Piano teachers: Do you hurt while you teach?

05/23/23 • 7 min

Abby talks about simple strategies piano teachers can use to reduce discomfort while teaching students from an article she wrote for the Vermont Music Teachers Association's newsletter.
Major takeaways:

Over 42% of pianists report pain, discomfort, and injury.
Increased time spent playing piano, years of experience, and regularity contribute to higher reports of pain.
Make your teaching set-up (aka ergonomics) do more work for you.
Change up what you're asking of your body while you teach.
Individualize your day of teaching based on your body's (and brain's) needs.

Abby is the owner of Forte Performance & Physical Therapy, where she works with musicians, artists, and performers to help them feel and sound their best.
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Disclaimer: This podcast episode is for educational purposes only and is not to be taken as medical advice.

Over 42% of pianists report pain, discomfort, and injury.
Increased time spent playing piano, years of experience, and regularity contribute to higher reports of pain.
Make your teaching set-up (aka ergonomics) do more work for you.
Change up what you're asking of your body while you teach.
Individualize your day of teaching based on your body's (and brain's) needs.

Previous Episode

Episode 16: Perfect Piano Posture Problems

Abby talks about the concept of "good posture" for pianists, a review of the workshop she led for the Vermont Music Teachers Association last weekend.
Major takeaways:

There is no such thing as good or bad posture. Instilling that idea only makes a musician have to choose a body position and stick with it all the time in order to be good.
Problems arise from a lack of variety more than the actual body position itself.
Muscles are happiest when they are in their middle range, so whatever feels easiest, is probably right.
Whenever talking about posture, use sensation cues rather than action cues whenever possible to avoid a rigid strategy
Encourage the use of body position as a means of communication. It will allow for the variety the body needs to stay healthy at the piano for longer.

Next Episode

Episode 18: How to Write your Workout Schedule

The hardest part of anything is getting started. Let's discuss how to make a doable and forgiving plan to get started.
7 Steps to Starting Your Workouts:
1. Reflect on what has worked or not worked before this
2. Set your duration: How long of a workout can you reasonably expect for yourself right now?
3. Set your frequency: How many days a week would you like to plan on?
4. Determine your non-negotiables: Which days are "nos" and which are "yesses"?
5. Write down the schedule somewhere.
6. Pick a "push it" and a "light" day weekly.
7. Track how you're feeling.
Advice:
Start when you get the nudge to start. Don't wait until everything is "ready".
Your schedule is a scaffolding. Be ok changing the plans.
Build self-trust by delivering on your promises to yourself.

Play Life Loudly - Piano teachers: Do you hurt while you teach?

Transcript

Episode 17:

Good morning, World! Today’s going to be a great day!

Welcome to episode 17! I’m your host, Abby Halpin. I am a physical therapist and coach and I am here to help musicians play life loudly.

Does your body hurt while you teach?

In an Australian study of 505 pianists, 42.4% of the subjects reported pain and injury related to piano playing. Longer practice duration, more years of e