The research looked at playing-related discomfort and pain among two groups of music students in a higher education establishment in Australia. The data was collected from 2007 till 2011 and students were given a copy of the BAPAM resource “Fit to Play” (which is currently being updated).
We spoke to researcher, Dr Megan Waters, who explained the reason behind the study was to gain a better understanding of the perceived impact of personal circumstances, past and present learning environments, and musical culture on the development of playing-related pain and injury among tertiary level string students.
The cohort included 29 participants and was made up of violinists, cellists and viola players. Results showed students consistently reported a high incidence of playing-related discomfort and pain which was contributed to factors related to studying music at the graduate level, orchestral rehearsals, practice, technique as well as non-playing-related activities.
The research suggested the need for educational institutions to adopt a range of preventative strategies to approach issues of playing-related pain and injury, which were recognised to be caused by multiple factors.