Musicians as Athletes

 

One of the things many of my beginning students – whether young or adult – find frustrating when they are learning the piano is how long it takes their hands to execute the movements that are required to play well. They understand the concept of what they are supposed to do, but they can’t always get their hands to follow their brain’s instructions. They’ve always thought about playing the piano well (or any music), as something that’s only related to musical talent. They fail to take into account is the fact that in addition to being an artistic activity, it is also a physical one, and so in a way, musicians are athletes.

This is not obvious in the same way it is for a runner or a swimmer, but musical training still involves perfecting specialized muscle movements so that they are in peak condition for a performance. Of course there are differences between, for example, a runner and a pianist, or other instrumentalists. Most athletes train to strengthen and control their larger muscles, whereas a pianist mostly uses movements that are much smaller, utilizing the tendons, joints, and small muscles of the hands. Superior piano playing does utilize the muscles of the torso, back and arms, but the small movements are the foundation. We don’t commonly recognize the athletic part, because our perspective is different: for the runner, we applaud the athleticism; for the pianist we applaud the art. In other words, we typically don’t watch a musician and remark, “Look at those amazing biceps!”

It is important, though, for students to realize and accept the physical component of creating the art, and how it takes time to develop. As students learn to play, they are forging new connections between their brain and their fingers. For the beginner, this physical aspect can be more difficult than you might imagine. Quite often I have seen a student intend to press down the fourth finger of the left hand, and instead another finger goes down. When this happens, the student is surprised, not realizing that you can’t just think instructions at your fingers; they have to become accustomed to executing the physical movement first. In fact, sometimes I tell them to do something with their right hand, and they do it with their left, or vice versa. Then they are embarrassed: of course they know which is left and which is right. They don’t realize that in developing new finger/hand coordination, sometimes the signals get scrambled. (When this happens to my younger students, they are unfazed; they’re used to confusing left and right.) Of course, these problems fade as the students develop the mental/physical connection required. For some, very quickly; for others, more slowly.

More advanced students, particularly professional musicians, must think of this on a larger scale. It is important that they take into account their own physical fitness as a component of their art. Like other athletes, they are often plagued by physical injuries resulting from repetitive training. Tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome are common afflictions, and must be dealt with and overcome, just as a pulled muscle or other injury would be for a runner or a tennis player.

When I have beginner or intermediate students who are frustrated because they can’t get their fingers to do what they are supposed to do, I remind them that part of playing music is developing the physical aspect of it, and that this takes time. It’s not all about just the musical talent and the listening skills. This helps them understand why it takes longer to learn certain passages, and also helps to convince them that the exercises I assign them are not just useless drills or tedium. They are essential exercises for their fingers, hands and arms, and help develop hand-eye coordination and physical strength that are so essential to playing an instrument well.

When I teach more advanced students or performing musicians, I remind them to be conscious of how they are using their bodies so as not to overtax them. There are obvious things like staying in good health, but also learning not to tense muscles during practice and performance, and learning certain playing techniques that minimize stress on the fingers, tendons, and arms. (That’s a whole other article!)

So while we don’t think of musicians as athletes, understanding the physical component of making music at the piano, or singing, or any instrument, is an essential part of the process. This is true for the beginning student all the way up to the very advanced, no matter what your level of musical talent.