The relationship between motion and muscle activity during guitar strumming: A case of an intermediate and a novice players

This study investigated the hand and forearm motions of two guitarists during guitar strumming using surface electromyography (sEMG) and high-speed cameras. One participant was an intermediate player, and the other was a novice. The participants performed three types of strokes—"down,” “up,” and “down and up"—at 60 and 160 bpm. This study was approved and conducted by the human research ethics committee of Nippon Institute of Technology. To analyze hand motion, we measured the muscle activity of the extensor carpi ulnaris, flexor carpi radialis, and flexor carpi ulnaris. For forearm motion, we measured the biceps and triceps. We analyzed 10 strokes each for the “down” and “up” trials, and 5 strokes for the “down and up” trial. In the motion analysis, the intermediate player exhibited a higher degree of correlation across the different strokes within each trial for forearm pronation/supination, radial/ulnar deviation, and palmar/dorsal flexion. In contrast, the novice player showed a higher or comparable degree of correlation for forearm extension/flexion across the different strokes within each trial. In the sEMG analysis, the intermediate player showed a trend toward a higher degree of correlation across the different strokes within each trial for muscles related to wrist motion.