How common are student injuries?
Have you ever had a student come into lessons and say something along the following…
Have you ever had a student come into lessons and say something along the following:
“My arm started hurting this week.” Or,
“Should I be feeling pain when I do this?”
The more I teach, the more I realize that pain is inevitable. We’re going to see students who
Practice too much without taking breaks.
Don’t practice enough to become comfortable with the instrument.
Get overbooked with ensembles and other commitments.
Overextend themselves physically.
Misunderstand teaching cues or need different cues to successfully execute a technique.
Are working through (or are unaware of) long-standing tension, posture, and/or technique issues.
Need ergonomic adjustments.
And so on, and so on.
As teachers, we have to acknowledge that our students are at risk for injury.
In 2017, a group of researchers surveyed over 1000 student musicians aged 9-24 participating in the “Jugend musiziert” national music competition in Germany. Want to know how many students reported experiencing playing-related pain?
76%.
That’s on par with professional musician injury rates.
But I want to be clear that accepting that pain is inevitable is not the same as accepting that you or your students have to play with pain.
As teachers, I believe we have three major responsibilities when it comes to student injuries:
Educating ourselves about injury prevention and treatment options. Our students are likely going to come to us first when they start feeling pain. We need to be familiar with injury prevention resources and know how to find movement and medical professionals who specialize in performing arts medicine or movement rehabilitation. We also need to know how to pace students coming back from injury so they are less likely to reinjure themselves.
Reflecting on our teaching processes and body of knowledge. We have to recognize how we might inadvertently be leading our students towards injury. For example, students may internalize teaching cues differently than we intend and accidentally overextend their body trying to execute a technique. We may also need more up-to-date knowledge of anatomy, how to teach movement, or healthy practice strategies.
Compassionately supporting our students through their rehabilitative process. In the German study I mentioned earlier, 32% of student musicians felt their pain wasn’t taken completely seriously, and 12% didn’t feel they were taken seriously at all. That’s a huge problem. We need to believe our students when they experience pain and take action.
We also have to have compassion for ourselves. There is only so much we can cover in a single lesson. We’ll hopefully have years worth of lessons to remediate technique and give students the tools for healthy music-making at home. But beyond the confines of a private lesson, it’s out of our hands.
The good news is that we can keep growing and learning as performers and teachers. There is a wealth of musicians’ wellness resources out there, including my Franklin Method Injury Prevention Workshop on July 20th at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET!
To learn more about the workshop and to register, click the button below. I hope you’ll join me for a great session of practice tools, movement, and anatomy!
If this is the first time we’re meeting virtually, hello! My name is Erika, and I’m a violinist, teacher, and certified Franklin Method Educator. My mission is to rethink traditional teaching approaches to help musicians play with confidence and ease. If this resonates with you, here’s how you can connect with me:
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Take a Franklin Method class with me. Learn to release tension, play with more ease, and practice injury prevention techniques. The Franklin Method uses mind-body tools and anatomical embodiments to help you improve the way you move in daily life. If you’ve never experienced the Franklin Method before, an online or in-person workshop is a great introduction! Institutional presentations are also available for arts organizations and schools.
Try a Franklin Method private session. Are you an instrumental musician struggling with pain, stiffness, or sore muscles from playing? In a Franklin Method private session, we analyze your movement while playing and explore different ways to move with more freedom. You’ll learn exercises to improve body awareness, release excess tension, and retrain movement patterns
Explore my Resource Pages! I’m sharing some of my favorite pedagogy and musicians’ wellness resources for musicians. Learn more about different somatic movement methods, wellness platforms and practitioners, and helpful books. You can also check out new resources based on my doctoral research into integrating pedagogical approaches from the world of sports into music-teaching.
Read the At the Balance Point blog. Check out articles on holistic and research-based pedagogy approaches and musicians’ wellness.
Take a violin lesson with me! I teach lessons in-person in the greater Seattle area and online via Zoom.
Want to contact me directly? Email me at erika@erikaburnsviolin.com or DM me on Instagram.