Last week we discussed how musicians are not just one thing and I mentioned how physical and demanding a career as a professional musician is. I’m a string player and have spent almost every day over the past 30 years playing violin and/or viola. I’ve spent countless hours holding my arms up and doing repetitive motions. Many musicians end up with overuse injuries such as carpal tunnel, cubital tunnel, and tendonitis just to name a few. Something the overuse prevention helpers don’t always talk about is how physically exhausting the LIFE of a musician can be. That’s my focus for today, but first, some notes on wellness and avoiding common injuries.
Avoiding Injury
There are many factors that contribute to overuse injuries and some people are more susceptible than others, but there are ways we can try to avoid them.
When I was in middle and high school, no one talked to me about the repetitive nature of my chosen craft and how maybe I should do some yoga, stretches, or consider injury prevention. Luckily, this mindset has changed significantly over the past 25 years. I’ve been thrilled to see movements towards teaching young people about the importance of taking care of their mental and physical health while learning to play an instrument.
Great Resources Now Available
There are now many resources for musicians on how to avoid and/or deal with overuse injuries. Some well known methods are: Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, and Body Mapping.
In addition to resources on avoiding injury there are also a number of musicians who share content or have businesses devoted to helping musicians stay physically ready!
Here’s a list of professional musicians helping other musicians avoid injury and encouraging healthy movement. This list includes people I follow on social media or know personally. All of them inspire me to move more and be careful how I do it.
Inspiration and Motivation!
Dr. Kim Hankins- professional violist and yoga teacher
Dr. Jaya Varma – professional violinist and yoga teacher
Dr. Anastasia Petrunina – professional violinist
Dr. Christoph Wagner- professional cellist
Please note- all Dr.’s on this list are not medical doctors, but like me have a doctorate in music.
Mental and Physical Demands
So, now you have some resources to avoid injury. Let’s get into the real topic of the day. Being a professional musician is demanding on your body and mind! From scheduling to performing, musicians wear many hats and almost all of us bounce between different zones of music careers including:
- Sitting in meetings
- Rehearsals
- Teaching
- Performances
- Guest Speaking
- Conducting
- Administrative duties- including scheduling, bookkeeping, etc.
Here are some obvious things we know are true:
- Playing an instrument for hours at a time can lead to overuse injuries
- Sitting in a rehearsal for a long period of time can feel very sedentary for parts of our body and very active for others
- Sitting with good posture to help avoid injuries takes core strength and awareness
- Teaching a class that involves conducting an ensemble adds a different level of physical movement than playing an instrument
While we know those to be true, we do not always think about them in connection with the other actions we perform to get to the gig and get home.
Freelancing Life
For example, sometimes I have two performance dates with 4 shows across the two dates. Each concert is an hour long, however, I have double rehearsals the day of the Friday shows, then have to drive over an hour to the performance hall, do the performances, then drive over an hour back home. On Saturday, there are no rehearsals, but the driving to the venue is over 2 hours. For the Friday gig that is about 7-8 hours of playing that day plus 3 hours of driving.
I don’t know how it is for you, but for me, driving makes me really tired especially when it’s multiple days in a row. Depending on the car I’m driving, sometimes driving hurts my knee! I have a friend that gets arm pain after driving for a long time. The static and repetitive motions in driving also add to our list of physicality in our career and daily life.
While the schedule I just described above does not happen every week, it does happen with some frequency.
Take Care of Your Physical Health
Taking care of our physical health is crucial. Maintaining physical health and wellness can help take some of the strain out of the monotony of driving and holding an instrument for hours. If we take care of our bodies, they can take care of us. Now I know what you’re thinking, yeah lady, but I don’t have time for all of that.
Fair. Our schedules are packed, but etching out a little time for a walk, a run, a trip to the gym, a yoga class, a zumba class will do you way more good in the long run. A musician’s schedule is crazy and demanding, so we have to plan and work smarter, not harder.
The schedules musicians keep (by necessity) do not typically follow a 9-5 job pattern. We are working and performing when others are not. For some of us, our rehearsal times tend to vary week by week. Finding consistency in a daily schedule can be a challenge. The most useful thing I’ve done to help with this lifestyle is: planning.
Helpful Things I Do for Physical and Mental Health
Here are the things I plan out and schedule to help me maintain physical fitness: so I can sit, stand, play, and drive for extended hours.
- Workouts/Non-Musical Movement (for me its walking, running, yoga, & swimming)
- Practice time + stretching time
- Meals
- Time for things I enjoy
Recently, a student asked me how I played in the number of groups I play in, teach, practice, and maintain an active lifestyle. Answer: planning, discipline, flexibility— and learning my limits by paying attention to the cues my body gives when I’m in a stressful stretch.
Books To Check Out
Here are two books I’ve read recently that helped me create a sustainable schedule (even when the work and scheduling feel unsustainable):
- Tiny Habits by Dr. B.J. Fogg
- Learn Faster, Perform Better by Dr. Molly Gebrian
Contact me!
I hope this has helped you a little bit, while I don’t personally teach any yoga classes or coach people running, I do offer coachings for musicians who are seeking guidance in the day to day of being a professional musician. If you’d like to schedule a session with me you can contact me!
