A. Tiernan’s scientific contributions

The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the educational background, practice habits, and incidence of injury among piano students from a liberal arts university in Washington State. A survey was completed by 16 of 25 piano students aged 18 to 24 years. Results of this study revealed that many participants did not receive or use injury prevention education. The prevention principles with the most reported use were proper posture and body mechanics and decreasing the length of practice when fatigued. The average amount of time spent practicing per weekday was 117 minutes. Fifteen (93%) of the participants sustained 27 playing-related injuries, and ten (62%) reported more than one injury. Twenty-one percent reported that their injuries restricted their participation in everyday activities. The results of this study suggest that aspiring musicians may not be receiving injury prevention education and/or not applying injury preventive techniques to practice. More research needs to be devoted to examining the introduction and application of injury prevention concepts among young musicians.