Whilst energy inefficient, co-contraction can have beneficial effects during skill acquisition. A reduction in co-contraction during movement minimizes metabolic energy expenditure, reduces fatigue, and optimizes physical performance ( Osu et al., 2002 Huysmans et al., 2008). Professional musicians exhibit movement patterns that avoid muscle co-contraction and the associated joint stiffness ( Furuya and Kinoshita, 2008 Fujii et al., 2009a Verrel et al., 2013). Joint stiffness results when agonist and antagonist muscles contract simultaneously (co-contract) and hence impede movement ( Gribble et al., 2003). The opposing set of muscles, the antagonists, counteract this motion co-activating both sets of muscles help to stabilize the joint ( Freivalds, 2004 Bartlett, 2007). Movement around a joint is initiated by the agonist muscle or muscle group that acts as the “prime mover” in the motion. Traditional strategies for economic movement minimize metabolic energy expenditure by reducing joint stiffness. Physiological energy efficiency is particularly important in order to satisfy the task demands associated with drumming performance ( De La Rue et al., 2013). In addition to anti-phasic activity of wrist flexor and extensor muscles, expert drummers exhibited a flexor dominance, suggesting more efficient usage of rebound.Ĭonclusion: Taken together, we found that higher levels of drumming expertise go hand in hand with specific muscle activation patterns that can be linked to more precise and efficient drumming performance.ĭrumming requires highly coordinated, repetitive movements that are both accurate and energy efficient. Furthermore, regardless of task or tempo, muscle co-contraction was decreased in participants with higher levels of expertise. Co-contraction also increased in extremely slow and very high tempi. Results: Findings indicate that reduced co-contraction resulted in more even drumming performance. Electromyography was used to record muscle activation of wrist flexor and extensor muscles. Methods: Eleven expert drummers (ED) and eleven amateur drummers (AD) were recorded using 3D motion capture while performing five different uni-manual and bi-manual repetitive drumming tasks across different tempi. In this study we examine how muscle activation patterns develop with increased drumming expertise. In drumming, co-contraction can lead to increased movement variability and greater fatigue over time. In contrast, simultaneous contraction of antagonist muscles is an inefficient muscle activation pattern. Muscle activation patterns that involve reciprocal contraction of antagonist muscles are particularly favorable as they enable a high level of muscular economy while maintaining performance. Deploying specific muscle activation patterns may help achieve these requirements. 3Music Cognition and Action Research Group (MCA), MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour & Development, Western Sydney University (WSU), Sydney, NSW, Australiaīackground and Aim: Drumming requires excellent motor control and temporal coordination.2Digital and Cognitive Musicology Lab (DCML), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.1Institut für Musikermedizin (IMM), Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber, Dresden, Germany.Herff 2,3, Bryony Buck 1, Gerard Breaden Madden 1 and Hans-Christian Jabusch 1
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