Posted by Paul Conrad on March 07, 2000 at 09:49:33:
In Reply to: hand positoin on rotory valved horns posted by ken k on March 06, 2000 at 22:48:25:
Ken,
Yes, it is a bit retentive but we all have our faults (we are comunicating on one of those "geek" sites afterall). In general the idea of the ball concept is a very good one because most people relax the hand more in this position and tend to stiffen the fingers when in the straight position. A lot depends on the size of the hand in relation to the distance between the spatulas, many players move them closer together or put coins on the ends to adapt the horn to their hand size. The placement of the thumb ring and use or non-use of it can also affect hand tension and leverage. The main thing is to be as relaxed as possible with whatever concept or position you use and/or can convince the student to use, not unlike the diffent concepts of mouthpiece placement, what works for one may not work at all for someone else depending on their physical makeup. The bit about a straight throw on pistons is very true, years of an uneven throw of a valve against a valve case can cause extensive wear that may require an expensive valve job that most student/school situations can't afford and end up suffering with valves that never really work well. Whatever position that doesn't cause tension in the tendons of the hand/forearm and produces a positive contact with the valve mechanisim should be encouraged, as a relaxed position will lend itself to quicker fingers much more than a position that cramps the hand. Normally, yes, the idea is to worry about the music and not the mechanics but when the music suffers because of a mechanical problem then the teacher needs to at least look at where the problem originates before telling the student that all he needs to do is practice more (which is probably true anyway).