Effect of Footwear Type on Leg Muscle Activity in Control of Piano Pedal

抄録

In piano performance, accurate control of the damper pedal is essential for expressive performance with deeper musical interpretation. Therefore, appropriate footwear should be selected depending on the performance environment. However, guidelines for selecting footwear, such as shoes or socks, during performance have not been clearly established. Use of unsuitable footwear may affect both the performer’s physical load and the produced sound. In this paper, electromyographic signals from the medial gastrocnemius, lateral gastrocnemius, and tibialis anterior were measured to investigate the effect of footwear type on muscular load during pedal press in piano performance. Seven conditions were compared: barefoot, socks, slippers, sneakers, and three types of women’s shoes. The results suggest that barefoot performance increases muscle activity compared with other conditions. In addition, women’s shoes with higher and narrower heels tended to cause less stable pedal operation and greater muscle activity than those with lower heels.