Back in the old days (when I stilled played violin regularly), I would sometimes come out of my parent’s master bedroom (where I practiced for acoustic reasons) with complaints of upper back pain. After lounging around for a while on the couches, I would find myself back in the room practicing vigorously. After all, the music must go on.
Unbeknownst to me - but skillfully detected by my aspiring theologian/masseuse uncle-in-law - I had built up several years of resistance to normal muscle fiber development with my practice regiment. In other words, my back was all knotted up.
I have always been conscious of the discomfort caused by never finding the right shoulder rest/chin rest combination. I have also been conscious of a habitual lifting of the right shoulder, both counterproductive to tone production and (apparently) muscle development. I have even asked my friends (thanks Kevin Ku and Daniel Tan and random other people I scare off when I ask them) to massage me after long practices. But I had never so directly connected my back pain to music.
That is, until my uncle-in-law said, “These knots must have developed for years.” It was interesting that the knots were not mirrored on both sides of the body - usually stress or bad posture produces knots symmetrical with respect to the spine. I realized at that moment they were caused by my violin playing.
:(
The massage was really good, though. My aunt even made me a heating pad out of a white sock and rice. I would show a picture, but I’m too lazy. It’s pretty awesome though.
