Mike, can you describe what you mean about wrist position when playing
with one strap? Do you mean kinked in or out? And why is this just a
problem when playing with one strap as opposed to two?
Just be careful not to play with your wrist kinked as can happen when you play with only one strap (on a 2+ row I not only use straps, I use two) - as that can cause all sorts of wrist problems in the future.
Mike
I presume Mike is meaning a potentially awkward wrist position due to also having to
support the box, to some extent, as well as finger the keyboard, if using only one strap. I have only ever used one strap, and tend to hold the keyboard
round the back ie with the edge of the keyboard resting in the web between my thumb and first finger (ok, supposedly bad practice - but it's never stopped me, and I think Brian Peters holds his box this way, too). However, I don't think this (trying desperately to simulate the position with various objects nearby, as no melodeon currently to hand!) leads to inappropriate position of the wrist and arm - on the contrary, it tends to give a neutral ie 'straight' position of the hand, relative to the forearm - neither 'kinked down' (in
flexion
extension) or 'kinked up' (in
extension flexion). The normal functional 'rest' position of the wrist is 15% flexion ie slightly bent upwards - so neutral isn't too bad. Whereas, playing with your wrist on the edge of the fingerboard, as one is supposed to do, to me produces almost excessive wrist extension ie with the wrist well bent over - which in turn can produce an uncomfortable internal rotation of the shoulder. This combination, I feel, is more likely to give later problems. (
OK, so I'm a therapist...).
I don't get any wrist problems from playing my way. BUT, what I do get, if playing for long periods such as at Festivals, is thumb strain - since my thumb tends to 'wiggle' constantly in association with the movement of my other fingers, leading to Overuse Syndrome over time! This can be very painful, and resulted in the need for a thumb stabilising splint (produced in America to counter-act 'texters' thumb' apparently) for these times - nicknamed 'Wiggly's Truss' by my ex- who sourced it on the Internet!
Works well, and entirely functional to play in.
Anyway, I digress from the original strap brackets... Just a word of warning...I recently bumped into the chap whom I sold my Loffet 3-voice to. He was really pleased with the box, but I noticed it had rather more dings on it than when I'd parted with it only 2 months before - to which he explained that, on lifting it out of the case one day, the strap bracket parted company with the box, and the box fell (luckily, not far). Apparently, the screws - despite it being a reasonably weighty box - were only really short, and he has now replaced them with longer ones. So, I suppose a note of caution also needs to be sounded here about the length of screws relative to weight they are supporting.
Diane