neck stiffness and headache

[Dwight Hall]

I recently moved from first part to third in a couple of concert bands,
and switched from a very light Conn Director (no valve) to my much
heavier Bach 42-B. A little arthritis and stiffness in the left hand I'm
living with, but a light glove seems to help by spreading out the weight
and keeping me from bending the index finger too much.

But now I'm noticing some stiffness in the left side of the neck which
sometimes leads to a fairly noticeable headache toward the end of a
two-hour rehearsal or concert. Any thoughts on neck or arm exercizes or
stretching techniques that might help, or am I just going to have to get
used to middle age?

Dwight Hall
Lakewood, CO

[Brian Christopher Wargel]

I'm sorry if this sounds a little harsh, but I say just deal with it.
Occupational hazzard. I've been playing on two different 42's for 6 years
(42B 42K) and it took my shoulder and hand about a month to adjust so that
I didn't get tired. I also found my left middle finger to be permanently
bent so I bought leather guards for the slide, but I only use it on the
cross sections the left hand holds. Other than that, there's nothing
wrong.

In article <348B6A...@ix.netcom.com>,

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