I had a week of English horn playing with Symphony San Jose, doing Strauss Death & Transfiguration. Prior to that I had a month of Bluebeard’s Castle where I doubled. On both I opted not to use the W.R.I.S.T. although it can be quite useful. It can be a hand saver, for sure, but for some reason I feel like it stifles my low notes a bit. In some instances I just won’t use it on the low notes, but I opted this time to deal with the heavy English horn. I do have strong hands, although not as strong as they used to be.

But my nails? Well, I’m now convinced that the weight of the horn does do a number on at least my right thumbnail — it is slightly indented in the middle. I didn’t used to connect it to the English horn playing, but I hadn’t played in quite a while and the nail looked much more normal.

Anyone else notice this or am I just crazy?

(And yes, I suppose others could notice this and I could still be crazy. Go figure.)

Oh … and in other news: once again I felt like something was up with my English horn. Sure enough, Brooks Fisher, our principal oboist, checked things out and one screw needed a wee bit of an adjustment. When I had adjusted things earlier I just managed to not tighten this one quite enough. What would I do without these people who rescue me?! Thanks, Brooks!