Kylie Rusch
Abstract
Performance Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (PRMDs) are widespread among pianists and
can cause musicians to discontinue playing their instrument. A study by Allsop and Ackland
(2010) found 42.4 percent (214 adults) of the 505 adults they surveyed experienced PRMDs of
varying degrees throughout their careers as musicians. Ranelli, Smith, and Straker (2003) found
67 percent (489 children) of 731 children they surveyed have experienced PRMDs. The
underlying cause of PRMDs is tension, and bad habits of tension begin early. When young
students see difficult music, their instinct is to become tense (Sandor, 1981, p. 15). If piano
teachers do not intervene, students can form hazardous habits of playing with tension. In order
to circumvent issues of tension and prevent PRMDs, students need to learn tension-releasing
techniques early in their music career. The Alexander technique, devised by Frederick Matthias
Alexander in the 1800s, is a design of tension-free living whose principles may be applied to
piano. If students and their teachers learn the basics of the Alexander technique, they cannot
only learn to release tension when it occurs but anticipate and avoid tension. The researcher
studied the Alexander technique and interviewed musicians who prescribe to and teach the
Alexander Technique. The author then designed a supplemental book incorporating the
Alexander technique and best practices in avoiding and releasing tension. The researcher will
then distribute the supplemental book to the teachers in the Aberdeen Area Music Teachers
Association in order to test and revise it according to the feedback from the teachers and their
students. By creating this method book supplement, the author hopes to help students learn
freedom from playing with tension as a way to prevent PRMDs and lower occurrences of them in
the future.