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Anatomy, Biomechanics and Ergonomics

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"Human Anatomy is a part, not merely of medical science, but also, beyond that, of biological knowledge, and beyond that also a part of the totality of mankind's understanding of his universe. But it has been customarily isolated, and usually still is in many schools and texts... it is stultifying to confine enquiry or description to the artificially bounded 'subjects' of 'education'. Anatomy has been a particular sufferer in this compartmentalisation... There are, in fact, no real boundaries between 'anatomy' and all other fields of human enquiry..."

"...the human individual has not only applied himself to the creation of innumerable skills and crafts for mere survival, but has, in the unceasing development of mind, evolved the arts - painting, literature, poetry, music, sculpture and drama - to enrich our culture."

"Human Anatomy is, therefore, a crucial feature of mankind's unending study of man, which embraces the arts, sciences, mathematics, politics, religions, ergonomics and environmental manipulation - all percepts of human cerebration."

Gray's Anatomy, 1989

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Articles

"Curved Fingers - and Tension?" by Richard Beauchamp
The text of an article published in CLASSICAL PIANO Magazine - March/April 1997
"Temporal Control and Hand Movement Efficiency in Skilled Music Performance, by Walter Goebl and Caroline Palmer
An excellent piece of research, published in January 2013, which effectively supports the findings in the above article - and quotes from it
"The Ergonomics of Piano Playing" by Richard Beauchamp
Slide show presented at BPAMT International Conference in 2001
Download this file for your own use
“A Look at the Muscles which Control the Fingers ” - PowerPoint Show - By Richard Beauchamp
Slide show of some of the muscles used in piano playing
Thanks to PRIMAL (see below) for their great pictures
“What studying musicians tells us about motor control of the hand” — PDF by Alan H D Watson, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University
This is a fascinating paper, published in 2006, which outlines some of the most recent thinking about motor control, coordination and musicians' hand dystonia. Clicking on the link will open a PDF file
“Slur Technique” By Richard Beauchamp
This is an important aspect of piano technique which is often overlooked but which is a key to the solving of many other technical difficulties
“Glenn Gould and Finger Tapping” By Richard Beauchamp
Was Glenn Gould's finger tapping merely an eccentricity — or a useful aid to developing a fluent finger technique?
“Rotation in Scale Playing” By Richard Beauchamp
This shows a way of developing one of the many elements needed for fluent scale playing
"Our Anatomical Differences" by Richard Beauchamp
Outline of a talk for EPTA in 1995, attempting to show why we should not treat all pupils in the same way
Anatomy and Piano Teaching This is a PDF download of the notes for the above talk
“Examples of passages which may cause problems due to tendon linkages or absences” By Richard Beauchamp (2002)
“The Beast with Five Fingers”
Video examples of piano playing techniques

Suggested Reading

Raoul Tubiana: "Examination of the Hand and Upper Limb": W.B.Saunders: ISBN 0-7216-1056-0: Based on Dr Tubiana's four volume set, "The Hand"
Dr Tubiana is Director of the Hand Institute in Paris, and is former President of the International Societies of Surgery of the Hand
John Napier (revised by Russell H. Tuttle): "Hands": Princeton University Press: ISBN 0-691-02547-9: Wide ranging and very readable, with fascinating insights, esp. in comparative anatomy
John Napier was a physician specializing in hands - also a writer on primates and evolution
Gray's Anatomy: Churchill Livingstone: ISBN 0-443-04560-7: Comfortingly authoritative, extensive and beautifully illustrated - if expensive
Ian Winspur & Christopher B Wynn Parry: "The Musician's Hand - A Clinical Guide": Martin Dunitz: ISBN 1-85317-492-0: This is an extremely useful book by two of the leading figures in musicians' health
It is aimed equally at musicians, surgeons and physiotherapists
Otto Ortmann: "The Physiological Mechanics of Piano Technique" (1930): Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co Ltd (London); E.P.Dutton & Co (New York) - Now out of print: Solid gold. If you can find a copy, don't exchange it for anything