Piano Injuries

Yes, you read correctly.  If you play the piano, chances are your body may be suffering down the road.  Eri Yoshimura, a Doctoral Candidate in Piano Performance at the University of North Texas, is researching piano-related injuries.  UNT is one of the only Music Schools in the country that offers their students a "Music and Medicine" area of concentration.  Turns out there are many health occupational risks in the music industry. 

Yoshimura just completed her third study on piano-related injuries.  In this particular study, she uses motion-capture cameras and sensors on keyboards to collect the data.  The result is computer-generated animation.  The equipment that Yoshimura and the research team at UNT are using is very much like what was used to create "Gollum" in the movie Lord of the Rings.

Her data shows the pain is not caused by how much time one spends playing, but rather the size of the players hands in relation to the keyboard.  Pianists with smaller hands have a very hard time reaching the octave key.  They end up cheating the music and in the process contorting their bodies.  

Yoshimura is currently applying for a grant to study piano related injuries in people ages 11-26.