Terry is amazing!! I know because he was my best student. He is also a very humble and kind person. He is always seeking! Wait till he discovers more and he will!!
Terry is a great guy! We both studied from Tony Janflone Sr. In Washington PA. My first year at Berklee was Terry's last, so he called me up and showed be around campus when I came to Boston. Glad to see you documenting him Troy.
Ken, Terry is an awesome musician and you can tell he is awesome people too. I think he plays as good as Allan Holdsworth myself. I once asked how can you get on this level? Someone answered hours and hours and hours and hours of guitar practice!
Thanks for uploading this! I got dystonia on my right hand and had to change the way I play. It's encouraging to see other dystonia sufferers continue playing by finding ways regardless!
I am guessing you pick with your right hand? If so please tell me how you found a way to hold your pick. I have had FD in my picking hand for years and can't really play at all anymore as I can't find an alternative way to pick.
It's refreshing to see Terry still playing at a high level. As someone who deals with FD in both hands, I know the emotional torment caused by this condition all too well. Thanks to you, Troy, for this video. I've had snarky comments directed at me by monster players who think I'm making excuses for not practicing enough.
Interesting interview - Troy - you might want to interview Billy McLaughlin, Minnesota based guitarist who experienced Focal Dystonia and had to go from right handed picking left handed fretting to left handing picking right handed fretting (that's right - he had to go from right handed to left handed). Also, Scott Jones, a guitarist in St. Louis who specializes in jazz fusion playing who was initially diagnosed as having focal dystonia but almost had to start over from scratch due to effects of what ultimately became a pinched nerve.
This is awesome, and am happy to see Terry playing more beautiful than ever. He's inspired lots of people, including myself. I don't have Focal Dystonia (as far as I know) but have atrophy in my fretting hand, which is my right hand. Years ago my ulnar nerve got lodged in between my elbow joints, and affected the nerve feed to m hand causing it to go nearly completely "dead". More immobile than functional. Surgery was needed to relocate the nerve, and over a year of therapy helped regain use out of that hand, but because of the muscle tissue loss, really only can use about 80% of what I was able to before. I'll never regain full use that I had once. However, it made me a more focused player than before, and forced me to use my pinky a lot more than before. Playing with an affected fretting hand is very challenging, and I applaud Terry for never giving up! =-)
+Stratosfear12569 My ulnar nerve has been pinched for some time now. Other than my fretting hand pinky it is not too bad. I recently reinflamed it through too much pinky use and now my pinky is numb a lot again. I also have atrophy in my left hand muscles - along the pinky edge of my hand. Would love to chat with someone who has been through the surgery themselves. My hand has been messed up since 2010. It wasn't too bad until the recent flare up.
Paul Tauterouff Hi Paul. I had my surgery back at around 2004 more or less (Lost track). My symptoms began very gradually, almost unnoticeable. Small intricate uses began fading off, and those uses were becoming more and more apparent. Until my hand began to claw up, I had gradually lost more and more ability to move my fingers or grip anything at all. Fast forward to the much needed surgery, I thank the Physicians I work with for helping to push for my medical insurance (I was a relatively new hire-ee and had no benefits yet), allowing me for this emergency surgery which now possible. Through various Dr.'s looking at my hand on their own time, I was finally referred to a local Neurologist who did a battery of tests on me leading to him performing surgery after figuring out that the root of the problem was my ulnar nerve, lodged in between the Ulna and Radius. The nerve was relocated, and took about 12 weeks off work to recover. Through gradual PT, and other excercise, motion began to return but I lost muscle tissue in my right hand, which as I mentioned before, is my fretting hand. From time to time, I feel a numbness along the edge of the pinky to along the edge of the palm. But it's more the sensation of the nerve location rather than extensive use, because believe me, I extensively use my pinky for fretting notes, arpeggios, and taps. I would suggest looking for a good Neorologist NOW rather than later because you may suffer the same thing I did if you let it go on. Other than because I had no health benefits, I couldn't afford surgery, which is why some of the Physicians at my work volunteered their time, and knowledge to examine my hand when they could, until I was offered benefits which allowed me to be referred over. Please look into that numbness because it's how it began for me. Don't let it go too far. Feel free to ask me anything, I can share experiences that may be useful. Good luck!
+Stratosfear12569 Thank you for replying so quickly. I have terrible insurance and am a self employed musician and guitar teacher who is the sole supporter of my family, so sadly I may have to tough it out. I have gotten relief in the past from a regular stretching regimen, so I don't think my nerve is stuck as bad as yours was. I caused this recent irritation of the nerve from repetitive use of the pinky while demonstrating specific techniques to students. I have been taking it as easy as possible. I have seen video of the relocation surgery and it seems like the best way to solve the problem. Another guitarist in my area had surgery in which they did work to release it, but they did not actually relocate the nerve, so he still has issues. I am going to meet with him soon to talk to him about his surgery. Sadly I think surgery may be out of the question for me.
Well, I hope that all will be okay with your hand. I would try looking for community Physicians that volunteer their knowledge for little to no cost. They're out there, but you have to look. Also, there are phone lines available to give you advice, suggestions, and tips. Sounds like your hand suffers minor nerve irritation, and like you mentioned, doesn't look like the nerve is lodged with is a huge huge plus. I'm already used to the sensation of pins and needles, which to me now is just part of life. I've learned to live with it, and ignore it. It's not as awful as when I first felt the sensation of the "Missing nerve in my elbow" thing, which felt awkward but is actually not so bad nowadays. Just some minor numbing which is the by-product of the relocation itself. I'm just happy to make some noise on my guitars as opposed to having lost my hand forever.
Thanks for posting that! My Focal Dystonia occurred in 2013 after I spent a few weeks practicing some wide legato licks. One day, I noticed that my pinky was curving inward and would touch the strings unintentionally. Then my ring finger started to join. Next thing I know, my ring finger and pinky curved all the way inward whenever I played guitar. My hand would also fatigue quickly and I lost the ability to play barre chords and eventually, open chords like a simple C. Fast forward 3 years and I've made lots of improvement. Plenty of trial and error, stretches, vitamins..etc I think the thing that helped me most was working to take tension out of my hands and developing exercises to retrain my my muscle memory. I still have a ways to go.
Billy McLaughlin changed from right handed playing to left. Wayne Johnson (Manhattan Transfer) still plays. He did an ongoing write up n Taylor Guitar quarterly magazine about it. Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake and Palmer -keyboards) was plagued by this. My wife has encountered several therapy patients with this issue as well as her brother. Is not that common but happens to many people. Great interview
Cool interview! I am currently dealing with focal dystonia and love hearing from players who bounce back from it and kick ass again. By the way, I am really interested in the full interview but can't find it in the Masters in Mechanics Library. Thanks for the great work Troy.
I was just listening to some of Terry's music the other day. Glad to see you showing some guitarists like this some love! I feel like he was niche even back in the day, let alone now, lol. Nice one, Troy, and good to see you on here, Terry!
Hi! I've seen another video just today from a guy with similar issue. He plays bass and uses thin gloves to keep some pressure on the hand and it calms down the symptoms. Just in case someone is interested
Never heard of focal dystonia before and then I see videos on it twice in one week. Scott from Scott's Bass Lessons just posted a video the other day about his struggles with this and how he ended up wearing a glove on his fretting hand. I know a glove wouldn't work so well for guitar though. Thanks for sharing.
Always nice to see players transforming their style when they're hit by something like that. I mean, Django Reinhardt did it, and boy, can we be grateful for that.
+Alex May I saw a Django video the other day, and he did a very fast ascending chromatic run in his signature style, from the open D, all the way up to about I think, the 15th fret G of the 1st string, in perfect time, with what looked like just one finger of the left hand. A thing of beauty!
OMG I think this is what's happened to me! Left hand, ring and pinky fingers. Holy Hell. I've spent the last couple of years trying to (more or less) re-invent some of my old licks/style, and I didn't know what was going on. Thanks, Troy for bringing this to light. And thank you, Terry (whom I intend to reach out to asap) for showing me that even this awful thing can't stop you from being badass.
Fascinating. My focal dystonia was task specific (juggling) for over two decades until a couple of years ago, when it began impacting a wide array of activities such as writing, inserting keys into keyholes, trimming vegetables, etc. Curiously, my juggling is no worse, it's just that my dystonia is no longer task specific. Anyway, enjoyed the video.
Scott from Scott's bass lessons suffers from it as well. He remedies it by using these thin gloves which serve to 'trick' the nerves. He just uploaded a video on it actually.
You are definitely right, though... The glove concept has helped many people. MFD is such a weird and complex malady, and everyone's dystonia is so different that it's so hard to treat.
OH MAN, cool! How soon is this coming to Masters in Mechanics? Seriously dude, the service is more expensive than Netflix. But I've breached so many plateaus in my playing. I'm running through Yngwie licks like I would have never imagined. Worth every penny.
I have focal dystonia in the same two fingers as Terry (pinky and ring finger) it really does suck...the strangest thing about it is how it just appears one day out of nowhere. I still practice and TRY to use my pinky, it's easier to use on the higher frets. But yeah....focal dystonia sucks! 😡
World-class UK bassist Scott Devine suffers from Focal Dystonia, and at one time thought his career was over. He can play once again, (better than ever) thanks to wearing a glove! His brand of choice is Musician's Practice Glove. He has a youtube video called "Why I Wear the Glove".
iirc Julian Lage had dystonia but he worked through it. cured, as far as I know. He talked about in a recent NPR interview about Arclight. he studied with some spanish/classical guitarist that helped him through it
I've got it. I'm not a terribly fast player but I can and have played for hours and had the two middle fingers on my left hand fold up. I could get them to release by dousing the hand in cold then hot water and could continue playing for another couple songs. After some point discovering what I had, I made points to switching up my fingering and it all but went away. Still playing some songs like Sultans of Swing will bring it back.
i think i have this too my pinky feels weak in 1 3 4 patterns i always thought it was lack of practicing but i practices a lot and sometimes it would feel great but the next day i couldnt use my pinky or third finger
I wonder whether I may have something like this. Since I the right hand techniques as demonstrated by Troy Grady, I've realised that the rate limiting step is my 4th finger, just an inability to use it. 3 note per string scales are very difficult for me, interestingly some days worse than others, the 1-3-4 fingering is almost impossible, the 1-2-4 not as difficult. I wondered was it simply lack of talent, but I also feel it is something that I had that I've lost. Maybe it is getting older? - I an 41. Is it a matter of working around it? I remember hearing Andy James say a similar thing that he found it very difficult to use his 4th finger and eventually began avoiding it.
Same here for me the 134 finger thing just does not work to well for me anymore I use to be able to do it well but know I just use 123 for those things since it cooperates more I still try to practice the 134 but it is far from reliable I can descend with 431 better for some reason
I have the same problem with 124 combination, 134 is perfectly fine...what a weird syndrome..I feel like quitting but I just can't. Can you recover from this??
Most non-injured players find 124 fingerings easier. There are reasons for this in terms of the how the neural control works and how the tendons are wired. Since you're saying you find those harder, that could be evidence of something. I would meet with a neurologist to see if this is really a dystonia or something else. If it is, there are various therapies that involve training and also use of thin musician gloves to mask what the nervous system perceives as the weirdness of touching the instrument while playing. But I'd definitely start with a doctor appointment first!
Well, from what I understand, there is no absolute cure for it, but I'll at least give you my opinion. I think of FD like a mountain climber who climbed up too high one day and forgot the golden rule, “Don’t Look Down!” He had a bad fall, and now he's afraid of heights. You might think, “so what, what do musicians have to fear?” Losing their career, their whole identity, and indeed, it’s a long way to fall. All that time & investment over one stupid finger the musician can‘t stop focusing on. Before he used to play effortlessly without thinking, but now he’s too cautious, too careful to perform at the highest level. So how do you overcome it? Stop looking down, stop listening so hard, stop thinking about it, etc. Let the finger do its job without you interfering. Easier said than done, but it’s the only way out.
isaac thrash Very nice! I live in Ca. former home of a thousand hair farmer guitarists, from the 80s! LOL! I think the really talented ones, are still around today, huh?
+RoathRipper It's even stranger than that. It depends on the lick he's playing, and it only affects guitar. He's completely normal in other life activities. Focal dystonia is extremely specific in the things that it affects.
+Junior Morales Chris' issue is his index finger. Pinky is fine, aside from some numbness (if I remember correctly...backed him up for a clinic a long time ago).
Scott Divine (a killing bass player) suffers from this. He overcame it by wearing really thin soft velvet gloves. Maybe that could work for this guy.....
Terry is amazing!! I know because he was my best student. He is also a very humble and kind person. He is always seeking! Wait till he discovers more and he will!!
Anthony Janflone,
Did you teach someone named Aric Chropek before? He ever end up being a good guitarist?
Terry is a great guy! We both studied from Tony Janflone Sr. In Washington PA.
My first year at Berklee was Terry's last, so he called me up and showed be around
campus when I came to Boston. Glad to see you documenting him Troy.
Ken McMahon,
Tony Janflone is awesome!
I think Terry might be as good as Allan Holdsworth.
Ken,
Terry is an awesome musician and you can tell he is awesome people too. I think he plays as good as Allan Holdsworth myself.
I once asked how can you get on this level?
Someone answered hours and hours and hours and hours of guitar practice!
Berklee sounds like becoming a guitar heroe's heaven. "However.."
One of the best teachers I've ever had. Thanks for all you do Terry!
Thanks for uploading this! I got dystonia on my right hand and had to change the way I play. It's encouraging to see other dystonia sufferers continue playing by finding ways regardless!
I am guessing you pick with your right hand? If so please tell me how you found a way to hold your pick. I have had FD in my picking hand for years and can't really play at all anymore as I can't find an alternative way to pick.
It's refreshing to see Terry still playing at a high level. As someone who deals with FD in both hands, I know the emotional torment caused by this condition all too well. Thanks to you, Troy, for this video. I've had snarky comments directed at me by monster players who think I'm making excuses for not practicing enough.
Yours is the only channel I don't watch at 2x speed... I always have to hit the breaks when I watch your interviews. Awesome work Troy.
Interesting interview - Troy - you might want to interview Billy McLaughlin, Minnesota based guitarist who experienced Focal Dystonia and had to go from right handed picking left handed fretting to left handing picking right handed fretting (that's right - he had to go from right handed to left handed). Also, Scott Jones, a guitarist in St. Louis who specializes in jazz fusion playing who was initially diagnosed as having focal dystonia but almost had to start over from scratch due to effects of what ultimately became a pinched nerve.
I learned to play from his Shred is Not Dead instructional vhs. He will always be one of my favorite players.
Much love Terry. SO humble and amazing. I remember watching you sweep pick behind your head at NGSW. So many great classes there. be well!
This is awesome, and am happy to see Terry playing more beautiful than ever. He's inspired lots of people, including myself. I don't have Focal Dystonia (as far as I know) but have atrophy in my fretting hand, which is my right hand. Years ago my ulnar nerve got lodged in between my elbow joints, and affected the nerve feed to m hand causing it to go nearly completely "dead". More immobile than functional. Surgery was needed to relocate the nerve, and over a year of therapy helped regain use out of that hand, but because of the muscle tissue loss, really only can use about 80% of what I was able to before. I'll never regain full use that I had once.
However, it made me a more focused player than before, and forced me to use my pinky a lot more than before. Playing with an affected fretting hand is very challenging, and I applaud Terry for never giving up! =-)
+Stratosfear12569 My ulnar nerve has been pinched for some time now. Other than my fretting hand pinky it is not too bad. I recently reinflamed it through too much pinky use and now my pinky is numb a lot again. I also have atrophy in my left hand muscles - along the pinky edge of my hand. Would love to chat with someone who has been through the surgery themselves. My hand has been messed up since 2010. It wasn't too bad until the recent flare up.
Paul Tauterouff Hi Paul. I had my surgery back at around 2004 more or less (Lost track).
My symptoms began very gradually, almost unnoticeable. Small intricate uses began fading off, and those uses were becoming more and more apparent. Until my hand began to claw up, I had gradually lost more and more ability to move my fingers or grip anything at all.
Fast forward to the much needed surgery, I thank the Physicians I work with for helping to push for my medical insurance (I was a relatively new hire-ee and had no benefits yet), allowing me for this emergency surgery which now possible. Through various Dr.'s looking at my hand on their own time, I was finally referred to a local Neurologist who did a battery of tests on me leading to him performing surgery after figuring out that the root of the problem was my ulnar nerve, lodged in between the Ulna and Radius. The nerve was relocated, and took about 12 weeks off work to recover. Through gradual PT, and other excercise, motion began to return but I lost muscle tissue in my right hand, which as I mentioned before, is my fretting hand. From time to time, I feel a numbness along the edge of the pinky to along the edge of the palm. But it's more the sensation of the nerve location rather than extensive use, because believe me, I extensively use my pinky for fretting notes, arpeggios, and taps.
I would suggest looking for a good Neorologist NOW rather than later because you may suffer the same thing I did if you let it go on. Other than because I had no health benefits, I couldn't afford surgery, which is why some of the Physicians at my work volunteered their time, and knowledge to examine my hand when they could, until I was offered benefits which allowed me to be referred over. Please look into that numbness because it's how it began for me. Don't let it go too far. Feel free to ask me anything, I can share experiences that may be useful. Good luck!
+Stratosfear12569 Thank you for replying so quickly. I have terrible insurance and am a self employed musician and guitar teacher who is the sole supporter of my family, so sadly I may have to tough it out. I have gotten relief in the past from a regular stretching regimen, so I don't think my nerve is stuck as bad as yours was. I caused this recent irritation of the nerve from repetitive use of the pinky while demonstrating specific techniques to students. I have been taking it as easy as possible.
I have seen video of the relocation surgery and it seems like the best way to solve the problem. Another guitarist in my area had surgery in which they did work to release it, but they did not actually relocate the nerve, so he still has issues. I am going to meet with him soon to talk to him about his surgery. Sadly I think surgery may be out of the question for me.
Well, I hope that all will be okay with your hand. I would try looking for community Physicians that volunteer their knowledge for little to no cost. They're out there, but you have to look. Also, there are phone lines available to give you advice, suggestions, and tips. Sounds like your hand suffers minor nerve irritation, and like you mentioned, doesn't look like the nerve is lodged with is a huge huge plus. I'm already used to the sensation of pins and needles, which to me now is just part of life. I've learned to live with it, and ignore it. It's not as awful as when I first felt the sensation of the "Missing nerve in my elbow" thing, which felt awkward but is actually not so bad nowadays. Just some minor numbing which is the by-product of the relocation itself. I'm just happy to make some noise on my guitars as opposed to having lost my hand forever.
Thanks for posting that! My Focal Dystonia occurred in 2013 after I spent a few weeks practicing some wide legato licks. One day, I noticed that my pinky was curving inward and would touch the strings unintentionally. Then my ring finger started to join. Next thing I know, my ring finger and pinky curved all the way inward whenever I played guitar. My hand would also fatigue quickly and I lost the ability to play barre chords and eventually, open chords like a simple C.
Fast forward 3 years and I've made lots of improvement. Plenty of trial and error, stretches, vitamins..etc I think the thing that helped me most was working to take tension out of my hands and developing exercises to retrain my my muscle memory. I still have a ways to go.
Billy McLaughlin changed from right handed playing to left. Wayne Johnson (Manhattan Transfer) still plays. He did an ongoing write up n Taylor Guitar quarterly magazine about it. Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake and Palmer -keyboards) was plagued by this. My wife has encountered several therapy patients with this issue as well as her brother. Is not that common but happens to many people. Great interview
Cool interview! I am currently dealing with focal dystonia and love hearing from players who bounce back from it and kick ass again. By the way, I am really interested in the full interview but can't find it in the Masters in Mechanics Library. Thanks for the great work Troy.
I was just listening to some of Terry's music the other day. Glad to see you showing some guitarists like this some love! I feel like he was niche even back in the day, let alone now, lol. Nice one, Troy, and good to see you on here, Terry!
Hi! I've seen another video just today from a guy with similar issue. He plays bass and uses thin gloves to keep some pressure on the hand and it calms down the symptoms. Just in case someone is interested
I am interested, please can you direct me to the video?
@@iaingreig9685
Watch "Why I Wear "The Gloves" /// Scott's Bass Lessons" on UA-cam
Never heard of focal dystonia before and then I see videos on it twice in one week. Scott from Scott's Bass Lessons just posted a video the other day about his struggles with this and how he ended up wearing a glove on his fretting hand. I know a glove wouldn't work so well for guitar though. Thanks for sharing.
Looking forward to this Troy! I am suffering from Cubital Tunnel Syndrome and am working around a barely functioning pinky.
Did you elect for surgery?
Always nice to see players transforming their style when they're hit by something like that. I mean, Django Reinhardt did it, and boy, can we be grateful for that.
+Alex May I saw a Django video the other day, and he did a very fast ascending chromatic run in his signature style, from the open D, all the way up to about I think, the 15th fret G of the 1st string, in perfect time, with what looked like just one finger of the left hand. A thing of beauty!
OMG I think this is what's happened to me! Left hand, ring and pinky fingers. Holy Hell. I've spent the last couple of years trying to (more or less) re-invent some of my old licks/style, and I didn't know what was going on. Thanks, Troy for bringing this to light. And thank you, Terry (whom I intend to reach out to asap) for showing me that even this awful thing can't stop you from being badass.
Fascinating. My focal dystonia was task specific (juggling) for over two decades until a couple of years ago, when it began impacting a wide array of activities such as writing, inserting keys into keyholes, trimming vegetables, etc. Curiously, my juggling is no worse, it's just that my dystonia is no longer task specific. Anyway, enjoyed the video.
Scott from Scott's bass lessons suffers from it as well. He remedies it by using these thin gloves which serve to 'trick' the nerves. He just uploaded a video on it actually.
Correct... The gloves did absolutely nothing for my FD.
Fair enough! My knowledge on the subject is admittedly basic.
You are definitely right, though... The glove concept has helped many people. MFD is such a weird and complex malady, and everyone's dystonia is so different that it's so hard to treat.
I wish you'd contact Rick Graham.
why? did RG have focal dystonia?
OH MAN, cool! How soon is this coming to Masters in Mechanics? Seriously dude, the service is more expensive than Netflix. But I've breached so many plateaus in my playing. I'm running through Yngwie licks like I would have never imagined. Worth every penny.
I have focal dystonia in the same two fingers as Terry (pinky and ring finger) it really does suck...the strangest thing about it is how it just appears one day out of nowhere. I still practice and TRY to use my pinky, it's easier to use on the higher frets. But yeah....focal dystonia sucks! 😡
The outsider certainly doesn't see what Terry can't do... his skills are super human.
Terry is awesome
World-class UK bassist Scott Devine suffers from Focal Dystonia, and at one time thought his career was over. He can play once again, (better than ever) thanks to wearing a glove! His brand of choice is Musician's Practice Glove. He has a youtube video called "Why I Wear the Glove".
Awesome playing!
iirc Julian Lage had dystonia but he worked through it.
cured, as far as I know. He talked about in a recent NPR interview about Arclight.
he studied with some spanish/classical guitarist that helped him through it
I've got it. I'm not a terribly fast player but I can and have played for hours and had the two middle fingers on my left hand fold up. I could get them to release by dousing the hand in cold then hot water and could continue playing for another couple songs. After some point discovering what I had, I made points to switching up my fingering and it all but went away. Still playing some songs like Sultans of Swing will bring it back.
Please join my band!!
How could he heal? thats the question
Did he mention Joaquin Fabra in this video?
i think i have this too my pinky feels weak in 1 3 4 patterns i always thought it was lack of practicing but i practices a lot and sometimes it would feel great but the next day i couldnt use my pinky or third finger
I wonder whether I may have something like this. Since I the right hand techniques as demonstrated by Troy Grady, I've realised that the rate limiting step is my 4th finger, just an inability to use it. 3 note per string scales are very difficult for me, interestingly some days worse than others, the 1-3-4 fingering is almost impossible, the 1-2-4 not as difficult. I wondered was it simply lack of talent, but I also feel it is something that I had that I've lost. Maybe it is getting older? - I an 41. Is it a matter of working around it? I remember hearing Andy James say a similar thing that he found it very difficult to use his 4th finger and eventually began avoiding it.
Same here for me the 134 finger thing just does not work to well for me anymore I use to be able to do it well but know I just use 123 for those things since it cooperates more
I still try to practice the 134 but it is far from reliable I can descend with 431 better for some reason
Im facing the same problem... cant play for like last 3 years ... what should i do...my 3rd and pinky wants to go behind the fret board
Facinating
How did Terry recover? I have the same exact issue as he.
I have the same problem with 124 combination, 134 is perfectly fine...what a weird syndrome..I feel like quitting but I just can't. Can you recover from this??
Most non-injured players find 124 fingerings easier. There are reasons for this in terms of the how the neural control works and how the tendons are wired. Since you're saying you find those harder, that could be evidence of something. I would meet with a neurologist to see if this is really a dystonia or something else. If it is, there are various therapies that involve training and also use of thin musician gloves to mask what the nervous system perceives as the weirdness of touching the instrument while playing. But I'd definitely start with a doctor appointment first!
Hi Troy! Find on youtube video about Joaquin Farias and Joaquiin Fabra.
finally someone with a jackson!!!
Damn fast picking!!!
hi ...i have focal dystonia for 3 year and im so sad for this i cant play violin and guitar yet....how you can help me ????👌👌❤❤
Well, from what I understand, there is no absolute cure for it, but I'll at least give you my opinion.
I think of FD like a mountain climber who climbed up too high one day and forgot the golden rule, “Don’t Look Down!” He had a bad fall, and now he's afraid of heights. You might think, “so what, what do musicians have to fear?” Losing their career, their whole identity, and indeed, it’s a long way to fall. All that time & investment over one stupid finger the musician can‘t stop focusing on. Before he used to play effortlessly without thinking, but now he’s too cautious, too careful to perform at the highest level.
So how do you overcome it? Stop looking down, stop listening so hard, stop thinking about it, etc. Let the finger do its job without you interfering. Easier said than done, but it’s the only way out.
@@cjmeadors thankyou so much bro i will do that some times and really help me but i cant play again...
ad tnx for help bro
Top level golfers used to get this. They learned to not use their small muscles for putting.
his techniques remind me of rusty Cooley
+isaac thrash Rusty, is a guitar monster!
Jeffrey P proud to say I live in the same state as him lol
isaac thrash Very nice! I live in Ca. former home of a thousand hair farmer guitarists, from the 80s! LOL! I think the really talented ones, are still around today, huh?
Tracy guns!!!!
he doesn't use pinky?
I never thought i could get a lick overdose. So is Paul Gilbert a licks thug?
damn, his pinky is non-functioning?
+RoathRipper It's even stranger than that. It depends on the lick he's playing, and it only affects guitar. He's completely normal in other life activities. Focal dystonia is extremely specific in the things that it affects.
His playing reminds me of Chris Poland. They both have non functioning pinkys.
+Junior Morales Chris' issue is his index finger. Pinky is fine, aside from some numbness (if I remember correctly...backed him up for a clinic a long time ago).
Scott Divine (a killing bass player) suffers from this. He overcame it by wearing really thin soft velvet gloves. Maybe that could work for this guy.....
I thought you were an animated character for the first seconds... Like a ps3 graphic... Weird