It is not easy to hurt yourself on the piano or the drums… at the beginning. It is not easy to get a tendon or nerve disease while practicing the piano or the drums… when you start. It is difficult to get a long term condition related to the activity of drumming or playing the keys… in the first six months. But…
Yes, there is a but. And it’s this one: almost all injuries are related to repetitive motion. Do a certain gesture long enough and you’re bound to develop carpel tunnel syndrome or nerve damage. Almost unavoidable. Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to prevent pain and illness on the drums or the piano. How? Well, I know an excellent teacher in those two very instruments that’ll be happy to explain them to you. Do you need more hint?
Yes, injuries are common among musicians. But only the serious ones. If you practice 30 minutes 3 times a week, unless you do something truly grotesque and inappropriate, I don’t think you’ll be in the hospital anytime soon.
Oh, but wait! I forgot something. The computers! The phones! Talk about repetitive motion! Holly Molly! We’re typing constantly, our fingers solicited as soon as we wake up. We’re interacting with the stars from dusk till dawn and beyond. So, let me revise my statement: if you are computing a lot, then it is possible to develop injuries on the piano pretty fast. It won’t be because of the piano per se, but it will add another layer of repetitive motion to the ones you’re doing in front of the screen. As for the drums, unless you specifically do the finger technique (It’s a great technique, you should learn it), then I wouldn’t worry about it.
So, this email was about the unlikely-ness of an injurie occurring to you. I am as conscious as the next teacher to teach things properly so that people do not hurt themselves, but I also relate to the student in front of me and I don’t want to become an enemy and the instrument a chore. So, I do the technique, yes, I am serious about it, yes, but I also apply some reasonable limit to the concepts.
