The Athletic Musician: A Guide to Playing Without Pain

by Barbara Paull, Christine Harrison (Contributor)

The Athletic Musician is an innovative approach that teaches musicians how to prevent and manage injuries, presented in a unique format that combines sound medical protocol with a musician's point of view. Harrison, a musician, discusses the magnitude of the problem of musicians' injuries with reference to statistical surveys and discusses the emotional and psychological impact of injury on the individual musician. Paull, an orthopedic physiotherapist describes, in layman's terms, the athletic approach to a musician's injuries. Each commonly injured area is examined in turn, from neck, back and shoulder pain to arm, wrist and hand problems. For each area, the anatomy is described, followed by an explanation of what causes the injury and how to avoid or prevent the injury from occurring.

Musicians should regard themselves as elite "musical athletes" and protect themselves from injury by following athletic training protocols. The authors present appropriate stretching regimes and postural corrections for both on and off stage, as well as ergonomic changes to instrument and playing positions. The text is amply illustrated with sketches for every exercise and stretch, photographs of musicians demonstrating playing postures, and unique anatomical drawings of musicians.

The Athletic Musician presents research-based, scientific material in a format that is relevant, clear, and practical for all musicians. The combination of a medical and musical perspectives makes it an indispensable guide for all musicians and the health care professionals who aspire to help them.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 18, 1999

Reviews

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent and very technical read for musicians, injured and uninjured. I particularly appreciate the book's stance that prevention of injury is as important as (if not more important than) the treatment of injury. Many professional/freelancing musicians cope with extreme performance situations and destructive practice habits because they have been mistakenly informed that "it's just part of the job". This comes from a lack of awareness.

The book covers everything from whom to see/what kind of specialist to look for to treat an injury to techniques for getting back into playing once an injury has healed. The authors detail stretching routines and practice ideas to help musicians working on their own get the most out of the time they spend with the instrument.

This is an excellent read for professional musicians and students, as well as amateurs who play daily.

[Anne Barkema · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Good clear diagrams and good explanations. Immediately applicable! Highly recommended!

[Cinzanopaws · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative read. I would have liked more info on some more instruments, in particular brass, and the French Horn for me. It is a great start to analyzing postures during playing, and preventative maintenance for all players.