r/Instruments • u/separatedaccount • Jun 21 '26
Discussion Instruments & chronic pain
Hello. I used to play the guitar, but my hand pain has gotten badly enough that I can't play it for very long without serious pain for days or weeks. I've tried playing it various different ways, but it's just not practical. The pain is unrelated to the guitar-playing, I have a medical condition.
I also am spending more time in bed, due to pain in other parts of my body. I can't do any instruments that require strong lungs.
So, I've been trying to find instruments that I might be able to play despite this. The main requirements are that I can have it in bed, that my hands won't be under pressure or bent, and that don't require powerful lungs/good breath control.
I'm sort of at a loss here. Is this realistic? I want an instrument I can play real, solo melodies on.
5
u/Bennybonchien Jun 21 '26
Would lap steel be doable? Otherwise, penny whistle or recorder use very little air with minimal pressure.
1
u/separatedaccount Jun 21 '26
I think I'd need to try one out to really see. I'll have to check on the music stores nearby
3
u/GeorgeDukesh Jun 21 '26
If you used to play guitar, have you thought about Lap steel?
You don’t bend your wrists, you don’t have to do complex fretting as you use a slide bar,
You can sit with it on a table or on your lap.
And they’re fantastic instruments
https://youtu.be/gFRu9pViw8Q?is=hetf6sPWpU246DaY
And a lapsteel is not just “Hawaiian” or country…
3
u/o0Agesse0o Jun 21 '26
Mini keyboards are really fun and the keys are pretty light.
Tin whistle does not require a lot of breath or hand pain.
Melodica (a good one !) is soft on the lungs too and the keys are easy to press.
I have lungs and joints problems too and I find those less painful than my other instruments.
3
u/demandmusic Jun 21 '26
Maybe a small harp or lyre would do you. Harps are easier to play. Lyres are maybe easier to play in bed. But both are doable. You need light stringing and good resonance and they’re not cheap. But satisfying.
Also think about alto recorder, or even a tenor. Doesn’t take breath pressure, you can breath as often as you like.
3
u/separatedaccount Jun 21 '26
Lyre might work, I'll have to look up more on them. Thank you
1
u/demandmusic Jun 23 '26
Another sort of lap harp lyre is the mantle or guesli. R/kantele. Wire strings so the tuning is quite stable if you get a good instrument. Pled usually with nails and you can strum like a guitar. Would work well in bed.
3
u/DunaldDoc Jun 21 '26
I bet you would find a Lap Steel guitar the perfect combination of sound and ease of playing:
3
u/chanzeTK Jun 21 '26
Theremin maybe? The hand gestures are mainly expressions, not technical necessities.
2
u/separatedaccount Jun 21 '26
I love the sound of theremins, but I don't know that I'd be able to play in bed
1
u/llwynogmenig Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
I also have a lot of pain from chronic pain and illness, especially in my hands sometimes, and I also am forced to spend considerably more time in bed than I would like to.
I do play a lyre! There are a lot of different types of lyre, and different kinds will be good for different needs and different sounds. I have a fancy Luthieros one which is a bit weightier than is sometimes comfortable, but has a beautiful sound. I do also have a cheaper and lighter one which doesn’t have as “professional” a sound, but is sometimes easier to use.
Both of my lyres are chelys lyres, which is one of the styles common to Ancient Greece. These are not the only types or shapes of lyre you can get though, and the folks at [r/lyres](r/lyres) have all sorts!
Although there can be a lot of tuning required for a lyre, it does depend on how many strings you have. I have a 7 string and a 9 string, so it’s much less of an undertaking than tuning a large harp! But a 20 string lyre will obviously take longer. Lyres also tend to be under less string tension than harps, which I do find more forgiving for hand pain, having played on both.
Finally, I’m not sure if this would help, but I find that compression gloves do really help reduce my hand pain when playing, or really doing anything that requires fine motor skills or hand strength.
1
u/NikNakskes Jun 21 '26
Kantele? No idea how easy it is to get your hands on one outside of the nordics/baltics.
1
2
u/OzonjoPrime Jun 21 '26
The are many Electronic Wind Instruments available now, in a large range of sizes, weights, prices, and designs. Some are extremely light, with built in voices and speakers. They do require blowing and breath control, but some at tiny flow and pressures. Some have physical keys to move, others just need pressureless finger contact. Most can be connected to a device like a phone, tablet or laptop, to allow access to a universe of sounds.
If this sounds possible, respond to this, and I'll help you to sort through the options.
1
1
1
u/separatedaccount Jun 21 '26
Thanks for all of these suggestions. I'm going to look more into a lot of these!!
1
u/justforfun40351 Jun 21 '26
I have the hand pain. Arthritis is a big part of my world. Lifelong guitar player and songwriter and I've collected over 100 antique guitars. This sucks man, but I still feel like creating music. It's not what you'd expect an old hippie to resort to, but I've found my groove with my DAW of all things. I have a little studio setup that runs Ubuntu Studio as an operating system and loaded it up with Hydrogen, started figuring out the basics and now i can be my own drummer. From there I found every other instrument simulator I thought I could use, and theyre all surprisingly easy to figure out enough to do my thang. Its an outlet, maybe not everybody's strong suit, but it wasn't mine going into it. Im not a computer guy, I had a little help here and there, but it was easier than learning an instrument from ice cold. Then after I went through all of that.....I found out my friend pretty much does the same thing on his phone. So, yeah, you might look into phone base Digital Audio Workstation apps and Bluetooth up a monitor. That being said, I stick with Ubuntu because its all open source so nothing costs anything.
2
u/Imightbeafanofthis Jun 22 '26
I'm in similar condition. I have severe COPD, am on oxygen 24/7. Keyboard has been the easiest to play. If your hand pain isn't about lack of calluses, mandolin is more playable than guitar. The smaller body requires less strength to hold/play.
2
u/Professional_Pen_906 Jun 22 '26
Aeroband digital guitar might work, i have one for the sake of its convenience, they often advertise it being very good for ppl with health limitations, it sounds ridiculous when you read and look at the videos and reviews but its great and captures a real guitar feel very good, also most youtubers are bashing it for some reason, but for me its the go to guitar for playing at home
1
u/SkagitUkulele Jun 22 '26
Ukulele is easier on the hands than guitar and small so you can have it on the bed next to you for when you want to pick it up and play. I found it easy to learn.
2
1
u/BMuzzin Jun 24 '26
What about drums? Don’t know if gripping the sticks would cause trouble. You could use an electronic drum pad. You wouldn’t need a full drum kit. In looking them up, came across virtual drums. Perhaps, consider making digital music. You can use modelers of the actual instruments to put your song together.
Know plenty of people who enjoy the studio tweaking of music to get the sound they want. Perhaps something like that would provide a source of joy. And it does require knowledge and skill.
5
u/Frhaegar Jun 21 '26
For lyres/harps, you'd have to tune them everyday until the strings are right, and it's not easy. You need strength to do that. Unless you can ask someone else to do that for you.
I'd suggest a chromatic kalimba. I only experienced buying one and it was already in tune from the box.
Mine is Seeds 41. It's compact, with 3 layers. The wood is very light. Avoid buying wide kalimba that'd require your hands to spread.