Investigation Into The Effects Of Playing Posture On Fatigue In Violinists And Violists

Playing a musical instrument is a common pastime around the world and for some, it is a career and how they make their living. Musicians’ bodies are put under constant stress from playing an instrument. Statistics have suggested that upwards of 80% of professional musicians suffer from a performance-related musculoskeletal disorder (PRMDs) that can lead to the inability to play the instrument for a period of time and therefore affect their ability to work. Musicians are being diagnosed with PRMDs at earlier ages, especially those in schools for music. Violinists and violists form one of the groups that is most likely to experience a PRMD. Most research has concluded that along with overuse injuries, the asymmetrical playing position plays a huge role in injuries experienced by violinists and violists. Past research has found that sitting while playing, a high string musician puts an unbalanced load on the hip bones and musicians feel more pain when sitting. There is limited previous research on the effects of fatigue in violinists and violists, especially how playing posture (i.e., sitting or standing) affects measures of fatigue. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sitting and standing on fatigue in high string musicians in hopes of finding ways to reduce PRMDs in violinists and violists. A very thorough literature review revealed that sitting while playing results in high levels of perceived fatigue in upper string musicians and that a plan of introducing periods of standing could possibly decrease the levels of fatigue the musicians experience. An experimental research study is proposed in order to verify the findings of the literature review.