Date of Award

8-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)

School

Music

Committee Chair

Dr. Ben McIlwain

Committee Chair School

Music

Committee Member 2

Dr. Richard Perry

Committee Member 2 School

Music

Committee Member 3

Dr. Timothy Tesh

Committee Member 3 School

Music

Committee Member 4

Dr. Joseph Jones

Committee Member 4 School

Music

Committee Member 5

Dr. Joseph Brumbeloe

Committee Member 5 School

Music

Abstract

As the stigma surrounding performance-related injuries in the brass community is slowly lifting, more musicians are openly seeking assistance for injuries, more musicians are willing to share their experiences with injury, and the musical community is becoming more knowledgeable in the realm of musician health. This research is aimed at preventing future dysfunctions in brass players, offering avenues of recovery for musicians currently experiencing an injury, and examining the current state of trombone pedagogy through the experiences of three performing trombonists.

Megumi Kanda, Colin Williams, and David Vining are professional trombonists and educators who have experienced an embouchure dysfunction or injury and have successfully recovered. These musicians have been interviewed with the overarching questions of: How has your experience with injury altered your approach to playing and teaching the trombone? And, what are you doing differently now? In the interviews these musicians discussed their playing habits before and leading up to their injury, their methods of recovery, their daily playing habits post-injury, their application of what they have learned in an educational setting, and what pedagogical materials they use, avoid, or have created based on their experience.

Due to the varying dysfunctions that these musicians experienced, their paths to recovery were different. Vining undertook movement-based therapies and re-learned how to play the trombone. Kanda and Williams took several months off and worked with mentors and other brass musicians who had been injured and successfully recovered.

While the injuries and recoveries of these musicians differ, the paths that led to their injuries have similarities including excessive hours of playing each day and lack of efficiency in the manner that they were playing; particularly the amount of air being used and tension in the body. As a result of their injuries, each of these musicians have developed shorter, more efficient practice methods that they use as a basis for their teaching and playing. The information gathered from this research will help future musicians and music educators prevent and identify the signs of impending injuries and offer education for musicians suffering from an embouchure dysfunction.

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