Applying Timani for effective and sustainable violin playing. How to find a good playing posture for performance and ease of playing.

I just attended three days at the largest nordic Musicians’ Health Conference (MHC2025) in Odense where I enjoyed meeting musicians’ health researchers and practitioners from all around the world. They shared insights into the musicians’ body, mind and brain, such as the study of the different phases of practicing, or how they observe differences in the motor systems of musicians with focal dystonia or the interesting observation that pain is experienced differently amongst musicians than other populations. 

This was the 5th time this conference has run, and I am excited that Timani has been presented at the conference every time. In 2013, in Piteå, a master’s thesis where a Timani weekend course was studied, reported benefits of the method for performance and health. In 2016, also in Odense, I gave a workshop presentation, and in 2018, in Helsinki, I gave a presentation of a project organized by the Centre for Excellence in Music Performance Education at The Norwegian Academy of Music. In 2022, in Oslo, I presented a case study on the process of playing concerts during the injury recovery of Leif Ove Andsnes (Oslo 2022) through learning Timani for a more efficient way of playing the piano.

This time it was Elvira van Groningen (NL) and me presenting about Timani. Elvira finished her Performance Science Master at the Royal College of Music in London last year. She studied the effect of Timani on professional violinists receiving a 60-minute session of Timani.

In this lesson, all the violinists were taught the “Sitting shuffle” exercise, as well as the “Transverse abdominis differentiation exercise” which are both exercises for knowing which muscles to activate for musical and technical support. My experience is that when these muscles are not activated while playing, the performer has to tense up unwanted muscles in the shoulders and neck, leading to discomfort or pain. 

These exercises also give a guideline to how the performer can move in a seated position. Rather than only moving back and forth, or passively shifting the weight, they give a clear reference point in the chair to rise up from, leading to a more active and healthy movement pattern, offloading the shoulders, arms and neck - which are typical problem areas for violinists.

18 of the 19 violinists participating in the study experienced playing-related discomfort or pain before receiving the Timani session. 

What they learned during the session resulted in a clear trend towards ease of playing and a reduction of discomfort. In addition to this they reported a significant increase in mobility in shoulders and arms (p =0.002), as well as sensing more relaxation of their bow arm (p = 0.07) - a much wanted experience for violinists. 

They also reported musical, physical and psychological benefits beyond those already mentioned, such as bigger and better sound, effortlessness and more self-confidence when playing. One of the participants wrote: ‘I also appreciated that it was natural […] as it definitely didn't make me overthink playing, it made everything much more direct as an experience.’ 

This study shows that Timani is a promising tool, for both musicians’ health and enhanced performance. It also shows that strategies for releasing shoulder tension can be done not only by trying to relax, but to actually know what to use while playing instead. I like to think of practicing an instrument as getting a great workout on muscles that contribute to increased health, rather than having to exercise beside our playing to cope with the negative demands of the instrument. This way we can do physical exercise for general health and enjoyment instead! 

This blog is written with the kind permission from Elvira van Groningen to use materials from her conference presentation.