I been doing hanons for about good year and I'm cramping really bad doing them
I got book 1 my cp prevent me from doing all with out big cramp in the arm and mean big pain to. 

Yet my version of who says is more harder but i can play at ease also play Beethoven sonatas at ease.
Can hanons be harming my arms due my cp? 

I'm thinking of doing scales alone as warms ups, I get so frustrated when I can't do hanon due my cp.
That mentally I felt i can't play piano cause I couldn't get hanon down without cramping. 
And my teacher keeps pushing them on me. 

It can't be tech sense play for years and I can keep my fingers on keys at ease to. 
Plus Beethoven Mozart did fine without them so can't be that important. There just warm ups.

Any advice? 

Will scales help 4th 5th fingers? I can do all at ease 

Thank you Have Happy Thanksgiving!
Marcus

Know people say me there not big deal but some people made me feel bad about myself if can't do them. 

Of course you don't need to do hanon exercises but they can be nice for warmups.  If you are cramping you are doing too much at a time. 
I wouldn't push yourself too much with the hanons.  If you're cramping it means you're generating lactic acid at a rate that exceeds the rate you are able to get rid of it.  I'd back off the duration and intensity, take more breaks, and do less per day.  You have to find the right balance. 

A really great - fantastic - supplement you can take to revive the muscles is Wobenzym.  This is an enzyme based supplement.  Check it out.  You have to take it on an empty stomach and there is absolutely no side effects.  It is used for athletes, but is great for musicians too - taken before and or after practice depending on how hard you push yourself.

I play keys, but I'm not familiar w/the exercise you mention. 

My best advice would be, pick a song you like? That you want to play. And "slow it down..." 

Import it? Play along with it? Practice playing the song, as opposed to doing an exercise? This is an exercise in and of itself. 

Then as you improve? "Speed it up slightly..." As you get it down, go back and import the song at original speed. 

Now comp your parts in along w/the original. i.e., you know how to play it? So play it in, "in pieces?" at speed, then edit the results and "viola!" I've done this for many years, and now am a pretty good keyboard player as a result! :-)

Any pain while playing is serious and can result in permanent injury. The first order of business is to STOP.  

I would suggest finding an instructor who is familiar with proper body mechanics.  There's no such thing as strenghthening the 4th and 5th fingers. It's physiologically impossible; but there are proper ways to use every finger, as well as arm rotation, shoulders and even your stomach muscles.  

Playing piano wel does require discipline, but it should also be a pleasure and pain-free.

Regards,
J

Well the problem have is in wrist due cp. My body is in perfect posture when playing. 
My cp is very very mild effects most my wrist like shaking when poor milk. I would hate take another pill after going through with asthma. lol

I got lot discipline in playing play everyday & embrace it sense my career choice. Yes pain free 
mean I can play complicated songs without cramping but hanons I cramp. 
My mother told me just stop hanons do scales for warm ups. 
On top that I write my own classical pieces hand written. And yeah I slow everything down round 40 bpm. 
Not just train myself to play song but also help with timing. 


Let me ask this hanons are modern tech that some teachers use. Is it possible there design be more  for jazz pop etc playing?  
I'm not saying classical not complicated but classical revolves more round scales and melodic melodies.
Hanons were not invented till late 1800's close to 1900's. I don't think they were used till late 1900"s. 
 


 

A link to your earlier thread on the same topic would be useful here:

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2651086

"jsaras"
There's no such thing as strenghthening the 4th and 5th fingers. It's physiologically impossible

Care to elaborate further..., as I completely disagree with that statement.

  This is the second thread where I've seen it said that you cannot strengthen the pinky and that's rubbish. I started really focusing on building up my pinky a couple years a go and now I can do full bends with it. 

Anyway... Marcus, just take it slow and easy. It'll come. I'm not sure how you feel about this but taking a very small dose of a mild muscle relaxer might help a bit but DO NOT take them all the time. Just enough to keep things limber to get through this rough patch. Alternatively (and much safer) you can get some ibuprofin or other non narcotic anti inflammatory medication. Obviously talk to your doctor first.

Other stuff, and I think I mentioned this last time we talked, is keep some of those ice/heat gel packs around and before/after practicing apply a cold pack for 10 minutes then a heat pack for 10-15 minutes. Taking a hot bath or shower will help loosen things up as well.

Then there is massaging the tendons and muscles. I personally do this with my hands but you could get one of those hand held massager wand thingies (some of them even provide heat and infra red therapy) and keep it near the piano when practicing. When you start cramping up give your arms and wrists a little massage until the cramp eases up.

When you aren't practicing you can carry around one of those foam stress balls to keep thing limber or a set of those Chinese silver zen ball things that you twirl around in your hands.

You also need to get some proper hand stretches from a physiotherapist. I got a bunch from my old PT and they work wonders but they are very hard to describe in text form and if done improperly can do more harm than good so definitely ask your doc.

There are also herbal remedies for keeping inflammation down and building cartilage that you can get at the health food store.

Drink LOTS of water and avoid caffeine/alcohol.

I don't have CP but I do have a condition that causes many of the symptoms you describe. It is a constant battle trying to keep my hands moving properly (as well as the rest of my body). I have to warm up every time I pick up the guitar and constantly stretch/massage my arms during a session otherwise I'll wake up in the middle of the night with my arms burning unbearably. I feel for ya, man. It sucks having all sorts of music stuck in your head but having your body disobey when trying to get it out. With patience, persistence and trying out different solutions though these types of things can be managed. Unfortunately though sometimes we just have to deal with a bit of pain to get to where we want.

To all you folks out there with limber hands who don't have to worry about these types of things be thankful and don't take it for granted. Take care of your hands and your body in general because once you end up injured or illnesses of the extremities strikes it is not only physically painful it can be very mentally painful. My hands were turning into claws and I managed to bring them back to life with a lot of hard work but believe me... it sucks.

Cheers. 

And the theory behind not being able to strengthen the pinky is supposedly because there isn't enough muscle mass to build up in the pinky. Fair enough however there are all sorts of supporting muscles around the pinky that can be built up and the connective tissue/tendons that allow you to move your pinky can be strengthened.

I'm no doctor but I know what happened when I started doing focused exercises. Now I can manhandle my .11 strings like SRV with my pinky. Seriously check out some of his live stuff on youtube. He makes heavy use of his pinky even when bending.