Do pianists play with their Teeth?

• Author(s): Lourenço, Sofia ; Clemente, Manuel ; Coimbra, Daniela ; Barbosa, Álvaro ; Pinho, José
• Date: 2009
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/5007
• Origin: Veritati - Repositório Institucional da Universidade Católica Portuguesa
• Subject(s): pianists; electromyography; muscular hyperactivity; masticatory muscles; postural muscles
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

The aim of this study was to find out whether the masticatory and postural muscles are used by pianists during their music performances. The study also aimed to ascertain whether the complex neuromuscular activity involved in the act of playing the piano also encourages hyperactivity in terms of the masticatory muscles. The bio-electric potentials of the masticatory and postural muscles of 20 pianists were recorded. The electromyographical figures obtained from regarding the temporal and masseter muscles are much higher than those recorded when in the resting position. These registrations, which are not the same as those obtained, for example, when the individuals are chewing hard food such as a carrot, are nonetheless indicative of daily parafunctional activity in musicians who often study for as much as 7 hours per day.