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2 MTNA e-JOURNAL APRIL 2021 N umerous studies have demonstrated the cognitive and physical benefits of practicing yoga. Specifically, the researchers on our team sought to explore the following three-part question: How does a 12-week progressive yoga and breathing curriculum impact: Piano students' verbal and physical response to yoga practice at the beginning of the lesson? RESULTS Student Questionnaires Results from the intake questionnaire indicated that only one participant had a regular yoga practice, while two-thirds of participants reported some experience with yoga. [Extracted from the article]

The article presents a case study conducted by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) on movement and wellness training for musicians and the inferences that were drawn including musicians' injuries, relief of tension and understanding of movement in practice and performance.

The purpose of this study was primarily to investigate if and how a depth camera could be used to identify potentially harmful hand positions at the keyboard. Three research questions were set forth: (1) How does a pianist's self-reported hand position in a questionnaire compare to their actual hand position detected by a marker-less motion capture device? (2) Is there any correlation between the amount of time spent in neutral wrist and hand positions and previous or current injury? (3) Do advanced-level classical pianists exhibit certain characteristics in their hand and wrist playing postures that could be modeled by novice pianists? Data was collected from 14 participants who were asked to complete a self-assessment questionnaire and perform short musical excerpts, which were captured using the Microsoft Kinect Depth Camera. The results demonstrate promise in the use of the depth camera for assessing injury risk related to hand misalignment. Pianists' self-perception of their hand position often mismatched with the objective analysis. Although most pianists indicated that they experience discomfort or pain when practicing, the relationship between the amount of time spent in neutral position and the discomfort rate varied. More experienced pianists spend more time in neutral position than less experienced pianists. In addition to this study, the article gives practical strategies for assisting students with improving their self-awareness of their hand alignment at the keyboard [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this presentation, we shared the results of our research study on an adult beginner group piano program through the lens of piano classes as a form of self-care. To assess participant experience, pre- and postcourse questionnaires were administered to all six sections of the class. 86% of 75 postcourse questionnaire participants indicated that breathing and stretching exercises were beneficial, helping them to transition to class, relax, and increase focus. 28 MTNA e-JOURNAL FEBRUARY 2021 T he nurturing qualities of the piano learning environment for adult beginners have not been researched systematically. [Extracted from the article]

Pianists who practice hours per day may have a risk for developing playing-related musculoskeletal injuries if they do not play with proper hand alignment. In order to detect the harmful, misaligned hand postures (such as wrist flexion and extension, knuckle collapse, and ulnar and radial deviation) and analyze the injury risk, a motion capture system was developed using the Microsoft Kinect depth camera. Data were captured on professional pianists and student pianists from the School of Music, University of Missouri. Features extracted from the 3D point clouds reconstructed from the Kinect depth images are used for hand posture evaluation. Results are included for different hand postures of participating pianists.