The Injured Student Musician

UNCP Author/Contributor (non-UNCP co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Christopher James Colon (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP )
Web Site: http://www.uncp.edu/academics/library
Advisor
Valerie Austin

Abstract: Music students at the university level often get injured. The demands of a music department, the intense competition within a program, and students' high standards to excel can lead the student to play beyond their physical limits. Injured students encounter many problems that negatively affect the student musician's physical, financial, and psychological well-being. Injured student musicians are often left incapable of learning new repertoire because their injury physically limits the amount of time they can perform or practice. In some extreme cases, the injured student musician decides to change their major completely. Since injuries affect a musician psychologically injured student musicians may develop problems such as as depression, anxiety, and lack of self-worth, making it more difficult to perform or to return to performing. The innate desire to make music leads an injured musician to continue playing through pain aggravating the injury and often causing permanent damage. Dealing with a performance or practice induced injury, can leave a student in more debt with the medical bills they acquire. Student musicians are hesitant to seek medical attention since the medical profession is quite new to this field. Research literature about diagnosing and treating an injured musician is still fairly limited. This paper will address a variety of ways on how practicing or performance induced injuries affect a student musician, thus facilitating the process of rehabilitation where the injured student musician can return back to performing with minimal physical, psychological, and financial distress.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2014
Keywords
Musicians, Stress, University level Musicians, Injury, Depression, Anxiety, Music,

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