Arizona republican., 1911-03-05
COSTS TO MAKE MUSIC.
Players of Wind Instruments Are Sub
 iect to Most Pains.

! When Ignaz Paterewski last toured | this country he was forced to abandon
 q number of concerts toward the close i of his season because of muscular
 rheumatism in both hands. brought on hy excessive piano playing. writes John ! Warren in the Washington Star Plan | ist's cramp is more painful than writ
 CTS cramp and is the bane of all vir- tuosos It is caused by the constant contraction and expansion of the mus cles controlling the fingers IL be-
 :omes chronic when not guarded
 against and many a promising virtu- oso's career has been blighted in this way. The only remedy is to rest the overtaXed muscles and then work them mp gradually to meet the strain of con stant playing
 All concert pianists are subject to split finger tips. The constant stroke
 of the balls of the fingers on the hard
 ivory makes the flesh so delicate and
 tender that frequent playing becomes
 acute agony. some pianists suffer
 more than others from delicate finger
 tips. Lhevinne. the gigantic Russian
 player. who can extract as much tone
 from his instrument as any other liv-
 ing player. has finger tips that are like
 cushions. But they are eXqulsitely sen
 sitive and continually breaking open.
 Violinists suffer a great deaf of phy-
 sical inconveniences. Most of us have
 an idea that violin is held against
 the neck and shoulder by the players
 left hand. which grasps the arm of
 the instrument All great violin teach
 CTS insist that the left hand be left en-
 tirely free. and to achieve this the viO- lin is actually held by the players chin To achieve this his head is held in a distorted position and this, working against the elevation of the left arm and shoulder, causes compression of the heart and lungs and curvature of the spine
 Performers on wind instruments suf- fer many incOnveniences. and in some instances their work leads to perma- nent physical disability. Bulbar pa ralysis from continued use of the tongue and lips is an ever present danger. Doctors have a fearsome name for the commonest result of wind play ing. In plain language. it is overdis- tention of the lungs. This stretching of the lungs from constantly heavy infla- tion leads to engorgement of the blood in the right cavities. of the heart, and this produces dilation Of the heart and 
 Mental peculiarities of oboe players ' are tradition in the orchestral world. ! in spite of the fact that most oboe i players are normal. Some explain that ] the oboe player is mentally affected by | the fact that he is forced to blow ! through an exceedingly small aperture l and the expiration is unusually pro ] longed. Others insist that the pecu- | liarIy melancholy quality of the tone | produced and the invariable character | of the music written for the oboe are for any peculiarities dis 1 played by it's eXecutants.
 After this somewhat grews0me re- rital it is cheering to know that one in strument. at least, can be counted on to bring health and longevity to those who practice it. This is the flute. Doc tors recommend it for incipient con- as the operation of playing he instrument involves the precise notion of the lungs of most benefit to he consumptive: that is. full inspira ion. not too full or strained. followed ,y slow and gentle delivery of the breath Il