This ebook, The Alexander Technique Applied to the Technique and Posture of 29 Western Musical Instruments, is published in a PDF format. It is a detailed introduction to and application of the principles of the Alexander Technique to 29 of the most played instruments in the symphonies, chamber music groups, and as solo instruments from the Western culture, classical and other styles. Included in the 29 are singing and conducting.
This ebook is also for sale on all AMAZON websites in a KINDLE format.
Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)
When you go to a certified Alexander Technique for specific problems in an activity that is very important to you, are you open for possibly huge changes in how you do the activity?
Are you willing to make specific changes to how you run, how you play a musical instrument, that will make the specialized activity easier and easier – less effort, less wear and tear, greater speed, greater accuracy?
If you are, then you are RUNNING TOWARDS A GREAT VALID TECHNIQUE, and choosing not to struggle and strain to run the fastest, win the golf game, or make beautiful music with technical ease – not straining for a particular interpretation of the music.
As an Alexander Technique teacher sometimes I find myself with a client who is resisting changing their technique, even when it has has been demonstrated that the changes are going to make his or her life a heck of a lot easier.
Why?
I BELIEVE THE MAIN REASON A SUPERIOR ATHLETE OR MUSICIAN RESISTS CHANGING HOW THEY DO WHAT WHAT THEY DO FOR A BETTER WAY, IS THEY KNOW THE INEFFICIENT PHYSICALLY DAMAGING WAY HAS WORKED, BUT THEY ARE VERY SCARED THE NEW WAY WON’T WORK. After all, they’ve never done what they’ve always done the new way.
What I have to do as an Alexander teacher is to give him or her a taste of the wonderful possibilities of the new technique.
So, I ask the runner to run with free knees, with the awareness that the knees precede the feet in running, and the runner then experiences a new ease in running.
I ask the golfer to experience the release in the torso, as he or she swings the club, and they feel what it is like to free up the torso, as they swing the club, and they feel the torso spiral willingly to swing the club.
I ask the guitarist to allow his left hand fingers to gently curve to the guitar neck and stay close to the neck, and he or she experiences for the first time the potential freedom of playing fast and accurately with ease.
I ask the singer to feel how little it takes to sing with the support of a torso not held rigid, and the singer for the first time feels the torso support needed to create a huge sound without tension and strain.
Now, how is it that I keep the athlete and musician open and engaged and feeling safe, so that they keep coming back to me until we’ve created a new and better not damaging technique.
I don’t go too fast. What do I mean?
ULTIMATELY THERE MAY BE 20 OR 30 MAJOR CHANGES THE THE MUSICIAN OR ATHLETE WILL MAKE TO THEIR TECHNIQUE, BUT I NEED TO INTRODUCE THEM ONE AT A TIME AND ALLOW THESE CHANGES TO BECOME A NEW INHERENT PART OF HOW HE OR SHE RUNS, OR GOLFS, OR PLAYS AN INSTRUMENT.
In a way, this is sneaking up on the wary client.
BY THE TIME THE MUSICIAN OR ATHLETE REALIZES HOW MANY CHANGES THEY’VE MADE TO THEIR TECHNIQUE, SEEING THE INCREDIBLY POSITIVE RESULTS, THE RESISTANCE TO CHANGE HAS MELTED AWAY, AND THEY CAN’T WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHANGE, THE NEXT INSIGHT, THAT MAKES HIS OR HER LIFE BETTER.
