Dear Musical Friends,

I’m Richard Norris, MD, a longtime practitioner in the field of musicians’ injuries. I have a long history with ICSOM, which published my book, The Musician’s Survival Manual, back in 1991. A second edition of the book has since been released in an e-book (PDF) format. This allows for instant download and no carbon footprint for shipping and manufacturing. The book is now available free of charge on my website.

I hope that this book can educate musicians and music students and thus prevent injuries. It also gives one the vocabulary to prepare for the times that you might need to interact with doctors or therapists regarding physical injuries. The book also describes diagnosis and treatment in both lay and medical terms. Hyperlink references are liberally provided. The book is also available in Spanish.

Also on the website without charge are links to two exercise videos for musicians (one from 1991 and one from 2011), slide presentations on various topics of music medicine, and a video of a Q&A session on injuries with the New York Youth Symphony. As I am also a guitarist, there is a free download of my recent Bossa Nova CD and my live performance from the Washington Folk Festival. Any questions or comments are welcomed.

Thank you all for enriching our lives with live music!

Cordially,

Richard N. Norris, MD
Northampton, MA