Alexander-Technique-Albuquerque-NM-conducting

Conducting (Conductors) – Focus Without Tension (Musicians)(Psychology)(Pain)(Strain)(Injuries)(Posture)(Alexander Technique)(Albuquerque)

This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Conducting (Conductors’) Technique, is published on this website in a PDF format. It is very detailed and practical, and it will give you the physical tools you need to take the limits off of your ability to create the accurate conducting technique you want without sacrificing your body.
This ebook is also for sale on all AMAZON websites in a KINDLE format.
Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)
If I was to give a traditional definition of FOCUS when conducting, I’d say that focus is ALL of your attention on conducting the piece exactly like you want it to sound from beginning to end, with no mistakes and no memory slips.
What I just described is what the Alexander Technique would call end-gaining. End-gaining is conducting with all of your attention placed on getting to the end of a piece as flawlessly and musically as possible, no matter the physical or emotional price.
So, when I see a conductor conducting this way, there are some very consistent things I see being done physically. The conductor’s head/torso is usually hunkered down to the music and/or towards the orchestra or choral group, as the conductor tries to guarantee accuracy and no memory slips by focusing like a laser. There is tension in the whole body, as the conductor holds it together. The conductor’s brow is usually furrowed, concentrating on conducting well.
What if we flip this over, and have the conductor conduct with the means-whereby. When the conductor leads with the means-whereby, then the conductor is conducting with his or her focus on a fully open and upright posture and ease throughout the whole body, as the conductor trusts the body to realize the conductor’s intentions.
This is conducting in the means and not focusing on the ends. The result is a conducted performance without excess physical tension and poor posture – in other words, not sacrificing his or her body for the result.
The question is, does the conductor who conducts this way create just as wonderful of a performance as a conductor who sits or stands with the determination to conduct great no matter what? Yes!, and even better, once the conductor is willing to let go of a lifetime of conducting to get the best results, no matter the cost.
This is a very powerful and at times emotional thing for a conductor to go through. After years of placing all of your focus, energy, practice time, and performances on trying to guarantee the best possible performances, and then to place your focus on how easy you can make conducting, by taking 100% care of your body, this can be a very big jolt to your psyche. But, you’re worth it!
Back to my question: Will you conduct better from the means instead of the ends? Yes!, because you will actually end up with an evolving technique and evolving performances that keep getting better and better and better. How?
Because, if every time you sit or stand to warm up, you focus on how upright and balanced your posture as you conduct can be, and how much less muscular work you can do to sit or stand fully at ease as you conduct, then you’re really in the moment without straining your body.
If, as you warm up, you let go of tension in your arms, hands, shoulders, legs, torso, and your brow, as you watch your body do less and less work to create a more effortless and more accurately conducted performance, this is an amazing gift to yourself.
IN OTHER WORDS, IF YOUR FOCUS IS ON HOW LITTLE YOU CAN DO TO CREATE THE MOST POWERFUL AND DYNAMIC PERFORMANCE, THEN YOU TRULY FLIP THE CONDUCTOR’S TRADITIONAL DEFINITION OF FOCUS ON ITS HEAD. FOCUS BECOMES AN ACT OF RELEASE, NOT AN ACT OF HOLDING IT TOGETHER.