The Athletic Musician

The Athletic Musician is an innovative approach that teaches musicians how to prevent and manage injuries, presented in a unique format that combines sound medical protocol with a musician's point of view. Harrison, a musician, discusses the magnitude of the problem of musicians' injuries with reference to statistical surveys and discusses the emotional and psychological impact of injury on the individual musician. Paull, an orthopedic physiotherapist describes, in layman's terms, the athletic approach to a musician's injuries. Each commonly injured area is examined in turn, from neck, back and shoulder pain to arm, wrist and hand problems. For each area, the anatomy is described, followed by an explanation of what causes the injury and how to avoid or prevent the injury from occurring. Musicians should regard themselves as elite 'musical athletes' and protect themselves from injury by following athletic training protocols. The authors present appropriate stretching regimes and postural corrections for both on and off stage, as well as ergonomic changes to instrument and playing positions. The text is amply illustrated with sketches for every exercise and stretch, photographs of musicians demonstrating playing postures, and unique anatomical drawings of musicians. The Athletic Musician presents research-based, scientific material in a format that is relevant, clear, and practical for all musicians. The combination of a medical and musical perspectives makes it an indispensable guide for all musicians and the health care professionals who aspire to help them.

(Book). Making music at any level is a powerful gift. While musicians have endless resources for learning the basics of their instruments and the theory of music, few books have explored the other subtleties and complexities that musicians face in their quest to play with ease and skill. The demands of solitary practice, hectic rehearsal schedules, challenging repertoire, performance pressures, awkward postures, and other physical strains have left a trail of injured, hearing-impaired, and frustrated musicians who have had few resources to guide them. Playing Less Hurt addresses this need with specific tools to avoid and alleviate injury. Impressively researched, the book is invaluable not only to musicians, but also to the coaches and medical professionals who work with them. Everyone from dentists to orthopedists, audiologists to neurologists, massage therapists and trainers will benefit from Janet Horvath's coherent account of the physiology and psyche of a practicing musician. Writing with knowledge, sympathetic insight, humor, and aplomb, Horvath has created an essential resource for all musicians who want to play better and feel better.

(Book). Bernie Williams' ability to play major league baseball at a high level was directly influenced by his musical training and his deep understanding of the similarities between musical artistry and athletic performance. Through a series of conversations, narratives, and sidebars, the authors (Bernie Williams, Dave Gluck, and Bob Thompson) discover and reveal the influence of music and its rhythms on the game of baseball. Readers of Rhythms of the Game will gain an insight into the similarities between musical artistry and athletic performance. The book is written for musicians and athletes looking to improve their level of performance on the stage or on the field, as well as for a general audience interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the underlying influence of music on the game of baseball.

Written by a professional musician who is also a certified occupational therapist, Teaching Healthy Musicianship first and foremost help music educators avoid common injuries that they themselves encounter, and in the process it also equips them with the tools they need to instill healthy musicianship practices in their students. Author Nancy Taylor combines her two unique skill sets to provide a model for injury prevention that is equally cognizant of the needs of music educators and their students. Through practical explanation of body mechanics, ergonomics, and the performance-related health problems and risk factors unique to musicianship, she gives music educators the tools they need to first practice healthy posture, body mechanics, environmental safety, and ergonomics, and then to introduce these same practices to their students. Thoroughly illustrated with 125 photographs, this book is a key resource for preservice and inservice teachers of middle school and high school band, orchestra, choir and general music.

A reference for sports hobbyists and fitness buffs shares medically sound, comprehensive guidelines for treating chronic pain and preventing injuries, providing a complementary, doctor-designed fitness workout and diet plan. Original. 40,000 first printing.

Covers the topic of sports and music from the ancient to the post-modern.

Rick Moody has been writing about music as long as he has been writing, and this book provides an ample selection from that output. His anatomy of the word cool reminds us that, in the postwar 40s, it was infused with the feeling of jazz music but is now merely a synonym for neat. "On Celestial Music," which was included in Best American Essays, 2008, begins with a lament for the loss in recent music of the vulnerability expressed by Otis Redding's masterpiece, "Try a Little Tenderness;" moves on to Moody's infatuation with the ecstatic music of the Velvet Underground; and ends with an appreciation of Arvo Part and Purcell, close as they are to nature, "the music of the spheres." Contemporary groups covered include Magnetic Fields (their love songs), Wilco (the band's and Jeff Tweedy's evolution), Danielson Famile (an evangelical rock band), The Pogues (Shane McGowan's problems with addiction), The Lounge Lizards (John Lurie's brilliance), and Meredith Monk, who once recorded a song inspired by Rick Moody's story "Boys." Always both incisive and personable, these pieces inspire us to dive as deeply into the music that enhances our lives as Moody has done -- and introduces us to wonderful sounds we may not know.