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Playing an instrument is a very physical activity, so it helps a great deal to stay strong, balanced and flexible. Below are five ways to develop and maintain the strength you need to count on as a musician, plus some reading material for going farther in learning about this important topic. I hope you find this helpful!
1. General health and exercise
You need stamina for handling demands you might not expect, such as playing longer than usual, or performing in an awkward location. The fiddle requires some unbalanced movements — for example, the right palm faces up, the left faces down; meanwhile, the left shoulder is tempted to lift to help support the fiddle while the right shoulder is often held down for bowing. It's important to stretch and strengthen all parts of your body, to counteract these imbalances. Simple 20-second stretches are good, such as placing your hands on either side of a doorway and stepping partway into it, to open your chest and pull your arms back. Many of us spend too much time hunched forward as we drive or type at a computer or play an instrument; this simple exercise helps counteract that hunching. This can also be done by lying lengthwise on a foam roller and allowing the arms to open out to both sides for a few minuts. YouTube and various books can offer good stretching exercises. If you want to go farther, you can try books, videos or classes in Pilates or yoga, both of which open up, stretch, and strengthen all parts of your body without requiring exercise equipment. Workouts or training sessions at a gym or with a physical therapist can teach your body a great deal, and it’s always helpful to get out on a bicycle, or on regular outdoors walks.
2. Muscles vs Tendons
It's important not to confuse working the muscles with working the tendons. We are often able push past what our muscles want to do, but that isn't necessarily healthy. Sometimes forcing fingers, wrist, or another part of your body to move in odd positions can work tendons too much and muscles not enough. Learn how to fire up and strengthen the muscles you need without overworking them. And be mindful of what muscles you’re using; don't take them for granted. Even when people use equipment at gyms, or take long walks, they can hurt themselves if they don't consciously engage their muscles in a controlled way. Specific exercises or games that help us better control our movements when playing fiddle have been mentioned in previous posts, such as the Thumb Roll, the Windshield Wiper, the Triangle, and Drumming.
3. Take rest breaks.
If you tend to get absorbed in what you’re doing, use an alarm to remind you to take a break for about ten minutes for every hour of effort. If things get intense, don’t forget to give yourself even 30 seconds off every ten minutes. I know a very Type-A workaholic who practiced her violin so intensely that she put herself right into a neck brace. “No pain, no gain” doesn’t even really work for the Marines!
See if you can remind yourself to take the edge off your tension, even while playing, like halfway through a tune or exercise. Just relax your muscles 10%. We obviously can’t fully relax muscles that we are in the middle of using, but taking the edge off the tension is of crucial importance. You can also try some games to teach your body how much effort you actually need. For example, I have an exercise I call the "Ugly Scale" which you can try if you’re a string player: As you bow an open string, begin pressing one finger onto the string so slowly that it sounds terrible! Keep slowly bearing down onto the string until the note sounds good, and press no harder than that. This is the minimum pressure you need to play a note; keep in mind that it’s not necessary press any harder, and check in now and then to see if your fingers can stay close to that minimum pressure.
4. Move as you play
Avoid allowing any part of your body to get stuck in one position for too long. There are all sorts of ways to guard against this, but just being aware of it is the most important step to take. One professional string player told me she likes to alternate the use of two different bows so that her hand experiences a bit of variety in weight and positioning as she plays. Little changes can make a big difference.
Freezing any part of your body in one position, especially if you imagine that position to be “correct,” can risk overuse problems in the back, shoulder or elbow for many musicians. Sometimes the briefest breaks and changes of position can stave off a problem. Even if you find a good position for playing, vary it. The way people get hurt most is by not giving a muscle group a break.
5. Find natural positions
Be aware of the most natural positions for various parts of your body. But also keep in mind that there is often more than one natural position for doing something. For example, when you play a downbow, you can push the bow (as in the motion of pushing open a door) or pull it (as you would if pulling on a rope). Both are natural motions but only one of them is useful. Pushing the downbow with the wrist is the motion that keeps the bow straight and under control, whereas pulling the bow tenses up the elbow and shoulder, and sends the bow askew, which does not do good things for your sound.
In the left hand, our wrist is most natural when it’s fairly straight. If it caves in, as can happen when the left hand tries to grab hold of the violin neck, the wrist is weakened. A straight wrist also helps keep good blood flow. As for the thumb and fingers, they are naturally bent when relaxed, so that is the position to shoot for. When the fingers or thumb are forced into a straight position, or are bent back, they feel strain. The post about the Thumb Roll provides an example of a simple exercise to remind the thumb to stay bent and avoid unnecessary tension in the bow hand. I once calculated that the average fiddler plays about 5 million bowstrokes in a year! This means that even slight adjustments that help relax the bowing motion can add up to significantly less stress and allow for more control.
Stay aware of and experiment with natural vs awkward positions, and remember that physical cues are more important than verbal ones. For example, you may think verbally "I need to stand up straight," but without knowing what muscles are involved or how this actually feels, it's easy to overdo and overarch into a strained position, just because in your mind you think you’re doing the right thing.
It’s amazing how interconnected everything is — for example, both arms are held up by the rhomboid muscles around the shoulder blades, not by the shoulder muscles. Meanwhile, the rhomboids are supported when you use your abs. Slouching may seem relaxed but it stresses the back and throws a number of muscles out of whack.
Keep thinking about maintaining the freedom to move as you play, and as I said, don’t allow to freeze in some position just because you believe it to be a “correct” position. Find your best, most natural and useful positions, and vary which muscles are doing the work.
6. A few books to consider
A few books on keeping your body fit include Stretch and Strengthen by Judy Alter; Core Performance by Mark Verstegen; and The Pilates Body by Brooke Siler. Of course, you can also take classes, or work with trainers or physical therapists to learn more about your own boy. Specialized books can be a bit pricey, such as Medical Problems of the Instrumentalist Musician (if you have an extra $250 lying about!). You’ll find many more books and articles linked at the end of the earlier article “Avoiding Musical Injury.”
Any amount of awareness and effort in the directions mentioned above will help improve stamina, control, and mood! Best of luck, and stay healthy.