Mapping the Remarkable Structure and Movement of the Wrist
Doug Johnson
The wrist is a miraculous structure that allows for fluid motion. This flow comes from a complex and nuanced dance among the 8 bones of the wrist. Understanding wrist movement requires mapping two main joints that work synergistically, the radiocarpal and midcarpal joints. What we call ulnar deviation actually results from wrist bones sliding and gliding in the opposite direction. Ulnar deviation is actually thumb lengthening. And remarkably, all movements of the wrist move around a nodal point in the capitate bone.
Doug Johnson is Professor of Piano and Performance Health at the Berklee College of Music. As a pianist, Doug has performed throughout Europe and the US at major venues and Jazz Festivals, including Ronnie Scott’s in London, Porgy and Bess in Vienna and Birdland in New York City. Doug has performed with Phil Woods, Esperanza Spalding, Luciana Souza, Jerry Bergonzi and Terry Lynne Carrington.
As an educator and expert in the area of Musician’s Health, Doug has presented at major conferences including multiple PAMA (Performing Arts Medicine Association) conferences. Recently Doug has been in residence performing and teaching at the University of Graz, Austria; the University of Brasilia, Brazil and has also taught intensive courses in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Doug is the recipient of the 2015 Berklee College, Newbury Comics Faculty Fellowship Grant. This award is being used to carry out biomechanical research to help understand the causes of musician’s injuries. This research has lead to the development Kinematic Integration, a new modality for treating the pain that many musicians have as a result of playing their instruments.
His trio CD March of Time was released in Vienna. His most recent release is The Doug Johnson Trio, Live at the Royal Garden.
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