Fractured finger

[om21ed]

yesterday, throwing batting practice to my almost 12 yoa son, he nailed a line drive back at me. I got my glove up to shield my neck but not in position to catch it. The ball hit my left hand index finger that was outside the glove, then the ball richocheted and drew blood and bruised my cheek preety good. I went to the doc in a box today. The finger is fractured pretty good right down the middle to the second (middle) knucle. Hurts , too. Anyway , I have to schedule a follow up with the orthopod. The timing couldn't be worse. I've been in one of those rare surge periods where my rhythm is improving and just got a really fun twang lesson on the telecaster (hot rod lincoln). The great irony: I had bought a catcher's mask (which initiated our outing)because I had been growing fearful of his fastball, then he nails me with a line drive. Sheesh, so what do I do while out of commission--esp to work on the rhythm thing that I so badly need.

ED

[Jim]

Slide guitar comes to mind, depends on whether you're in cast or not. Good luck with your healing and take good care of the rest of your digits.

[sunburst]

A customer was by the shop yesterday, he said he had a big problem with tendinitis that lasted a long time, then he turned his tractor over and broke his arm. When the cast came off of his arm, the tendinitis was gone.
Got anything else that needs healing? Nothing like a good rest sometimes.

[JGWoods]

sight reading- singing the notes

[TonyP]

there has been a couple of good threads on the subject, maybe Mike can find it. But several pro's have had something like that and kept playing, using the other fingers. I guess it's good to retrain the brain like that. Helps with "elasticity". I know it would be hard, believe me, but there are things you can do with the other three fingers. Look at Django and JerryG.

[om21ed]

jim,
I like the slide idea --hadn't thought of that-- maybe put the tele or the martin in an open tuning and play it on my lap-- it would be a lot of noise but I could fantasize I'm like Kelly jo Phelps or Jerry douglas

ed

[fishdawg40]

I see this as an opportunity to get the right hand in top shape. Look for as many right hand exercises as possible. That's probably what I would do.

[MikeEdgerton]

so what do I do while out of commission

Study theory.

[EdSherry]

You can get plenty of practice on rhythm with just your right (picking) hand. Mute the strings with your left and just concentrate on right-hand rhythm -- strumming, string-skipping, cross-picking, syncopation, etc. I often recommend to students that they do just that.

[kestrel]

Pretend you play banjo, and pick yer noze with a different finger

I'm sorry.

Gene

[gnelson651]

Watch Barry Abernathy, banjo player for Mountain Heart. The man has no fingers on his left hand and is the winner of 1997's Banjo Player of the Year award from the Society for the Preservation of Blue Grass Music in America. He is an amazing banjo player considering his disability.

You can find some Mountain Heart videos at johnhartford.org or YouTube.

[earthsave]

My left ring finger got broken a year or so ago at the distal phalange. It was in the winter, so we werent playing as much, but when we did play, I used my other three fingers. It was weird and hampered my breaks a bit for 4-6 weeks.

It healed up alright, a bit stiffer than used to be and I cannot bow it like my other fingers.

A good time to learn some new chords and work on that darn pinky.

[TEE]

I'd work on the double down up stuff. Of course you may can do it already but I have thought about just sitting around and getting it down. You could work on all the DU patterns kind of like banjo players just sit and work on rolls.

[Brad Weiss]

Hey, you didn't hear Django complaining, did you?? You've got one more finger to work with than he did.

[John of Patcham]

Here's something to try, probably not just yet but when your index finger is on the road to recovery though not quite ready to use.

Simon Mayor recommends learning simple tunes in first position with the second finger covering frets 1-2, third finger 3-4, fourth finger 5-6. #Then, once your index finger is working once more you can transpose these tunes up the neck with the index finger playing what would previously have been the open notes. # #It's a good way of gaining dexterity with the closed positions.

[buddyellis]

Mute and work on RH crosspicking, or string skipping. Learn to play without your index finger.

[pigpen]

I played the mountain dulcimer for a while with a similar injury. It was fun and kept the music going, but I can't say that it led to great musical insights (it's tuned to a scale). It has created a obsession and love for droning notes that has persisted, though. It's good RH/rhythm practice if you can translate from lap-playing to mandolin playing.

[Paul Hostetter]

Years ago I managed to fully flatten my left index finger against an anvil with a very serious hammer in a profoundly misguided blacksmithing caper. I iced it, of course, and stanched the leakage, then did the following:

1) took a LOT of Vitamin A, gaining a miraculous result from some good advice from someone else who'd been though this. Megadoses.

2) I practiced slide guitar.

3) I signed up for a serious blacksmithing course with Alexander Weygers who lived in Carmel Valley. He taught me to to deal with iron as if it was soft clay. We became fast friends as well. This was my penance for my stupidity.

Another time I managed to run a very sharp 1/2" chisel through my left middle finger, in one side, out the other, severing muscles and the nerves. Again, I did steps one and two above. The function was largely back in a week or two, the nerves completely grew back in about two years. Fingers heal really well, especially with some help.

Some people have trouble with power tools. I always managed to do the most self-damage with hand tools. Both these events happened more than 30 years ago, and things have gone better since!

[John Flynn]

You could try something completely different. Several years back, on a whim, I picked up a basic harmonica instruction package at an airport gift shop that included a book, a tape and a cheap harmonica. It was one of the best musical purchases I've ever made. It was cheap, easy to learn and I amazed myself at how fast I progressed and how good I was able to get without a ton of practice. It did not replace the mandolin in my life by any stretch, and I'm sure that for me to get really good would take some real dedication, but what I was able to accomplish gave me a lot of satisfaction for the investment.

[om21ed]

Wow, a lot of good ideas, paul==ouch ! I avoid power tools--mainly because growing up in a family of ten kids my father was always building an addition or rearranging the house and i learned to hate the sound of a circlar saw. I'm no Django so i won't pretend on that.. Seriously, this could be a real good time to break out those magazines with theory that I've always been meaning tl learn--and i used to play a little harmonica--and the recent Grisman/sebastion thing brought that idea up too
Ed