StringTouch - From String Instruments towards new Interface Morphologies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beat Rossmy ◽  
Sonja Rümelin ◽  
Alexander Wiethoff
Keyword(s):  
String Instruments

Occupational Performance Issues and Predictors of Dysfunction in College Instrumentalists

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-78
Author(s):  
Rebecca Barton ◽  
Clyde Killian ◽  
Morgan Bushee ◽  
Julia Callen ◽  
Teresa Cupp ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Music Majors ◽  
Occupational Performance ◽  
Functional Impairments ◽  
String Instruments ◽  
College Age ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Minimal Research ◽  
Survey Questionnaires

Music-related injuries among musicians, including younger musicians, have been well documented; however, minimal research has been completed with college-aged instrumentalists. The purpose of this research study was to describe the presence of physical symptoms in college-age musicians and the impact of these symptoms on music-playing and other daily occupations. Data collection was completed on college instrumental music majors using two survey questionnaires, which documented the presence of physical symptoms in the upper limb and the impact of these symptoms on function. The results indicate that a significant number of students reported pain or discomfort that occurred during music-playing, at rest, and during other daily occupations. Results were consistent with the literature in regards to the prevalence of symptoms in female instrumentalists as compared to males and the occurrence of more symptoms in those individuals playing string instruments and piano as compared to other instrument groups. Also, as self-reported pain increased, a greater level of dysfunction in occupational performance was found. Results also indicated that when participants were already implementing intervention strategies, this was perhaps a predictor of the presence of pain and dysfunction. Health professionals should be encouraged to provide preventive education for student musicians and to use outcome measures, such as the Disabilities of the Hand, Arm, and Shoulder (DASH) outcome measure, to identify the potential for functional impairments.

Restoring Wrist Rotation in Injured Pianists and Violinists

2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-90
Author(s):  
Ian Winspur ◽  
Katherine Butler
Keyword(s):  
General Population ◽  
Distal Ulna ◽  
Professional Musicians ◽  
String Instruments ◽  
Wrist Fractures ◽  
Technical Details ◽  
The Ideal

Wrist fractures are common injuries in musicians, and a number of these fractures heal in a mal-united position, interfering with wrist rotation. This can prevent musicians who play keyboard instruments and the smaller string instruments from assuming the required wrist positions. Resection of the distal ulna (Darrach procedure), while somewhat discredited for the general population, has proved to be the ideal operation for this problem in musicians and has been used successfully on five professional musicians. This procedure, the rationale for its use in musicians, and the important technical details are discussed.

Playability of the wolf note of bowed string instruments

2018 ◽  
Vol 144 (5) ◽  
pp. 2852-2858
Author(s):  
Ailin Zhang ◽  
Jim Woodhouse
Keyword(s):  
String Instruments

Impact of Changes in Playing Time on Playing-Related Musculoskeletal Pain in String Music Students

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Robitaille ◽  
Yannick Tousignant-Laflamme ◽  
Manon Guay
Keyword(s):  
Musculoskeletal Pain ◽  
Music Students ◽  
Sudden Increase ◽  
String Instruments ◽  
Professional Career ◽  
Music Camp ◽  
Pain Frequency ◽  
T1 And T2 ◽  
Playing Time ◽  
High Level

BACKGROUND: During their training, musicians must develop good work habits that they will carry on throughout their professional career in order to avoid potential chronic health problems, such as musculoskeletal pain. The effect of sudden changes in instrument playing-time on the development of playing-related musculoskeletal pain (PRMP) has not been thoroughly investigated in music students playing bowed string instruments (BSI), even though they are regularly exposed to such changes to perfect their playing skills. OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between sudden changes in instrument playing-time and changes in PRMP in BSI players. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was completed with BSI students attending a summer music camp offering high-level training. Participants completed a self-administered 23-item questionnaire designed for the study upon arrival at camp (T1) and then 7 days later (T2). RESULTS: Ninety-three BSI students (16±4 yrs old) completed the questionnaires, for a 23% response rate. Their playing-time increased by 23±14 hrs between T1 and T2. Complaints in pain frequency (e.g., from never to most of the time) and intensity (19±24 mm on VAS) significantly increased between T1 and T2 and were correlated with an increase in playing-time. CONCLUSION: A sudden increase in playing-time, such as that experienced by elite BSI students attending an intensive music camp, was related to an increase in PRMP. However, in this study, changes in pain characteristics were only partly explained by the change in playing-time.

Analysis of High-Density Surface EMG and Finger Pressure in the Left Forearm of Violin Players: A Feasibility Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 139-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Cattarello ◽  
Roberto Merletti ◽  
Francesco Petracca
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Surface Emg ◽  
High Density ◽  
String Instruments ◽  
Activation Patterns ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
Left Hand ◽  
Density Surface ◽  
The Right ◽  
Finger Pressure

Wrist and finger flexor muscles of the left hand were evaluated using high-density surface EMG (HDsEMG) in 17 violin players. Pressure sensors also were mounted below the second string of the violin to evaluate, simultaneously, finger pressure. Electrode grid size was 110x70 mm (12x8 electrodes with interelectrode distance=10 mm and Ø=3 mm). The study objective was to observe the activation patterns of these muscles while the violinists sequentially played four notes—-SI (B), DO# (C#), RE (D), MI (E)—-at 2 bows/s (one bow up in 0.5 s and one down in 0.5 s) and 4 bows/s on the second string, while producing a constant (CONST) or ramp (RAMP) sound volume. HDsEMG images obtained while playing the notes were compared with those obtained during isometric radial or ulnar flexion of the wrist or fingers. Two image descriptors provided information on image differences. Results showed that the technique was reliable and provided reliable signals, and that recognizably different sEMG images could be associated with the four notes tested, despite the variability within and between subjects playing the same note. sEMG activity of the left hand muscles and pressure on the string in the RAMP task were strongly affected in some individuals by the sound volume (controlled by the right hand) and much less in other individuals. These findings question whether there is an individual or generally optimal way of pressing violin strings with the left hand. The answer to this question might substantially modify the teaching of string instruments.

scholarly journals Function of private singing in instrumental music learning: A multiple case study of self-regulation and embodiment

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amalia Casas-Mas ◽  
Guadalupe López-Íñiguez ◽  
Juan Ignacio Pozo ◽  
Ignacio Montero
Keyword(s):  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Approaches To Learning ◽  
Multiple Case Study ◽  
Private Speech ◽  
String Instruments ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
One To One ◽  
The One

The aim of this article is to explore a range of largely embodied vocalisations and sounds produced by learners of string instruments and how they relate to the potential self-regulatory use provided by such vocalisations. This type of “singing” while learning to play an instrument may have similarities to the use of private speech in other types of learning tasks. This report describes a multiple case study based on the naturalistic observation of learners playing string instruments in different situations. We observed private rehearsals by six adult guitarists from different music cultures (classical, flamenco and jazz) who had different approaches to learning (traditional and constructivist). In addition, we observed the one-to-one lessons of a constructivist cello teacher with a 7-year-old beginner and a 12-year-old student. All sessions were recorded. We applied the System for Analysing the Practice of Instrumental Lessons to the video lessons and/or practices and participant discourse for constant comparative analysis across all categories and participants. From the theoretical framework of private speech, we identified a set of qualities in private singing, such as whistling, humming, and guttural sounds, with different levels of audibility. Self-guidance and self-regulation appeared to be the functions underlying both psychomotor learning and reflective-emotional learning from an embodiment approach. Guitar learners from popular urban cultures seemed to use less explicit singing expression than classical guitar learners, the explicitness of which may be related to the instructional use of the notational system. In the one-to-one cello lessons, we observed a process of increasing internalisation from the younger to the older student. Both results are consistent with the literature on private speech, indicating that this process is a natural process of internalisation at higher literacy levels. Singing is not as frequent in music lessons as might be expected, and it is even less frequently used as a reflective tool or understood as an embodied process. The examples provided in this article shed light on the multiplicity of applications and on the potential benefits of private singing in instructional contexts as a powerful learning tool.

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