Making Music Healthy

Catalog description

When distilled down to their purest essence, all of our actions are a balance of three things: health, happiness, and success. Colleges, however, are overwhelmingly aimed at one of those three things: success; specifically, career success. This course is designed to help musicians, and those who are curious about music, to better understand themselves and their environment, in order to increase the chance for a long and healthy life. As we use our bodies and move through the world, we encounter risks to both our musculoskeletal system and mind. For a musician, a common danger is spending large chunks of our day alone in a room with our thoughts, repeatedly performing the same actions; otherwise known as “practicing”. However, many of the same risks present for musicians are easily paralleled to a non-music major. After all, what is studying but sitting alone in a room with nothing but your study materials and thoughts, often heedless of your posture and possible stresses. In this course, we will discuss the varied risks to our health caused by our studies towards future career goals. We will learn about and analyze these risks through the lens of music and musicians, and how they can be translated to non-musicians. The course will discuss musculoskeletal risks, mental health risks, hearing risks, and vocal risks.