Dear fellow musicians, what you will find in the following chapters is the result of my reflections on Focal Dystonia, which I have experienced first-hand for more than twenty years.
It is important for you to know that this is not the final report of a research set up with scientific criteria, but rather my personal experience, shared with the people I have been lucky enough to have at my side.
Scientific research has precise rules regarding ‘population’, ‘sampling’, ‘method of investigation’, ‘measuring instruments’ and so on. The collection of data produces statistics, which must be interpreted and communicated in a final report, which concludes the investigation and initiates new in-depth studies on the same or neighbouring topics.
The aim of my efforts was not to produce a scientific investigative work, but to get out of the nightmare of dystonia, through a very long series of trials and errors. A brief summary of my story can be found in this video.
What I present are opinions, not scientific truths. And as opinions, they change over time and with experience: compared to the first draft (2017), several chapters have undergone more or less large variations.
The urgency to create this site and, above all, the “Musician’s Focal Dystonia Programme” stems from the joy of sharing my thoughts and experience with you, as it has worked for me and is having good results with the people who have relied on me.
It is also important for you to know that what I propose is not a ‘method’ in the traditional sense of the word. I have not devised a protocol to follow as is often the case in medical treatment. The main point is the interaction between the ‘pure’ Grinberg sessions, i.e. those in the practitioner’s studio, and the sessions with the instrument, in which the acquisitions made in the practitioner’s studio are brought onto the instrument.
I do not have predefined exercises: the exercises come from observation and interaction with the person. In some lucky cases, they come from the person himself who, having started to take care of himself, ‘feels’ what he lacks and how to fill this gap.
One last important observation. I have yet to meet anyone who, regardless of the recovery path followed, has come out of dystonia in such a way as to be able to say: “I don’t even remember anymore!”. I don’t know if this is possible.
What I do know, from personal experience, is that you can return to loving your instrument and have a satisfying concert life. I have clearly improved my technique compared to the pre-dystonia period, and I think that many people, if armed with the right motivation, can succeed.