music musicians health music major mixed methods music education body mapping Alexander Technique health wellness lived experience
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences of collegiate music majors dealing with performance-related injuries. The researcher sent a survey to students at music programs within 11 different Research 1 institutions. Participants completed the survey during October 2022. All participants remained anonymous. Study questions focused on participants’ experiences dealing with a performance-related injury, resources regarding musicians’ health, musical demographic information, and what kind of injury they dealt with. This study involved both quantitative and qualitative data. The researcher employed statistical analysis to analyze the quantitative results and a form of coding responses to look for patterns and themes in order to analyze the qualitative results. The results indicated that university music programs could benefit from having more wellness resources for their students and that participants’ emotional well-being was often impacted because of their injury. The specific experiences of having an injury varied between individuals.