Musicians with Dystonia Bulletin Board

I think the word simple is a very loaded word especially in this context where most of us have worked very hard at many different approaches to solving this problem.

I am a very pragmatic person and over the years tried more exercises than I can remember. However most things had only temporary effects. Over the years I too have been using a somewhat modified technique to make more use of the affected fingers - using the edge of the fingers rather than fingertips. Although less than ideal it lets me do way more than I could earlier.

However I must honestly say that what has helped more than anything else has been improving my state of mind and consciouness of the problem.
Some years ago I took a lesson with my friend Kenny Werner - a phenomenal pianist, musical genius and the author of the book "Effortless Mastery". If you havent read this book I highly recommend it (available on amazon.com) since it deals with many of the psychological problems that some of us with FD go through. (The book itself is not about FD!) He had me do an exercise where I would very slowly place my hands in playing position and then suddenly and rapidly play a problem pattern once and just once with detachment to the result. It was interesting that this helped reinforce your belief in yourself that your hands are capable of doing it.

Most recently I have been doing sessions with Mr Fabras. He is an amazing gentleman with a very deep understanding of the inner working of the mind as it relates to this problem. Like Kenny he has been focussing on helping make me more aware that my hands themselves are capable of doing what I think they cannot do. In fact by letting yourself be aware more often that your hands are still ok, this acts as a powerful stimulant to attempting things you would not because you THOUGHT you couldn't do it before. Its much too early for me to say whether I am seeing significant benefits yet but I will definitely let you all know if so.

I wanted to iterate though that simple does not equate to easy. We are so used to being defeated by this problem that it is very hard to imagine how an explanation for a cure could be simple. My perception so far is that dealing with problems of the mind/brain/sensory system whatever you might call it, are far from simple in practice. Practicing a pattern is dead simple. Making changes to your mental state and emotions while playing require deep dedication, commitment and will - all far from simple. Relaxing and letting go can be one of the hardest things. Especially for obsessive people like me :-)

Oh and one last thought. Don't give up on your affected fingers. Keep using them moderately, without over practice. Through my worst years I kept up use of those fingers in simple physical exercises. That way when you ultimately make progress the muscles have the basic strength to do what you want.