A universally accepted, scientifically informed definition of technique is long overdue globally. The confusion of multiple definitions has only contributed to the various problems outlined above. The Lister-Sink Method defines healthful, injury-preventive technique as the most efficient, well-coordinated use of the whole body with the instrument.

It is essential and scientifically informed to define technique as an activity of the whole body. The body, which includes the brain, is an intricately interconnected, interrelated web. What happens in one part of the body effects the other parts. Training coordination of the arms is reliant upon the nervous system, the control of which is found in the brain and spinal cord. The whole body, not just the arms, is abundantly involved in the act of playing—legs, torso, ears, eyes, etc. Furthermore, much discomfort and dysfunction associated with playing originates in the torso where the arm muscles begin.

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