Secret Pain of a Musician

Midway through playing piano at Mass tonight, my eyes were stinging with tears. The pain in my wrist was back. The sharp, searing pain of tendonitis, followed by the constant burn. It is a familiar pain and discomfort. One that I have fought for the past 15 years, and is the result of injury caused by something that brings me so much joy – playing piano.

My story is unfortunately not unique. In college I read a study where over 75% of the musicians they interviewed had an injury that interfered with their playing. My pain started in the early years of high school and was fairly mild. My hands would bother me off and on, but it wasn’t ever an issue and it never interfered with other activities. Continue reading “Secret Pain of a Musician”

Assignment Pages – Whose needs are they fulfilling?

{Nothing Era.} My student’s assignment sheets have evolved quite a bit over the last decade. When I began teaching, I wrote nothing down for both myself or for my student. This is probably because I was emulating my childhood teacher.

{Notebook Era.} But as I took on the role of the piano teacher, I realized that I needed a record to glance at and know what needed to be covered in the lesson. It was supposed to also help the students know what to practice. Thus, it led me to my “notebook” era. The idea was to write which book, the page number, and title of song the student should practice. But my notes were never consistent – I’d forget to write the page number, or the book and the formatting was never the same. Continue reading “Assignment Pages – Whose needs are they fulfilling?”