Thinkin’ About Your Body

Musicians, like athletes, practice a craft that takes a toll on their bodies and, again like athletes, they don’t like to admit it. A recent Northwestern University study found that almost all incoming freshman music majors – freshmen - already have a playing-related physical ailment. Hearing problems, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, shoulder problems from bad playing posture - all are familiar to players almost regardless of instrument. Throw in years of traveling from one low-paying gig to another in the back of a van, eating fast food and breathing second-hand smoke – it’s enough to make you change to a safer job, like rodeo clown.

Dr. Kris Chesky, a physician with a doctorate in music education, has developed a specialty in saving musicians from themselves. At the University of North Texas Center for Music and Medicine, he helps musicians with playing-related health problems like hearing loss. He's published studies on the wrist impairments of clarinet players, the painful hands of pianists and the damaged mouths of trumpeters. And he's using technology to measure the exact sound levels classical musicians expose themselves to. That’s right – it’s not just rock players who have decibel excess. College marching bands, for example, can get awfully loud (and it can’t help that they’re playing marching band versions of “Louie, Louie”, either.)

For more, here’s an interview with Dr. Chesky from the Dallas Morning News.

[TJH]

Comments

[Lawrence Halter]

You don't really need to be a beefcake to perform with your instruments well. You only need to condition your body so that you can withstand your own practice regimen and the live performances. When I was still learning how to play drums, I found it hard to twist and swing my arms from one side to another, especially when hitting my brass cymbals on one side, and then suddenly moving to snare and hi-hats.

But as time went by, while juggling physical exercise and learning how to read musical sheets, I learned how to strengthen my body enough to play well.