Ben Steen
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
If I have this correctly my hand is in a neutral position without flexing or extending the fingers or wrist. But, when I look at my hand, in a neutral position, it *appears* to be slightly flexed fingers with slightly extended wrist.
This seems to match what I heard from my physical therapist. Sorry to crash the fiddle thread. I play flute.
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Ben Steen
Using an online protactor
However, not 20 degrees. 10, at the most. Approximately.
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Ben Steen
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I must have simian over-developed flexor muscles, then, because my wrists are neutral when straight or just slightly flexed in, with fingers curled over the palm.
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Will Harmon
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
My bad! I don't have my flute at the moment. In any case I wasn't curling my fingers over the palm. That's what I get for responding on a fiddle discussion.
Ben
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Ben Steen
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Ben, if you use the Rockstro grip with the upper hand, then you're bending the wrist back and risking RSI injuries. It's important to *not* squeeze the flute with those fingers, and to take frequent breaks to relax and stretch the wrist.
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Will Harmon
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Will, I'm very happy to see this thread focusing on taking good care of our hands & wrists. Thank you for any advice regarding flute position. But, before we go there ... I do want to have that discussion, just not right now because I'm hoping to logoff. For what it is worth my hands & wrists have never felt better & I've played more flute in the last six months than I have in the last six years.
I do plan to bring up a discussion on flute positions.
For the time being I'm trying to suss out what my physical therapist (injury 5 years ago) said about a neutral hand position. I think I'll pay her a visit.
What do you think of this bit I found about splinting a hand injury in the neutral position?
"The neutral position is used for basic splinting of an injured or infected hand. The purpose of the splint is to allow the hand to rest in a safe position -- that is, a position that will not lead to hand dysfunction if stiffness results. The wrist is placed in 20° of extension, the MCP joints are positioned in 70° of flexion, & the interphalangeal joints should be straight."
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Ben Steen
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I've broken both wrists several times and was always cast straight, with no extension.
Maybe *that's* why it feels neutral to me.
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Will Harmon
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Fair play. I injured my fingers, but never the wrist. Perhaps the method of splinting is different. I did see (in my searches) some splinting of the wrist straight, though I was mainly looking for what physical therapists consider the neutral position.
You know what sucks about Google? Most of the searches yield carpel tunnel syndrome ~ due to typing on a keyboard. Think they're trying to tell webaddicts something? Occam's razor strikes again. ;)
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Ben Steen
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I've broken each of my fingers at least twice, some as many as five times. Only had a cast for that once--basically destroyed my left thumb (both joints of the 1st metacarpal). They cast that one straight so I could hold a ski pole. Went skiing the next day. Heh, to be young again....
Thinking about all this, one possible plus to holding the fiddle with a bent wrist is that it makes it somewhat harder to get much of a death grip on the neck.
For me, my wrist just feels most relaxed when my wrist hangs slack from the neck. And it's much easier to reach the ring and fourth finger notes that way than if I extend my wrist.
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Will Harmon
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
So, maybe you can insure your fiddles; but the insurance companies won't go near either of the hands?
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Ben Steen
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
There's no point in insuring my fiddle or my hands...all pretty worthless.
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by Will Harmon
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
I try to play with a straight wrist, but growing up around old time music and learning that first on the fiddle gave me some 'bad' habits regarding my left wrist. So, unless I'm actively thinking about it, my wrist is probably a bit bent. I think when I play ITM, it's usually straight, now that I think about it, but other styles not. huh.
I can play just fine both ways, but wish I could remember to keep my wrist straight more often. To be honest, I'm usually more concerned about my bowing wrist because it's pretty much destroyed beyond saving (breaks, cysts, tendinitis, torn ligaments, surgery, etc), which leads to very strange bowing on my part to avoid pain.
# Posted on January 30th 2011 by fiddletreegypsy
Re: Advantages to playing fiddle with a closed wrist?
Actually, I played out all night yesterday, and noticed my wrist is straight all the time now. Guess I finally trained myself to keep in in a more 'proper' position!
# Posted on January 31st 2011 by fiddletreegypsy