Attending the Golandsky Institute’s Summer Symposium, I discovered that a lot of people came because they were injured. I hadn’t realized that the Taubman approach could be used to cure playing-related injuries. As a doctor, this was very interesting to me. Many musicians’ injuries are caused by repetitive movements in uncomfortable positions. The traditional medical approach is to relieve the pain with painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, physiotherapy and rest. Often stopping the problematic movement is enough to take care of the pain. But you can’t tell a musician to stop playing without destroying his life. Some other approach must be found, to ensure that the musician can continue to play, but without the physical problem. I don’t know of any other approach that addresses the problem of pianists’ pain and injuries like the Taubman approach does. This is an approach that goes to the root of the matter: the problem movements that cause the injury. I have sent a lot of construction workers, and other laborers to occupational therapists to try to root out the problem movements when they do masonry work, for example. But until discovering the Taubman approach, I had never come across a physical therapist or occupational therapist for pianists. This work is a kind of physical therapy, because the focus is on correct alignment and healthy, coordinate movements that will not hurt you.
