• Horst Hildebrandt, Oliver Margulies, Barbara Köhler, Marta Nemcova, Matthias Nübling, William Verheul, and Wulf Hildebrandt.
• Zurich University of the Arts, Zürcher Zentrum Musikerhand (ZZM), CH-8031 Zürich, Switzerland. Tel +41 (0)43 446 51 20. horst.hildebrandt@zhck.ch.
• Med Probl Perform Art. 2021 Sep 1; 36 (3): 207-217.

AbstractViolinists display a high incidence of task-specific musculoskeletal problems. Sources pertaining to violin playing and teaching traditions as well as musicians' medicine research offer only imprecise and contradictory recommendations regarding suitable instrument positions. The aim of this study was to add to a growing scientific base for teaching and medical counseling regarding violin positioning. The study evaluated muscle activation (EMG) and subjectively perceived effort (Borg scale) in four standardized typical violin positions, as well as the violinists' normally used one. The hypothesis, the smaller the angle between the instrument's longitudinal axis (LoAx) and the player's central sagittal plane (CSP) and the angle between its lateral axis (LatAx) and the player's horizontal plane (HP), the more muscle activation and perceived effort in the violinist's left arm, was confirmed: Decreasing the LoAx-CSP angle from 50° to 20° and the LatAx-HP angle from 50° to 20° resulted in a highly significant and independent increase of EMG and Borg scale self-ratings mean values. Results may allow for a first step in decision-making on violin positioning for ergonomic adaptations in teaching as well as prevention and therapy of playing-related health problems at all levels of proficiency.Copyright© 2021 by the author(s). Open Access: licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0 Int.

5 keywords...

hide…