![]() His left fingers wouldn’t relax to let him guide his drumstick properly, but instead reflexively tensed up when he played.īut Schwartz, now 45, wasn’t ready to give up.Īnother neurologist recommended he try Botox to relax the muscles in his arm. Primary dystonia affects around 300,000 North Americans and between 1 to 2 per cent of musicians - there is even a name, musician’s dystonia, for those affected - according to the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation Canada.įor Schwartz, who has a form of dystonia called focal dystonia, meaning only part of the body is affected, drumming was becoming increasingly difficult. ![]() Schwartz went to a neurologist who confirmed it and told him, “There’s nothing I can do for you.” They had dystonia a rare neurological and movement disorder that disrupts signal from the brain to muscles, causing involuntary movements and postures. There, he found a community of musicians suffering from similar symptoms affecting muscles in their eyes, vocal cords, mouth, neck, hands, and feet. The more I did it - I didn’t know this - but the more it was cementing itself in my brain.”įrustrated, Schwartz turned to the Internet. “At first I had no idea what was going on, I just thought, ‘Oh, there’s just something kind of strange with my hand here,’” he said, recalling watching the fingers on his left hand clutch in when he played drums with a new technique. He had natural talent but eight years ago decided he wanted to up his drumming game and started taking lessons - a decision he now believes triggered the onset of a rare, incurable neurological disorder. Schwartz is a self-taught drummer who plays in Toronto-based country-rock band, The Key Frames. It’s those three fingers that almost cost him his drumming career. In a dark rehearsal space in Toronto’s west end, Daniel Schwartz pinches a drumstick between his thumb and forefinger, watches with resignation as his three free fingers reflexively curl toward his palm, and hits his drum with a sad-sounding thud.
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