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Beat of her drum: UWindsor professor receives Grammy Museum grant

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Windsor, Ont. -

A University of Windsor professor has received a grant from the Grammy Museum Program.

The money will help study the physical demands of playing the drum.

“Such teachers have a big potential for impact on student behaviour, so I thought this was pretty intriguing,” says Nadia Azar, a kinesiology professor.

She’s received a $20,000 USD grant to delve into the reasons instructors do or don’t offer their students training on how to prevent playing-related injury.

“I’m hoping to be able to interview 30 drummers and analyze the data and present it at a few conferences,” Azar says.

She says injuries develop while spending hours training intensively.

“The two most common injuries that I’ve seen reported are tendinitis and carpel tunnel syndrome. You could be putting yourself at risk because you’re just doing the same thing over and over again repetitively,” Azar says.

Drummers around the world are beating a path to her door.

More than 900 drummers have participated in her past research projects.

“They were reporting a moderate level of interference, meaning with their ability to play or in their day to day activities,” Azar says.

Jeff Burrows, a drummer of 40 years, considers himself lucky.

“You know that they’re coming, but I’ve been blessed compared to many of them,” he says.

But that’s not to say the instrument hasn’t taken a toll on his body.

“Lower back. I’ve got bone chips in this elbow. I’ve had ganglion cysts on this wrist,” he explains.

Nowadays, the drummer of the Tea Party only experiences some pain in his right shoulder, and believes instructors need to teach proper positioning to help avoid injuries.

“Move properly and functionally without over extension and crouching and leaning back,” Burrows says.

The project is one of five funded by the Grammy Museum Grant Program and is expected to take two years to complete.

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