Teaching Healthy Musicianship

Book excerpt: Written by a professional musician who is also a certified occupational therapist, Teaching Healthy Musicianship first and foremost help music educators avoid common injuries that they themselves encounter, and in the process it also 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, she 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. Thoroughly illustrated with 125 photographs, this book is a key resource for preservice and inservice teachers of middle school and high school band, orchestra, choir and general music.