Teaching Healthy Musicianship

This book equips music educators with everything they need to know to prevent common injuries. Using principles of ergonomics and body mechanics, it approaches teaching music from the standpoint of wellness, giving music educators practical advice on how to intervene before pain interferes with performance.

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Written by a professional musician who is also a certified occupational therapist, Teaching Healthy Musicianship both helps music educators avoid common injuries that they themselves encounter and equips them with the tools they need to instill healthy musicianship practices in their students.

Author Nancy Taylor combines her two unique skill sets to provide a model for injury prevention that is equally cognizant of the needs of music educators and their students. Through practical explanation of body mechanics, ergonomics, and the performance-related health problems and risk factors unique to musicianship, Taylor gives music educators the tools they need to first practice healthy posture, body mechanics, environmental safety, and ergonomics, and then to introduce these same practices to their students. Taylor also provides practical guidance for healthy musicianship practices in the wrists and shoulders, the most common site of music-related injuries. The final sections address issues of vocal and hearing health, both of which are at high risk in music classroom environments. Working from the dual observations that busy music teachers sometimes overlook taking care of themselves, and that music teachers are not always able to guide students through instrument-related stresses, Taylor provides here a book that addresses injury prevention for the music student and the music educator alike.

Thoroughly illustrated with 125 photographs, Teaching Healthy Musicianship is a key resource for preservice and inservice teachers of middle school and high school band, orchestra, choir and general music.