United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

We were wondering if anyone else has kids in band or marching band who have/had trouble with arm fatigue in their BPI arm? Our son Tyler (ROBPI) is 14 1/2 and plays the mellophone (large horn) in marching band and is having a lot of arm & shoulder fatigue from holding the instrument up for extended periods of time. I don't think the fatigue is from the weight....it's mostly from just holding his arm in an upward position for an extended time. Does anyone have any ideas to help support the BPI arm while playing?

Thanks!
Donna

I am 56 ROBPI and played the saxophone,trumpet and Baritone. I found the sax to be hard on the neck--although it gave me a place to rest my arm. The trumpet was the hardest. I had to give it up because my arm became so tired and I couldn't hold the instrument straight out as required.
I am wondering if you oculd get a special addition to that instument that will allow it to hang free for a few minutes so your son can stretch his arm. Seems like something could be soldered on. Sometimes it just takes a minute to swing the arm and get the kinks out
Hope this helps
Pat

If you check with a music conservatory, they may have on staff or know of an occupational therapist who works with people with different-abilities who also play instruments. He/she may know of a device that may be helpful OR be able to produce something that will help the fatigue. Have you tried a shoulder support brace for under his clothing? an OT would be the expert to help with these issues. Does he have access to OT under his IEP or 504 plan? This is the type of work they get involved in at school.

Also - do a wide spread search on google... horn players with disabilities - try it from all different angles. Search deep enough and you'll be very surprised at what you dig up. My 11 year old is going to be in the marching band this year. She had a choice with glockenspiel (which is vertical so she has to play it against gravity) or snare which she plays using gravity. We chose the easier of the two - working WITH gravity- the snare. But last year I watched the parade to see what the big brace looked like and realized that this wasn't going to work. I searched hard and found a company in nova scotia that produced an orthopedic strapping system for snares - what a find! So don't give up - keep on searching and you'll find something that will help either to keep the instrument up or to give his arm more support.

-francine

Thank you Pat & Francine for your suggestions! Tyler normally plays the French Horn which is a left handed instrument that sits in his lap...but as Freshmen the school requires them to take marching band for one semester and the French horn players have to switch to the mellophone. He has mentioned switching to the trumpet for jazz band, but I'm afraid he's going to run into the same type of arm fatigue. I'll do some searching on the internet and see what we come up with, and in the meantime, we'll try his shoulder brace for some extra support.
Thanks Again!!

Donna

Donna -- if he has an IEP or a 504 - they will have to accomodate him and allow him to play the french horn. If he doesn't have an IEP or 504 - go in and have a talk with his counselor -- bring documentation about his bpi and get him a 504. He should not be forced to play an instrument that causes undo strain on his arm and joints.
-francine

It doesn't sound like he is being forced amd probably can have his choice of a few things. How about Baritone? I played that nd although it's heavy,there's a place to rest your arm. I did trumpet in pep band an marching band. My arm got tired--but I'm not sorry I did it. I would leave it up to your son.
Pat

Francine, I didn't mean to give the wrong impression. Pat is right....they did not force Tyler to play the mellophone. His option was to sit on the sideline and play the French Horn. Being the teenager that he is, it was more important for him to be part of the marching band, than what instrument he had to play. Not to get off-topic, but our school has been very good about accomodating Tyler....so much so that we have never went the 504 route or had an IEP. We've always done this informally and the teachers & counselors bend over backwards to help him with anything extra that he needs.

I guess it was the words "have to" that made me think there wasn't a choice.

I'll be interested to hear what you come up with to reduce the fatigue.
-francine

My "ironman" plays trumpet with his left arm. He is ROBPI, and the trumpet is usually a right handed instrument, but he just plays it left handed. We had the holder for the pinky soldered to the other side to accomodate the left hand. He just started marching this year.

Juliana plays the trumpet. Though she puts her left hand up, she can't really hold it up there very long. Just fatigue. So she usually plays one-handed. She is very excited to play, though I worry about the fatigue.

I agree with Francine, do a search (gotta love that web) and you might find some contraption that could reduce the fatigue.

good luck,
claudia