Postgraduate student and violinist, Dr Alison Loram, is looking for student, professional and amateur violinists and viola players for her study.

The study, in collaboration with University College London and Manchester Metropolitan University, aims to understand more about the neuromuscular aspects of playing the violin/viola, and the effects that these may have upon musculoskeletal and other playing-related problems.

Alison believes that violinists and viola players taking part will benefit from the insights gained: “You will have the opportunity to see how your neck and shoulder muscles are involved in holding and playing your instrument, the bodily movements you make, and how these may be optimised to enhance your playing and reduce/prevent muscular tension”.

The study is open to any student, professional or experienced amateur (regardless of whether or not you have playing-related problems), and will involve attending one individual 2-hour session during May, July/August or September.  The confidential session (to be held at Manchester Metropolitan University in Manchester City Centre near to the Royal Northern College of Music), will involve standing and playing your instrument for very short periods whilst your muscular activity and movements are recorded and analysed using ultrasound scanning and movement analysis equipment.  No preparation is required.

Participation is voluntary and you can leave the research at any time. If you agree to participate in the study, you will be given a detailed information sheet and a consent form.

For further details or to sign up for the study, please contact Dr Alison Loram directly by emailing alison@loram8.freeserve.co.uk

Please share this article amongst any family, friends or colleagues you think may be interested in participating.

Note: This research project is not being conducted by BAPAM. The project has official ethics approval from UCL (University College of London) and is covered by UCL’s data protection protocol.

Medical doctor and pianist, Dr Hara Trouli, is looking for advanced students and professional pianists to take part in this project. Dr Trouli explains:

I am a medical doctor and a pianist, currently also a student of the first Masters Degree on Performing Arts Medicine at University College London that was developed by BAPAM (British Association of Performing Arts Medicine) in collaboration with the Royal College of Music and Trinity Laban.  I am conducting research on pianists’ arm tension and other painful conditions under the supervision of Professor Howard Bird who is a UK specialist in performers’ health.

We need to see advanced students or professional pianists who have suffered at some point a medical or painful condition (either diagnosed or not) of the upper limb or the cervical spine (hands, wrist, arms or neck) and analyse their piano playing through a triple method of video/ MIDI/ Electromyography.

The idea is to see whether these conditions show signs on the graphs of muscle tension in the arms and neck (electromyography), velocity, force and articulation of piano playing (MIDI) and on postural images of the hand and arm (video). We are aiming to bridge the technical pianistic accomplishment with the clinical history and to measure parameters that would be reproducible and available to both the pianists and the doctors for evaluation. We are also trying to see whether these parameters can be used in monitoring the progress of the pianist during recovery from a painful condition or an injury, and to also enable the pianist to use this method as biofeedback when they re-train.

The assessment of each pianist lasts 2 hours, it takes place in a studio in North London and travel expenses are covered up to £10.00.   Full information and consent sheets will be given to you before your assessment. We would need to see you in April or May and appointments can be made for any weekday or the weekends. We will also be pleased to share the results of your assessment with you and send you a full report of the recorded images. All information that we will receive from you is kept strictly confidential.

Please contact Dr Trouli directly if you’d like to get involved: haratrouli@googlemail.com  

Photo by David Denicolò

Performing artists work in a highly competitive industry and are driven to achieve perfect results. Stress and anxiety are often in the background when performers present with physical symptoms. In addition, the psychological impact of an injury affecting performance can be tough to deal with. All health care practitioners working with actors, dancers, musicians, singers and other artists will find something here to apply in their practice.

BAPAM training events may be used as part of your CPD portfolio.

The programme for the day covers:

• Diagnosis
• Depression/bipolar
• Anxiety
• Career choices and development
• Performance coaching
• Autogenic Training
• Role play as a therapeutic tool
• Screening tools for psychological problems

Click here for the detailed programme. 

The cost of the day is £65 (Students £35).

Venue: University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT – Closest tube: Warren Street. We will update with the exact room numbers/campus directions as soon as we have confirmation from UCL.

To book your place or for more information please email Office and Clinics Manager, Clare Hicks, via clare@bapam.org.uk

The forthcoming British Voice Association Research Day on Sunday May 20th is all about acoustics. Acoustics of the vocal tract, vowel production, the way the ear processes voice signals plus a presentation on acoustic analysis software in the teaching studio.

Further details and application form here.

Have you ever wondered how a ballerina learns to pirouette? Or how musicians learn their art? Or even what happens to your own brain when you learn a new skill?

Join neuroscientists, musicians and dancers as together we explore how fantastically plastic your brain is, giving you the extraordinary ability to adapt and learn throughout your life.

More information and tickets here.

Postgraduate UCL student, Efthalia Paleokastriti, is looking for classical and acoustic guitarists for her study.

Efthalia believes that guitarists taking part will benefit from the insights gained: “You will have the opportunity to test your guitar playing using different support tools and you may decide which is better for you. Moreover, you may be more informed about the “right” posture of the body while holding the guitar and about ergonomic playing”.

Efthalia explains the project and how you can get involved:

Dear Guitarist,

I am investigating functional scoliosis in guitarists using different guitar support tools.

This involves a temporary change of spinal curvature caused by a provocative factor – in this case, playing the guitar.

I am looking for guitarists to participate in the research project. Specifically, classical or acoustic guitarists (who use a footstool or ergo play guitar support equipment) and who are professionals or experienced guitar players (3 years or more).

The research includes:

1. answering an anonymous questionnaire (questions about guitar playing habits/pain occurrence/use of guitar support tools).
2. arrangement of a meeting in which we will take photos of your back while you hold the guitar and use guitar tools.

Participating in this research will be beneficial for you because you will learn more about ergonomic playing and you will try different guitar support equipment.

Participation is voluntary and you can leave the research at any time. If you agree to participate in the study, you will be given a detailed information sheet and a consent form. If you have any queries about our project do not hesitate to contact me.

We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Please read the Information Sheet which includes a detailed description of the project.

And please complete and return the Anonymous Questionnaire – you can answer it even if you decide not to participate in the measurement part of the research.

Contact details: EFTHALIA PALAIOKASTRITI. Email: thaliapaleo@gmail.com

Note: This research project is not being conducted by BAPAM. The project has official ethics approval from UCL (University College of London) and is covered by UCL’s  data protection protocol.

BAPAM Newsletter February 2012

An NHS team co-ordinated by Dr Mark Edwards (who is also Neurology Advisor to BAPAM) is conducting research into musicians’ dystonia. A number of exciting projects with the aims of better understanding this condition, and hopefully developing new treatments, are currently running.

The team are recruiting enthusiastic musicians for a retraining programme to help establish the most effective treatment strategy.  The studies will be conducted at the Institute of Neurology in Queen Square, London which is a leading UK establishment in dystonia research. The work is co-ordinated by Senior Lecturer Dr Mark J Edwards and two PhD students, Dr Anna Sadnicka and Dr Panagiotis Kassavetis. At this time the team is specifically recruiting musicians with dystonia affecting the hand.

If you have this form of dystonia and are interested in taking part in studies (or if you are healthy and wish to register as a healthy volunteer) or have further questions please contact: Dr Mark Edwards, Sobell Department, 33 Queen Square, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG.

Or email Dr Edwards via: m.j.edwards@ucl.ac.uk.

Note: BAPAM is not involved with organising or overseeing this project.

The prize is awarded to researchers in neuroscience, orthopaedics, and anatomy whose work is oriented to a better understanding of the underlying principles of human movement and its rehabilitation, with the Special Award being granted to excellent papers from the field of physiotherapy. Movement in this context is not restricted to locomotion, rather it covers all kinds of muscular-induced human movement including mime and music. This is only the third time the Special Award has been given (it was previously won in 2004 and 2010).

Medical practitioners involved in research may be interested in applying for the award in future years. There are 2 prizes: the Main Award, endowed with (Swiss Francs) CHF 10,000 and the Special Award, endowed with CHF 2,000. The submission deadline for this year’s prize is 30 September 2012. Click here for more detailed information (Word doc).

This summary of the results of the study contains some demographic information on the participants, followed by brief explanations of the assumptions tested and the results.

The last part contains the interpretation of the results. Danica has tried to turn the rather theoretical findings into as many practical tips as possible and has also referred to previous research.

If you are not interested in all the details, just skip to the very last page with a summary of all
recovery tips!

Download the results here.