The role of the scapula

Hi Alan, It's been a while since I last contacted you. I thought I should let you know that all of these mechanical problems I reported turn out to have a physical explanation. I have Parkinson's, so it's little wonder that my hand misbehaves! So far it's restricted to my right hand and the drugs at least enable me to use the hand for most tasks, including typing, but I've lost much of my former (admittedly limited) agility at the keyboard. Your advice to me was always spot on and did help but there's a barrier that I cannot get past. Nevertheless, I still play about an hour every day at slow tempi with a metronome as physical therapy. I'm finding it most useful to play a bit loudly and détaché, lifting the fingers as high as I can after striking the key. And after the hand has loosened up I can still play a few relatively simple pieces adequately at full tempo, so I'm not completely disabled. (And my left hand is completely unaffected, so a piece with a lot of left hand action such as Liszt's D-Flat Consolation is still within my grasp.) I think the cosmos is telling me to devote more time to composition! Best wishes to you and yours! - Richard

Dear Richard, Really sorry to hear about this - it is not an easy row to hoe. Two of my favorite uncles have the same illness, and although they bear it well and are quite philosophical about it, it is not easy for them! You will love my third book, especially the exercises where you mash the hand into the keyboard to get a sense of your musical consciousness residing in the palm. This intimate, palpable increase in the sense of skeletality will be the best therapy for your condition, way more effective then the exercises where I have you stand up and exemplify the soaring arch... AND I look forward to hearing your new efforts in the realm of composition! All very best, Alan

Thanks Alan! I'm placing my order for your new book right away. My thumb is a big problem in that it refuses to get out of the way when it should so it needs a whole lotta mashing! I've put several pieces up on YouTube under the name bickymcq but by far the most popular has been my silliest one: . I refuse to lose my humor and good spirits over this! Best, - Richard

I laughed my head off! Burger King and Dairy Queen will never be the same for me again! Bravo! AFF

My compliments to your book distributor, Alan. My copy of "All Thumbs" just arrived. From Serbia all the way to Tucson in less than a week! Great timing - just this week my doctor put me on a new drug that has virtually eliminated the cramping in my right hand. It's weird how quickly it took effect. I am cautious about getting my hopes up but I'm able to execute a respectable trill with my 4th and 5th fingers - something I'd given up on for almost a year. I still have some difficulty passing the 4th finger over the thumb in descending scales but at least the hand no longer wobbles - it's more a matter of a speed limitation rather than an absolute inability. It's likely that the muscles have atrophied a bit but I promise to work diligently in an attempt to reactivate them. I'm not aiming high - I just want to be able to play moderately difficult music without irritating the neighbors. btw, I own a Kawai 6 foot "baby" grand. I've gathered that Steinway players consider them hopeless but it's all I was able to afford. Do you have any opinion or special advice about them?

Glad to hear my book arrived safe and sound! I like Kawai's way more than the other oriental makes... About your condition - have you tried Feldenkrais as an ongoing way of improving it? We've had many very positive success stories... All best, Alan

As you may recall I did have a few sessions with your old friend Maria but she stopped taking students and I did not take to the woman she referred me to. I'm going to sign up for classes with a sort of Parkinson's gym here in Tucson (). I doubt it's Feldenkrais but it seems similar. I'll file a report. Back in 1989-1990 I was in a doctoral composition program at UC San Diego studying with Brian Ferneyhough (I dropped out with just an MA). I occasionally had the privilege to play the department's Bosendorfer. Now THAT is a piano!

Hi, I am not sure if the original poster will still be viewing this board, but if you are I would very much appreciate any information you have to share about 'unfreezing' a frozen scapula. I came across this post on the first page of a Google search for "frozen scapula". The first hit is for my own blog () so clearly there is a dearth of information available. (Google scholar and ScienceDirect produce single digit results.) My frozen scapula has arisen after an accident, major shoulder surgery to reattach two muscle that were detached for 8 months before diagnosis and surgery and has really arisen as a complication due to the lack ofmovement/ complete inability to move it for so long. I clicked on this link as I have played piano for 20 years (not particularly well, just for fun although I did have lessons and sit exams through school) and I have been attempting to play as part of my surgery recovery. A big issue is regenerating neuromuscular connections, so it's a bit strange... my left hand wants to play at the tempo it is used to (for a specific piece of music) and my right hand can't keep up. Even more strangely, yesterday I tried to play properly for the first time in several months (physiotherapy has been intense and painful) and my brain was trying very hard to read the bass clef as the treble. I've been reading piano music for 21 years. I can read it like English... this was very strange and very frustrating for me. Therefore your left/right dominant hand/hemisphere comment was also really interesting for me. As a young gymnast I tumbled forwards on my right foot and backwards on my left. I write right-handed but paint/draw with a paintbrush in each hand. As a result of being unable to use my (slightly) dominant right arm properly for close to 18 months, my brain has no idea what is going on! Anyway, I'm sorry to read about your problems but it's pretty unusual and if you did find a solution, I'd be especially interested in hearing what worked for you. I can be contacted via my blog (address above) or on here, I assume. Best wishes for your current health. G

Hello. I'm not sure that I can offer much advice concerning frozen shoulder. At the time that I first posted this message thread, I was having coordination problems and pain in my right arm and shoulder which my primary care physician suggested was a frozen shoulder. I spent a few weeks in physical therapy, which consisted of exercises and gentle stretching of the arm (based on my reading of Alan's "All Thumbs," I expect he would object to the stretching exercises). It did improve my range of motion and lessen the pain but ultimately we came to the conclusion that it's Parkinson's Disease. A daily cocktail of L-Dopa, Ropinirole, and Azilect coupled with motion disorder therapy has eliminated the pain and made it possible to use the arm for most tasks, such as typing (very important since I earn my living writing manuals and other technical documents for a software company). I'm able to play piano again, though I'm limited to slow to moderate speed. The frustration is that the fingers go down just as they should but often don't come back up fully. If I play a suite of simple exercises slowly and deliberately with metronome for 30 minutes every day, the hand becomes flexible and responsive enough to play well enough for personal enjoyment, though I wouldn't attempt playing in public. btw Alan, one of my videos went viral over the holidays. A silly arrangement of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" written as a 12-tone serial piece called, naturally, "The Twelve Tones of Christmas." It racked up 25,000 views in about two weeks.

Hi, Thank you so much for replying. I read the part about your scapula not moving and then this freeing up with therapy and wondered if there had been anything specific that got that moving for you, but it sounds like it could have been all a holistic issue. I have done much reading on my condition - it has been necessary - and was interested to find another person discussing similar issues, although it seems not so. Best wishes, I hope your body is kind to you. G