Postural Variability in Piano Performance

Abstract

Variability is inevitable in human movement and posture, including piano performance, although little research has been conducted in this area. The purpose of this study was to determine if, when comparing individuals to themselves, pianists demonstrate consistent postural angles within a task across multiple measurements and to ascertain if, between various tasks, there are discernible task-related postural patterns. Fifteen pianists participated in this study. Each pianist returned for a total of three measurement sessions. The tasks they were required to perform at each session were quiet sitting, raising their hands on and off the keyboard, playing an ascending and descending scale, sight reading, and playing a piece in three expressive conditions (i.e., deadpan, projected, exaggerated). The following postural angles were calculated based on motion capture data collected during the performance of these tasks: craniovertebral angle, head tilt, head-neck-trunk angle, trunk angle, thoracic angle, thoracolumbar angle, and lumbar angle. The within-person variability ratio across the three measurements was calculated for each angle and across all tasks. Task-related patterns in angles were examined by comparing the same postural angle across different tasks. Results showed that there is a considerable amount of within-person variability, but not enough to be inconsistent over time. Task-related patterns indicate that reading a musical score or playing at the extreme ends of the keyboard tend to involve leaning closer to the instrument. Implications for future studies, intervention studies in particular, include taking more than a single baseline measurement to provide a more accurate picture of an individual pianist's typical posture.