Injuries & Health Issues
J. Brown, Violin Maker is at the front of the musical instrument industry in
confronting and promoting health and safety issues for musicians, especially
young people.
It will probably surprise most to learn that over 80% of all
professionals (some say as high as 90%) play in some kind of cronic pain or
discomfort. Mr. Brown discovered this first around 10 years ago when reading
an article in a well known medical journal dealing with the effects on young
people of using violins which where too big for them, which, in this case was
lower back pain and possible life-long injury.
We at J. Brown, Violin Maker have gone to great lengths to insure that
violins are the correct size by a newer and safer standard. Since that time,
many well documented studies have taken place dealing with the subject.
Probably the most important being done by Minnesota professional cellist,
Janet Horvath.
In her work "Playing Less Hurt", she addresses the issue of injury cause
and prevention in all musical instruments. It specifically details causes
and suggested excercises and remedies for many musician injuries and
ailments.
The general conclusion of people studying these matters is that
many of the cronic ailments begin at the earliest stages of a childs musical
development by using instruments which are too big or by being pushed too
hard in practice and/or techical studies at too young an age. In addition,
improperly set-up and maintained instruments not only make an instrument
more difficult or even impossible to learn, but they can lead to serious
physical problems in later life. Many children don't even make it through
high school because of pain and discomfort. If you suspect your child has
been injured during their development, you should see a health professional.
You should also be sure that your student is using equipment and being
taught by people who are knowledgeable in this area. Many merchants and
teachers are not only NOT knowledgeable, they have no concern for the issue
and are guided solely by "the way they were taught or told", never having
been exposed to the body of knowledge which we posess today.
There are many good resources for more information available at our shop
or on-line. You can simply stop by or do a search for "injuries violin".
Janet Horvath has a wonderful site at
http://www.playinglesshurt.com. You can also get a lot of good
material from Julie Lyonn Liebermann on the setup of musical instruments.
Some suggested resources available at our shop: "Playing Less Hurt" by
Janet Horvath, "You Are Your Instrument" by Julie Lyonn Liebermann and "New
Directions in Cello Playing" by Victor Sazer. For more information, please
call us at (909) 624-0849.