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However, if you would like to, you can change your cookie settings at any time. Despite losing the function of the third and fourth fingers of his left hand through focal dystonia and a shoulder injury, violinist Clayton Haslop was determined to continue playing. Here he shares his story. LA violinist Clayton Haslop has managed to overcome focal dystonia and a shoulder injury through creative fingering solutions. To read in full, click here to subscribe and login.
The January digital magazine and print edition are on sale now. The first indication was a strange misplacement when I attempted to play a whole step between my second and third fingers. Without a concerted effort, my ring finger curled to the side as it followed the second finger to the string.
Every other hand movement was normal. Read: Two-fingered Tchaikovsky: Beating the odds. Watch: Interview with two-fingered violinist Clayton Haslop. Identified many years ago as a neurological condition affecting a muscle or group of muscles in a specific part of the body and causing involuntary movements, focal dystonia is still not fully understood.
My knowledge of the condition was limited to what I knew of the great American pianist Leon Fleisher. In , aged 36, he was forced to retire from active concert life owing to its crippling effects on his right hand.
