A couple of months ago I borrowed a viola just for fun, and to make a long story short: I am in love – and for 2 very good reasons. First of all, I love the sound of it. There’s something about the slightly melancholic and very singing, smooth sound of the viola that speaks to me. It seems, at least to me to be closer to the human voice. I also discovered that it fits my body like a glove. I have very long arms and long fingers, and surprisingly some of the things I struggle with on the violin, becomes easy and natural on the viola. With the violin, my left elbow is very closed, and in recent months that has created some discomfort during the long opera performances I have been involved in – playing the viola opens up my elbow more, and the discomfort is gone. Of course, violists do get performance related injuries even more often than violinists, and certainly run the risk over contracting the pectoralis minor. I believe, as I do for violin playing, that the key is learning to suppurt the instrument more with the left hand, also during shifting.

Over all, I am seriously contemplating focusing on the viola, i.e. become a “real” violist. I love the violin, and will certainly continue playing it, but maybe the viola will suit my personality better? I am about to find out in the coming months.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Many people ask me about cortisone and the role it played in my recovery, so I thought I’d write a little note on it. When I first had cortisone injections, it was administered by a regular doctor who just wanted to help. This was months before I finally got the correct diagnosis (a massive shoulder blade dysfunction) – and it did help, or rather so I thought. The pain disappeared, only to come back 2 months later with a vengeance, when the effect of the cortisone wore off. In other words, I returned to playing way too soon, and only made things worse by playing with a serious dysfunction. I just couldn’t feel the pain.

After I finally got the correct diagnosis from a orthopedic surgeon, and started my rehab…

I recently saw an article in The Strad that immediately caught my attention. A guy in Japan had invented a shoulder pad (yes, a pad – not a rest) that attached to you instead of the violin. This – at least in in theory – should make it easier to move the violin around and change your playing position, which from a physical therapy point of view is a good thing. I contacted the guy and he kindly send me a test sample. It is very well made of non-slip neoprene and utilizes strong magnets inside the pad to hold it in place. As a player who usually tugs a thick wash cloth under my shirt, the concept isn’t new to me, but I’ve never seen it implemented in such…

My wrist is fine again, and I’m playing full time. It took about a month, and according to medical science I should count myself lucky, as it can take up to 3 months for the overstretched ligaments to heal and fully contract. I have been busy freelancing a lot with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra in Sweden and practicing for upcoming auditions. I have also been preparing a few pieces to record for this website and expect to upload material within a week. 

In other news, the article about my story in “Musikeren” (”The Musician”) is coming out in a few days. Stay tuned for more….

Just as things where going really well I have sprained my left wrist and thumb. That means I’ll miss the audition in the Suth Jutland Symphony I’ve been preparing for, and quite possibly I will also have to cancel an orchestral gig next week – the first in a month. It has reminded me of two things; First how vulnerable you really are as a musician, how quickly you can loose the ability to do what you have spent a lifetime learning, and secondly how easy it is – especially as a freelancer – to give in to the pressure of the business and begin playing too soon after an injury. Even though this is just a sprain that will heal again, I once again find myself in the uncomfortable…

Given my recent close encounter with the subject, I decided to write a little about what it actually is, why it hurts so much and takes so long to heal. In your forearm you have 2 bones that rotate around each other. These are joined to the 8 small carpal bones that form your wrist and fit together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. They are aligned in 2 rows of 4 and the whole thing is held together by a complex web of ligaments. Ligaments connect bones to each other and helps to stabilize the joint.

This is the full account of my injury survival story:

I am one of the lucky few that has made a full recovery from a near career ending shoulder injury. It took 2 years of intense, daily physiotherapy, economic hardship, depression, loss of work and a whole lot of pain, but I made it. I also learned a lot in the process and I am now determined to help others avoid the problems that I’ve had. Here is my story: 

In the fall of 2005 I was living in Sweden and working full time in the Malmö Opera Orchestra, when I started experiencing a slight, but relentless pain on the front of my left shoulder when playing.

Ok, so work on the site has slowed down, but for good reasons; I’ve been busy doing what I’m supposed to do, namely play the violin for a living. Having been out for almost 2 years with the injury, starting from the bottom of the freelance scene has proven harder than I imagined, but now gigs are slowly starting to come my way. I just spent 2 weeks working in the South Jutland Symphony, one of the 5 regional symphony orchestras in Denmark. This past weekend I played Brahms Requiem in a church in Sweden, and this saturday I am going back to Sweden to play in the Malmö Symphony Orchestra in a stadium concert (yes!) with Jose Carreras (yep, one of the 3 three tenors). It’s nice to finally be…

Work on the site is coming along nicely, as you can see. I expect to be done with the last few minor tweeks in the next few days, then add all the content concerning my anatomy lecture before the end of the week. 

Stay tuned!

Nicolaj