JAVS Fall 1999

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section on how to remedy the defects of vari ous types of bad chairs found at work and everywhere else (pp. 56-65). This chapter brought back memories of the low chairs pro vided for a tour concert in Fukuoka, Japan, where my knees would have rested com fortably on the ground had I not had my Ali-Med seat cushion with me. I'll finish with a story of an unexpected hazard in my quest to reduce the physical stress of playing the viola. When I first began to experiment with correct posture in orches tra (positioning my chair so that I could face the stand directly while still seeing the con ductor peripherally), I also began to experi ment with reducing the amount of tension I was using to play the instrument. After dis covering that I could produce a reasonably fast tremolo with a relaxed arm and wrist, I also found that I could produce a large tone without scraping or forcing, always a temp tation in the heat of the moment. The culmi nation of my experiments was reached one morning at the end of a long rehearsal for T chaikovsky's 4th Symphony. As we were about to start the last movement, it occurred to me that the logical progression of expend ing less effort in the loud and fast 16th-note passage to follow would be to not use any bow at all! Thus I found my left hand confidently and lightly bouncing over the notes, while my right arm kept my bow hair resting quite still on the D-string. This economy of motion was not lost on conductor Eri Klas. He im mediately stopped the orchestra and, with great glee, pointed at me and shouted, "Aha! Acting!!!" Anyway, I've been sitting here typing for a couple of hours without a break. I suppose it's time to heed the authors' advice and do some stretching . . . -Ralph Fielding, AVS BoardMember A PHYSICAL THERAPIST's PERSPECTIVE The Athletic Musician is at once interesting to the injured musician and to the treating physical therapist. For the musician-patient, it is a reminder of the instructions given by the physical therapist. For the musculoskeletal physical therapist, it is a guide with illustra tions that will help in the treatment of the musician. The illustrations and photographs are clear, helping the musician to duplicate

basic concepts that the authors describe. I observed the same reaction when I presented this material (in the context of the importance of good posture) to the String Pedagogy course I teach at the University of Southern California. Again, few seemed to be aware of just what stress is placed on their bodies when they play the instrument. Last year, I saw three student violists show up with "my" hand and arm symptoms. In all cases, these students were coming to school with heavy backpacks or their instrument cases, or both, pulling on their necks. This book should be required reading for all conservatory students, so that they can become aware of these issues before an injury occurs. It is much easier to prevent problems than to attempt to correct them once the symp toms start. Ms. Paull and Ms. Harrison seek to address this by providing a comprehensive set of warmups and stretches for various muscle groups (Chapter 10). Additionally, Chapter 12 is dedicated to a variety of un obtrusive exercises and stretches one can do while on the job. Much attention is paid to the importance of being physically warmed up before starting to play an instrument. I learned this when I first started to walk to my orchestra job: the seven-minute uphill stroll had me physically warm when I showed up and I could play comfortably right away! I did not have to do the 20 minutes of viola warmup that I nor mally need to reach that same feeling. Now that I live farther away and drive, I try to leave extra time to arrive early and walk. Similarly, after sitting and rehearsing for an hour and a half, I find that I've physically cooled down despite the playing, so I make an attempt to walk around a bit on all the breaks. This prac tice of trying to stay physically warm has dra matically reduced the occurrences of common aches and pains in my hands and arms. Other useful information can be found in The Athletic Musician. Chapter 6 has many valuable words on posture, and Chapter 9 ef fectively covers the ergonomics of playing an instrument. There is advice on visualization as a means to improve performances and to re duce practice time needed on the instrument (pp. 144-45). There is an illustration of how to stretch in order to cushion your spinal disks before lifting (p. 66). There is a practical