Hi all,

I have a question relating to hand tension when playing.

I’m new to the website (what a wonderful site, thanks Arthur!) but I’m definitely not new to this type of music, especially the New Orleans styles, which has been a part of my life since I first heard (and was blown away by) Dr John’s solo piano albums in the late 1980’s. Since then, I have found myself returning again and again (in phases) to try and figure out how he did it…! (I was really quite upset when I heard that he passed on last year). I don’t have Arthur’s books (yet..!) but I have collected all the Homespun material where Dr John ‘teaches’ ( they are all inspiring materials but sometimes a bit vague on specifics and 'how-to' s..... ;-D )

But here’s my question : I’ve been a piano player since the age of 6 (now 51), and a sax player since 18, and played all kinds of music in performance (classical, jazz bands, solo etc) but I have never played the solo boogie or New Orleans stuff in public. I find that I just can’t keep it going ( am learning here that I need focussed and consistent LH practice which I have never quite applied) and also, that sometimes the energy of the music zooms off ahead of me and I can’t keep up - that’s the only way I can describe it…! :-) But another thing which bothers me is that I do find that I get wrist and hand pain whenever I try to practice this kind of music for very long, and