First of all, I would like to thank Edna for her kindness and her support during the year I spent in New York from to I would also like the thank her for her deep understanding of the Taubman work and her capacity to guide me through the learning process. I began to play the piano at the age of 5. In , right after high school, I decided that I wanted to study jazz piano in University.
I spent two years in Germany at a private music school to prepare myself for the Bachelor entry exams of Lucern. After a few month of practicing more than I did during primary and secondary school, I began to feel pain in my forearms and a lot of tension in my hands and shoulders. First, my teacher told me that it was normal because I was playing more and my body had to adjust. So I continued to practice, which only made the pain worse. I saw a doctor, and the diagnosis was clear: I had tendonitis in both arms, and I had to take a two month break from playing piano.
Full of hope that it would be resolved by a two month break, I returned to playing, but as soon as I would play, the pain would come back. I asked my piano teacher and he tried to give my advice, but nothing helped. I spend the next 3 years searching for something or someone who could help me recover so that I could play the piano again without pain.
I went to see many kinds of practitioners: physiotherapists, massage therapists, doctors, and even psychotherapists. Some of it helped a little; some of it made it worse. But none of them could really tell me what I was doing wrong or could help me improve my situation.
Soon after beginning my studies, I had to take another break. I was still going to see different people trying to find a solution. Slowly, I lost the joy and the pleasure of playing the piano. Every experience at the keyboard was associated with pain. I was still hoping to find help somewhere, but after my second year in Lucern, pretty much all my motivation was gone.
