Analysis of Applied Thumb and Index Force in Trained and Untrained Violinists

The purpose of this experiment is to study whether there is a difference in applied finger force between violinists of different skill proficiencies. It has been hypothesized that more experienced violinists will apply less force during play in their thumb and index fingers. It was found that there was significant difference in the peak forces applied by the index finger, thumb, and grip (p < 0.05) in all groups except beginner and intermediate violinists in peak thumb force. Significant differences were also found in the continuous force applied by the index finger and grip as well as the standard deviation of the continuous force applied by the thumb (p < 0.05). Additionally, there were no significant differences in the correlation between continuous applied index finger and thumb forces or latency in index and thumb force between different levels or proficiencies (p > 0.05). Due to these results, the hypothesis could not be fully accepted signifying that further testing must be performed.