Independent Research Project Proposal

Playing a musical instrument causes a person’s body to rest and move in ways

that it normally wouldn’t for long periods of time. If done incorrectly, and sometimes

even if done correctly, instrument playing can lead to serious health issues. The

purpose of my research would be to look into how both good and bad habits on different

instruments can cause different health problems, and how the instrumental community

might be able to adapt to combat these problems early in the learning process.

Beginning instrumentalists are often taught by rote in an attempt to create good

habits that avoid tension and other issues that not only inhibit a player’s sound, but also

cause pain while playing the instrument. Understanding what causes these problems

and working to fix them early on is imperative to allowing beginning students to start a

healthy career with their instrument that will allow them to play their instrument later into

life without serious side effects. String players and pianists often experience pain in their

neck, and wind players tend to have pain in their lips (Bazon, I. 2015, p128). In some

cases, playing a wind instrument incorrectly can “change their respiratory muscular and

even skeletal balance” (Galuscan, A. 2010, p91). The list of issues goes on far too long.

Below, I have identified some sources which I will use in my research:

Bazon, I., Plevnik, M., Pisot, R. (2015). Playing-Related Health Risks Among Students

and Teachers of Music Department at the Koper Art School. Annales

Kinesiologiae, 6(2). 119-135.

Galuscan, A., Samoila, C., Podariu, A. (2010). Oral-Dental Health Evaluation in

Wind Instrumentalists. REVART: Specialized Review of Theory & Critique of

Arts, 2(2). 91-102.

Hadlich R. (2017). Proper and incorrect body posture in students from music schools.

Journal of Education, Health and Sport, 7(2). 562-584.

Ranelli, S., Straker, L., Smith, A. (2014). Soreness During Non-Music Activities is

Associated with Playing-Related Musculoskeletal Problems: An Observational

Study of 731 Child and Adolescent Instrumentalists. Journal of Physiotherapy, 60(2).

102-108.