What do we all think about this article?
http://www.bodymap.org/artpianistinj.html

The comments about bench height are interesting, as many people sit too high instead of too low (i.e. they sit like Daniel Barenboim, which for me, puts great stress on the middle fingers).

I think the author has missed the issue that many injuries are a result of (forcefully) pushing down on the keys after they have "bottomed out." Also, there was no mention of touchweight problems with the piano action itself.

[ July 12, 2001: Message edited by: MacDuff ]

MacDuff, Thanks for that wonderful link. It appears there may be other useful articles on the same site.

As for the article, I liked it and I like being reminded of the seriousness of potential injury so that the next time I practice I will certainly pay close attention to a number of points he makes in the article.

The only sentence I did not like too much was: "Also, I am well aware that not everyone who plays with curled fingers winds up injured. Some people are lucky, their bodies are more resistant, or whatever."

I think more investigation and research is needed to find out why some people do not develop problems. For such a specific article, to say that "Some people are lucky" and "or whatever" doesn't cut the mustard for me.

Overall, I thought it was an excellent article.