Music Video Lesson: How to Avoid Injury When Playing a Musical Instrument

Welcome! I'm Robert Estrin here at virtualsheetmusic.com and livingpianos.com with a very important show: "How to Avoid Injury Playing a Musical Instrument." We all practice, if you're a musician like I am, you practice, you perform and if you ever risk ruining your hands, or your embouchure if you're a wind player, what's it all for? So this is a very important show that I want to share with all of you.

Well, there are many things to think about when avoiding injury when practicing or performing and you really need to think holistically. It's not like you can just do one thing and that's going to solve the problem. In fact, for example, every morning I do some yoga just to stretch and feel good and it's not just good for musical instruments, it's good for life. Just feeling good and having the muscles all worked out, taking good walks, having some regular exercise routine, eating healthy, all of this plays into avoiding injury when you're playing an instrument. After all, if you're out of shape and you barely get any exercise, it's very easy to hurt yourself playing almost any musical instrument. So that's very important.

Now, when it comes to actually playing your instrument, of course all instruments have their challenges. If you're a string player, holding a violin for example, is not the most natural position in the world. Flutists also have a hard time. Maintaining a position like this for hours can take it's toll on your arms and your joints. I'm going to talk a little bit about piano. Here I am sitting at a piano. Now, what kind of approach is appropriate? Well for one thing, the height of the bench is absolutely critical for being able to feel good at the piano. If you're sitting too low and your arms are at an angle, either up or down, they should be straight like this and that's a good position to be in because it's very comfortable to maintain, with the wrists straight.

Now, how about the distance? I've seen sometimes students come in and they're sitting like this at the piano. How can you possibly be comfortable being on top of the piano? Likewise if you're too far away you're going to be stressed. Take the time at the beginning of your practice. If you're a wind player, the chair you choose, maybe you need a cushion to be at just the right height. I also play the French horn, and I find it is incredibly important, if I'm sitting on a chair for example as many do that slant slightly backwards, oh boy, that is really tough to be able to breathe well. It ruins the whole experience. And not only that, but you will play better when you're right in the zone of where you want to be and how you feel. So take the time to adjust the bench.

This is really important, by the way, sometimes at a musical performance you've got a whole audience out there and you might feel "Well I'd better play quickly, they don't want to see me take the extra time." First of all, time is very strange, it's all relative. Now when you're up there and the lights are on you and you've got all these people watching you, you'll think it's taking a really long time. You'll feel like you're taking an eternity to set things up. You might just rush and want to start. Don't make that mistake. First of all, you are not the only center of attraction, even though you are the main one. People are out there, they're looking at their programs, they're talking to the people next to them. What seems like an eternity to you is a flash, just a moment for them. Take the extra time, you'll be pleased that you did once you start your performance and you feel good.

So, what else can you do? Well, one thing that's really important is to take frequent breaks in your practice. If you're going on and on for 40 minutes, an hour without ever stopping, even just a short break of a couple of minutes walking around the room, stretching your arms in the air, boy that really makes a difference because almost any instrument you play, you're going to be confined to one position primarily. Just being able to alternate and take a little walk can make a big difference in how you feel. Likewise, varying the music you play, varying the repertoire as well as the practice techniques. For example, if you've been working on scales for a while, do something totally different like sight reading or memorization. Try to keep it changed up and you'll find that you won't get so fatigued physically or mentally and you'll have a more productive practice.

So these are just some of things you can do and if you think of any other techniques that have been helpful for you to avoid injury, please send them my way. I'd be very, very willing to share them on the website for all of you to take advantage of. Thank you for joining me. Robert Estrin here at livingpianos.com and virtualsheetmusic.com. Until next time.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

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