Posts by Ethan Kind
Soprano Saxophone – Injuries, Tension, Pain, Strain, Great Technique (Musicians)(Psychology)(Posture)(Alexander Technique)(Albuquerque)
This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Soprano Saxophone Technique, published on this website in a PDF format, is written to give the soprano saxophone player very detailed information on technique and posture when playing the saxophone.
This ebook is also for sale on all AMAZON websites in a KINDLE format.
Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)
This ebook is written to give specific and practical suggestions to help the technique that the saxophonist has chosen, to work without causing any wear or tear or pain or injury to the saxophonist’s body.
If your technique is causing you to hurt, then you are doing something wrong, and this doesn’t have to happen. Too many soprano saxophone players assume that at some point they will get into physical trouble, and that this is unavoidable. This is not true! In many cases a saxophonist who has gotten into physical trouble doesn’t know why. The player may be playing with too much tension and trying too hard to play with precision. In this ebook I explain how to do less work to create a more effortless technique and posture, and to play with greater accuracy with trust.
I also go into great deal to show you how to analyze what you are doing technically and posturally, to see if there are fine tuning adjustments you can make to your playing that makes the saxophone completely user friendly.
Posturally, so many saxophonists hunker down with the head and shoulders forward when they play. This does not have to be! In this ebook I explain how you can be fully upright when you play, and how to be fully upright using less muscle, than when you are hunkered down.
I also have a section on using a neck strap. I explain how to use the strap, so that it doesn’t strain the neck. You do not have to pay a price with your neck, when you use the strap to make playing easier on the arms.
I also bring to this ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Soprano Saxophone Technique, my three year training as an Alexander Technique teacher. An Alexander Technique teacher taught me how to play the classical guitar without any discomfort and healed the carpal tunnel pain in my left wrist. I bring my experience of hurting and healing on the guitar, and my training in the Alexander Technique to this ebook, to make you aware that the soprano saxophonist can play for hours without sacrificing the body in any way.
Also, in this this ebook I look at playing the saxophone standing and sitting, and how to do this with ease and fully support the arms on the torso with comfort. Finally, since the saxophonist is always in motion when he or she is making a sound, it is the goal of this ebook to help you find a powerful support of your breath, but not to immobilize the torso and diaphragm when you play.
The soprano saxophonist’s torso is always in movement when performing, and it is the goal of this ebook to make this as effortless as possible.