Hey! I'm section leader for my school's mellophone section, and last January I was diagnosed with tendinitis in both of my thumbs. Now that marching season is starting up again, I've realized that holding my mellophone puts a lot of pressure on my left thumb. My horn teacher said to look into different ways to hold it that way it would not hurt as bad.

Any ideas?

You might want to try Valerie's (she's here on the forum) Comfy Horn Strap http://comfyhornstrap.blogspot.com/
This will probably solve your problem.

That seems to be a difficult situation. There was a Mellophone player with The Garfield Cadets back in the early 80's,Barbara Maroney, who was an amputee and managed to play with a prostetic on her left hand. She was am amazing player(you can here her solo's with The Cadets in 83 and 84). If you cant find a strap or brace, such as Valerie's, you may try holding the Mello Maynard Ferguson style. Maybe you can google Maynard and find some picks. he would basically place his thumb and ring finger below the valve assemblege beneath the tubing,as opposed to on the first valve slide.He did this both on Trumpet and Flugelhorn. I have seen Mello players do this in the past too. Basically the weight of the Mello would be resting atop the hand. It may or may not be more comfortable for you.Best of luck.

I feel like an idiot, I was presuming an old style mellophone (that's what our symphonic band played) and I'm guessing you meant a marching/modern style mellophone. I'm thinking you should be able to find something like Harrelson trumpets uses, a thumb rest that may at least be ergonomic and aid support. The other thing I saw years ago was a repair technician made "spring grip" for the right hand of a vet who had lost his thumb. It had a plate brazed to the right spot for his pinky side and a sprung grip for the thumb side, allowing him a more secure grip and control from the right hand. That might work for your right at least.

http://www.8notes.com/images/shocked.gif