Music and Health

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/1807/123936

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    The lived experience of professional musicians with playing-related injuries: a phenomenological inquiry
    (Science & Medicine, Inc., 2011-06) Guptill, Christine Anna
    The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experience of professional instrumental musicians who have experienced playing- related injuries. The study used a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology developed to examine this lived experience. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 professional musicians, followed by a focus group where preliminary findings were presented to participants and their feedback was sought. Other sources of lived experience included participant-observation by the researcher, who is a musician and has experienced injuries, and biographic and artistic representations of musical performance and its loss, including literature, films, and television. The findings were summarized in a visual representation unique to this study. The representation illustrates three roles—musician, worker, and teacher—that are participated in, and disrupted by, the experience of being injured. In addition, the experience of a playing-related injury takes place within the context of a healthcare system which was perceived as insufficient to meet their needs: specialized care was rarely available and, if avail- able, was not local or timely; treatment operated on a fee-for-service model when many musicians had meagre incomes and lacked coverage for these services; and treatment provided often failed to allow musicians to continue to perform at the level they had previously achieved. Finally, the representation illustrated four existentials— lived time, space, body and social relations—that permeated the experience. This study suggests that improvements to healthcare delivery and education of musicians, music teachers, and healthcare professionals are needed.
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    Injury prevention: What music teachers can do
    (Sage, 2010-06) Guptill, Christine ; Zaza, Christine
    Research in performing arts medicine has demonstrated that approximately 25% of music students experience a playing-related injury. Since musicians’ musculoskeletal injuries are associated with several factors related to practice habits, music teachers can and should play a vital role in injury prevention. There is evidence that music teachers who receive relevant training in music-specific physiology do make changes in their teaching, and that these changes subsequently benefit their students. This paper aims to provide music teachers with practical prevention strategies that can be used with all instrumentalists. Included are specific instructions regarding the nature and importance of several strategies, including: taking breaks, pacing techniques, cognitive rehearsal, ergonomics, warm-up and cool-down, preparing for performances, and the question of whether or not stretching is advisable. Emphasis will be placed on how music teachers (regardless of instrument) can incorporate prevention strategies into their lessons.