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Double bassist Peter Buckoke on treating head and neck pain

2019-09-09T12:00:00

Peter_Buckoke

The Royal College of Music professor found a solution in Alexander technique

When did you notice the first symptoms?

I started suffering when I went to music college, back in 1972. I must have been doing something really badly because I had headaches, neck pain and numbness in the left side of my face. I couldn’t play for more than 30 minutes at a time, and it even interfered with my vision – the lines and dots would start to move around on the page.

What was it about your playing that caused the pain?

I suppose I used to throw myself at the instrument in a very dramatic way. People would sometimes comment that my playing was so visceral that it looked like I was wrestling with my instrument when I performed. I think now that...

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