OVERUSE INJURIES AND PIANO TECHNIQUE - Institutional ...

which the hammer of the piano mechanism strikes the string, causing either
retardation or acceleration of the hanuner. Moreover, stability at the wrist
can be both the means of achieving lightness, when the fingers play from the
"hand knuckles" using the stable wrist as a fulcrum, and as the means of
producing a "sturdy sound," when the wrist is fbced and the elbow serves as
the fiilcnmi. A "resilienf ' wrist can be the means of achieving a weighty tone
by transmitting the weight of the torso, shoulder, upper arm, and forearm to
the fingers. The wrist can also aid in releasing muscle contraction by flexing
and allowing the hand to "floaf' off the keys.3!
Upper Arm and Torso
In Milano, Italy, Grieco investigated the relationship between'piano
playing and musculoskeletal disorders with the aim of improving subject
health and piano performance.32 The study had two parts: a questioimaire
analysis of 117 subjects aged eight and up, and an electromyographic study of
six piano students in their final year of study. The questionnaire indicated
that hours of practice per week ranged from 14 in younger students to more
than 30 in older students. Eighty-seven percent of the students distributed
their practice evenly throughout the week.33 Eighty-two percent took breaks
during piano practice lasting an average of 11 minutes every 70 minutes;
however, 32% practiced for excessively long periods (more than two hours)
without a break.34 Sixty-two of the subjects complained of one to five injuries
3! Upright, 55.
32 A. Grieco and others, '^Muscular Effort and Musculo-skeletal Disorders in Piano
Students: Electromyographic, Chnical, and Preventive Aspects," Ergonomics 32 (1989): 697-
716.
33 Ibid., 701.
34 Ibid., 702.
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