Music and health
The content on this page was translated automatically.
Making music - whether on an instrument or with the voice - is an art of movement. It requires a finely tuned interplay of body and mind in order to fully develop creative potential.
The "Department of Health in Music" at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama (HfMT) is dedicated to promoting health in music education in close cooperation with the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) and the ligeti center. We combine medical, psychological and body-oriented health concepts in an interdisciplinary approach. Our aim is to strengthen preventive measures and provide students and teachers with the best possible support in their everyday musical lives; because healthy musicians can not only live their art better, but also maintain it for a long time - playing and professionally.
We offer:
- Seminars and courses that promote health skills and teach preventative strategies for
musicians. - Counseling and treatment services for complaints that arise from making music
or restrict music-making - Information and events tailored to maintaining health while practicing,
teaching and performing.
Seminars and courses
What is it about?
The focus is on health issues that play a role in musicians' day-to-day studies - for example
- Physical strain (e.g. overloading of arms, shoulders or neck)
- Psychosocial issues (e.g. stage fright, stress and recovery)
Each session consists of two parts:
- Theoretical introduction
Basics, background and contexts relating to healthy practicing, performing and studying. - Practical part
In the second half of each seminar unit, exercises are presented and tried out directly under physiotherapeutic guidance - with a focus on what is important in everyday musical life
Short exercises for in between
You can find some short and easy-to-implement exercises for at home from our physiotherapy course with Julia Keyser here:
Organization
- Frequency: Wednesdays, every two weeks
- Time: 15:00
- Location: Music therapy seminar room
- Course duration: 2 semesters
- Next course start: October 2026
Further information and registration modalities in the course catalog.
At Power Jam, we want to activate our bodies together and strengthen and tone our muscles. It's 45 minutes of varied exercise to compensate for practicing your instrument, sitting in seminars/lectures and the fast pace of everyday life.
The program takes place weeklyon Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:30 to 13:15 in the music therapy seminar room. Sportswear is requested.
Course leader: Sara Bögeholz-Gründer
The "Moving Break" is an offer for the administration and teaching staff of the university. As part of a 15-minute exercise program during the lunch break, the muscles of the upper and lower back as well as the shoulder and neck area are specifically loosened and slightly strengthened. Problems and requests are assessed weekly and incorporated into the next lesson.
In the long term, a small self-exercise program is gradually developed that can be carried out independently on site in the office.
The program takes place weekly on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:00-12:15 in the music therapy seminar room.
Participants do not need any sportswear or equipment.
Learn to release tension, improve your mobility and stability and understand the connections between the whole body network.
Registration / information at julia.keyser@hfmt-hamburg.de
Exercise videos for physical health when making music
In the following 8 exercise videos, you will see how you can relax different areas of your body or relieve discomfort.
Contact us
Sabine Sieg Greitsch
Fachbüro Musiktherapie+49 40 209494224sabine.sieg@hfmt.hamburg.de
Prof. Karin Holzwarth
Institutsleitung Musiktherapie+49 40 209494282karin.holzwarth@hfmt-hamburg.de
Prof. Dr. Dorothee von Moreau
Institutsleitung Musiktherapie+49 40 428482-278dorothee.von.moreau@hfmt-hamburg.de
David Baaß
Arbeitsstelle Musik und Gesundheitdavid.baass@hfmt-hamburg.de