Mike's Oud Forums

tension in right shoulder

palestine48 - 1-16-2007 at 12:36 AM

Hey gang,

any tips on reducing tension in the right shoulder?

samzayed - 1-16-2007 at 04:53 AM

This tension in the right shoulder is probably caused by the wrong posture between your body type and oud size.

Try wrapping your right arm around the oud differently. For example, instead of coming down on from the corner of the face, try positioning your arm more behind the bridge of the oud, or vice versa. Also, try elevating your right leg (not too high), or trying your left leg instead. There's no right way, whatever works for you.

This is an interesting article about classical guitar posture, not all apllies to the oud, but it definitely made me think about some things. http://www.mangore.com/carlevaro.html

palestine48 - 1-16-2007 at 08:35 AM

Thanks Sam,

Well I do aalready position my right arm that way, behind the bridge. I am trying to do slightly above that but not from the corner as you say to see that works. as well as legs, I switched from right to left and I try to cross my legs when i play so i create a pocket. if you look at the trio joubrans cd randana, they are in this position. except it seems they lean there right shoulder more forward whereas I am trying to keep mine even.

So far with this position, I elminated left shoulder tension and my back is more straight but now the focus is on my right shoulder. I hate to make arm thickness as an excuse, but I wonder could it be. I definately not as flexible as your average person.

thanks again,
any more responses guys?

excentrik - 1-20-2007 at 02:28 PM

go to yoga...

tarik:D:D

eliot - 1-20-2007 at 02:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by palestine48
Thanks Sam,

Well I do aalready position my right arm that way, behind the bridge. I am trying to do slightly above that but not from the corner as you say to see that works. as well as legs, I switched from right to left and I try to cross my legs when i play so i create a pocket. if you look at the trio joubrans cd randana, they are in this position. except it seems they lean there right shoulder more forward whereas I am trying to keep mine even.

So far with this position, I elminated left shoulder tension and my back is more straight but now the focus is on my right shoulder. I hate to make arm thickness as an excuse, but I wonder could it be. I definately not as flexible as your average person.


Another thing it could be - I find that chair height is very important, and very particular to the individual. If the chair I practice in is too low (meaning, when I am sitting my thighs are not parallel to the ground), I get all kinds of unpleasant aches that don't happen when I have a proper chair or stool. Adjustable drum stools are great for oud players, too.
Quote:
Originally posted by whoever
go to yoga...

What truly useless advice. Though I love ashtanga yoga and find it to be beneficial for me, I've seen enough people get permanently injured by randomly going to some suggested yoga class (including the ones I went to) which was entirely unsuitable for their physiology, with instructors who aren't careful and don't take individual students' needs into consideration that I would never make a blanket endorsement of the entire world of yoga practice.

Yeah, stretching done right is a beneficial thing. But it is no substitute for chronic posture problems.

palestine48 - 1-20-2007 at 07:32 PM

Tarik ilhas teezee cuz lol

Sam thanks for the advice

and Eliot thank you very much too

what Tarik said about yoga was actually a joke, i do go to yoga to help my oud studies because my teacher wanted me to learn breathing techniques and find an outlet to relax more.

Mr wiseguy excentrik was just throwing in a pun to tease me cuz im not as talented( and scrawny as him):D

As for chair hight I will look into that, I just recentlt changed chairs to a higher once because i felt like my posture was not straight enough.

Now my posture and left hand are better but the right shoulder tension is apparent. i am going to try going back to my old lower chair and see if the problem persists. it might really be the chair.

samzayed - 1-21-2007 at 12:26 AM

I totally agree with Eliot on the height of the chair. If I'm on a low chair, its very uncomfortable. I would love to find a bar stool, that had a step that raised my foot to right level.

I have this memory from my childhood of an oud player that use to play at weddings - he had at least 3 chairs stacked on top of each other (the cheap banquet chairs that stacked that way), and he would sit on these chairs using a foot stand. I never really understood why he stacked his chairs, but now I do . . .

palestine48 - 1-21-2007 at 10:02 AM

maybe start with a low chair, adjust the height with phone books, measure it and find a chair the right height?

how should the back posture be, should it be all straight and upstanding or slightly hunched over acceptable. i see a few players who do lurch or lean to a degree. currently i feel im more straight up in posture.

SamirCanada - 1-21-2007 at 11:06 AM

those drum stools like eliot mentioned are fully ajustable in height. They are perfect for me. But the only thing is there is no back support but anyways I dont know many people that lean back when they play.

ALAMI - 1-21-2007 at 12:05 PM

Hey Samir, I do lean back when I play!
I also lean back while working (as I have to spend an insane nmbr of hours infront of a computer)
I have lower back problems (L4 L5) due to old accidents, and I cannot spend a long time sitting in a straight position and the solution (designed by the doctor) was to turn my "world" 45 degrees back, by this the lower back has not to support the upper body and head weight, for this I use a "lazy boy" chair with the back rotated 45 degrees backwards, the screen (a big one) is high but tilted down 45 degrees.
For the oud I use the same position with the bottom of the oud held by the upper leg and this lets me practice for hours without pain. I know it is not a common position but for people with lower spine problems it is a very good solution.

For me it's too late, but for those with a healthy back and want to keep it this way (and can afford it !!!) the best chair ever made is the Aeron, for oud plying, the armrests can be removed and every single aspect can be set to your convenience and forget the fact it is called "Business chair" it is good to have one at home.
Check it:

http://www.hermanmiller.com