Hi, I have a question: Are injuries the result of bad technique or over practicing?. I practice 6 hours a day every week and I rest very little, sometimes my hands hurt, is this the result of bad technique or playing too much without resting?
Like, I am an idiot, and I did not think you would post the same question on another website. Accordingly, I post the same reply:
["They are one and the same, friend. And two very famous perfect examples of how this can manifest itself, are God Krishna Leon Fleisher and God Krishna Gary Graffman.
The first has made an extremely successful second career out of being injured, and the second has done so in a minor sense with his paralyzed right hand since 1976 (and also being Lang Lang's coach).
Well, Earl Wild spilled the beans in his memoir when he pointed out that, when he was on the faculty at Juilliard, Fleisher and Graffman's students used to seek him out with regularity to cure their injuries - so much for the mysteries of focal dystonia. I did not write that, Earl Wild did."]
In conclusion, I make the following two recommendations:
1) My coach has written a highly sourced book entitled "What Every Pianist Needs To Know About the Body."(
www.pianomap.com). You would be hard pressed to find a keyboard department chair in the U.S. who does not have a copy of this very valuable guide.
2) Find yourself a certified Taubman teacher, and then follow the advice of George Matthias' teacher. Matthias was the head of the keyboard department at the Paris Conservatory, and his teacher was a pianist by the name of Fredryk Chopin!
He (Chopin) insisted that his students practice no more than two hours a day. And, that they spend the rest of their time discovering all there is to life, which in his opinion was essential to the development of musical skills.
If you continue to do what you are doing, then it is only a matter of time until you experience chronic injury. I sincerely hope that does not happen, and if you desire further advice, please send me a private message on the subject.
Good luck to you.