Senior Project Advisor

Jun San Juan

Document Type

Project

Publication Date

Fall 2020

Keywords

Shoulder, violin players, scapular kinematics, scapula, bow, string position, anterior tilt, upward rotation

Abstract

Shoulder health is vital to the ability of violinists to play their instruments, but poor posture is considered a major risk of injury to violin players. For those who perform professionally, shoulder injuries endanger their careers. Therefore, finding shoulder postures that promote shoulder endurance and health are important. To this aim, the purpose of this study is to examine the scapular kinematics involved in playing on different strings of the violin. Five college-aged experienced violin players (male=1, female=4) with no recent history of shoulder surgery or severe shoulder pain volunteered to participate in this study. Kinematic sensors were placed on the sternum, humerus, and scapular spine. Participants played through three musical passages with varying string position requirements, during which data was collected on scapular kinematics. One musical passage required playing on the low-pitched strings, which involved an elevated right arm; another required playing on the high-pitched strings, which involves a lowered right arm; the third passage combined low- and high-pitched notes. Scapular upward rotation and anterior tilt were statistically significantly different between the low-pitch passage and high-pitch passage (p0.05 for all). When playing on the lower-pitch strings, the scapula is more upwardly rotated but less anteriorly tilted than when playing on the higher-pitch strings. However, the speed of transition between string positions does not affect scapular kinematics.

Department

Health and Human Development

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Violin--Performance--Physiological aspects; Violinists--Health and hygiene; Scapula; Kinematics--Physiological aspects

Genre/Form

fieldwork (research)

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

Included in

Kinesiology Commons

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