Playing With Pain--Don't Do It



A Humorous Look At Playing With Pain



As you travel along on your musical journey, you may notice that certain areas of your body are starting to hurt as you practice.  This soreness is a "red flag" and you should deal with it immediately.

More importantly, if there is pain for your child when practicing, talk to the music teacher right away.  Your child's music teacher may not have noticed a leaning posture or a wrist position that is slightly off.  Pianists often develop pain somewhere in the neck or upper/lower back.  If your teacher is not able to help you alleviate the pain through better body ergonomics, a trip to the doctor would be in order.  Many of you see physician's assistants and chiropractors and that, too, would be a great next step.

If you are a practicing adult student or performer, after making sure that your body is in the right position for playing your instrument and there is still pain, you should also see a doctor, physician's assistant, or the like for any pain in your neck, hands, fingers, legs, etcetera.  Adults may also find that practicing yoga, Pilates, or just plain old stretching helps limber up sensitive areas of the body before practicing and that will disperse the pain.

As many of you know, there are now specialists that treat musicians and athletes for specific kinds of pain in the body related to the playing of instruments and athletic training.  Please do not hesitate to contact these people for counsel and help.

Memorization

Does the word memorization strike a chord of fear in you?  Or, are you one of the lucky people who are able to easily memorize words, numbers, and music?  If you are not one of those lucky people, there is no reason to fear memorizing your music.  Some of us like to use the phrase, "You could eat an airplane if you broke it down into very small pieces".  That translates to: memorize in small amounts, such as measures or phrases.  It is also very helpful to have good recordings of the song or piece you are memorizing and to be listening to the recordings.  If you are a Suzuki student or parent, you know that having a digital device in different rooms of the house as well as your car is a great idea because you can flick a switch wherever you are and whatever you are doing and hear the piece you are memorizing.  This is a language approach to learning and the listening reinforces the memorizing plus you have the bonus of listening to lovely music all the time.

If you are the parent of a young music student and assignments for that child include memorizing, you may be able to help your child by being supportive in subtle ways.  Encouraging your child verbally is very important and I've mentioned in other postings that if you're able to choose words that are honest and specific, those are the best.  For instance, "Good work on getting that second phrase memorized today!"  Or, "I heard you working on repeating the ending to that song and it is sounding great!"  Also, if you are able to stay in that area of the house while your child is practicing (if you are a Suzuki parent, you will actually be involved in the practice session with your child), most children like the fact that you care enough to stick around and listen to them.  An even better action from the parent is if you give them your undivided attention and listening ears.

Memorizing is like any other activity: it gets easier with practice.  So, the sooner the better to get listening and practicing to start the momentum of this fabulous asset.  Once again, the study of music translates in a positive way to other areas in your life or your child's life.  Memorizing is a great way to keep a brain active as well as helping younger students work on words, numbers, and formulas.