Monthly Archives: September 2013

Practice, Growth And Love

As I’ve become better at parenting (I have a 17 year old son and a 2-and-half year old daughter), I’ve also learned some important lessons about my attitudes about my musical progress and development.

Notice that I said, “as I’ve become better at parenting”, meaning I’ll never really perfect that skill. I’ll just continue to learn and improve and grow as a parent, mistakes, setbacks and all. And I’m perfectly fine with that.

I can say the same thing about my skills as a musician.

Before having children, I had a very harsh and unbalanced way of assessing my musical skills and perceiving what I needed to improve my playing. Never for a moment satisfied with what I could already do, I had rigid and unrealistic expectations of what I should be able to do.

But since having children what has changed is that I’ve learned to approach and respect my musical growth, potential and development in the same manner I do with my children’s growth, potential and development.

I would never talk to my children the way I used to talk (think) to myself when I was frustrated  or unhappy with my musical progress. That would be cruel (lots of thoughts about “wasting your time trying”, “lacking fundamental ability and talent”, “you’re playing horribly”, or simply, “you just don’t have what it takes.”) Hurtful language, indeed.

Yet I encounter many musicians who carry such hostile thinking with them into the practice room. (I can tell you from experience, both as musician and teacher, this kind of thinking ultimately doesn’t help.) If you are such a musician, I offer you this advice: Treat yourself and your musical pursuits with love, in the same way you would a loved one in your life.

And if you have any experience as a parent, treat your musical growth as you would your own child. Allow me to explain.

I would like for my children to be able to reach their fullest potentialities. But I also love and accept them just where they are in their development. I’m satisfied with them. I take great delight in seeing what they can already do. Time, guidance, resourcefulness, discipline and love will lead them in the direction of growth and improvement. Same with me and my music.

So yes, of course, I want my 2-and-half year old daughter, Julia,  to learn to read. But I don’t find anything “fundamentally lacking” with her right now because she can’t. She’s right where she needs to be. (I could go on forever here about what she can do that I find so amazing.)

This doesn’t mean that I never get upset, frustrated, or angry with my children. (I do, from time to time; that’s part of the parenting experience.) It’s just that I give my children the respect for their sense of self-worth that they deserve. I’ve since learned to give myself the same respect with regard to my musical practice. I encourage you to do so, too.

If you know that you’re a bit harsh and negative with yourself, and never satisfied with your progress as a musician, here are a few thoughts to keep in mind that might help:

  • It’s okay to want to more than what you have now (more sound, better technical control, greater improvisational skills…whatever), but it’s not okay to berate yourself for where you are in your development.
  • It’s okay to recognize and celebrate the skills you already have. You have to find joy along the way in your pursuit of excellence. It’s not being lazy or arrogant to say to yourself, “That sounds good. I like how I played that.”
  • Be mindful of your self talk. Learn to soften your tone and to encourage yourself, the same way you would a beloved child. Keeping a practice journal can be very enlightening and helpful in this regard.
  • Strive to continually clarify and understand your potentialities as a musician. Avoid comparing your natural abilities and talents with others. It’s all about striving towards realizing your potential, not somebody else’s.
  • Hold yourself to high standards. Just make sure they are your standards, based upon your abilities and talents. Expect the best from yourself, and apply discipline (fueled by passion) to keep you aiming high and working hard.
  • Love and fear are strong motivators. In my experience, love is the more powerful, expansive and durable of the two. Motivate and energize yourself from a place of love and inspiration, not fear.
  • It’s okay to be on the “wrong path” from time to time in your musical pursuit. Progress is virtually never a straight line. And no, you didn’t waste your time on that wrong path (perhaps trying a new technique or approach that ultimately turned out to be unhelpful). You simply strengthened and illuminated your conception of the “right path”.
  • Cultivate gratitude. Just like it’s a blessing to be a parent, it’s a blessing to be able to play music. Please never forget that.

So in your practice, I wish for you to approach yourself and your growth with compassion, joy, acceptance, curiosity, humor, and love. Just like my children have taught me. I continue to improve my skills and expressive capabilities as a musician. But I’m happy with what I have, and find satisfaction and joy each day as I practice.

A Wonderful New Tool To Help You Understand Breathing

One of the things I frequently encounter as I teach the Alexander Technique to wind instrumentalists and singers is how widely misunderstood breathing is. It’s not uncommon for me to give a lesson to someone who sings or plays professionally who is still unclear as to what actually happens in the breathing process.

I’m talking here mostly about basic anatomical and physiological misconceptions. Some of these misconceptions are a result of ignorance (never really taking the time to study and understand the science of respiration). Others are inaccuracies (and more than a few myths!) that have been handed down to them by previous teachers (who themselves never took the time to understand the science). Among the most common of these misconceptions in my teaching experience:

  • Your lungs are located in the middle part of your torso, toward the front, near your belly. In truth, your lungs are located more towards the back of your torso, and higher up (the top of your lungs is actually slightly higher up than your collar bones.
  • Your diaphragm moves forward and back (the way your belly moves in and out). In truth, your diaphragm moves on the vertical plane (up and down). Your belly moving forward and back is simply displacement of the abdominal content as you breathe.
  • You need to support the airstream on the exhalation by pushing from the diaphragm. In truth, your diaphragm is actually releasing on the exhalation, so you can’t be pushing from it. The tension necessary to support the breath comes from several different muscle groups in the torso (including back muscles!)
  • Your upper ribcage and chest should be still when you breath; all the movement should be down in your abdominal area. In truth, your entire rib cage needs to move as you breath. It is the expansion of the rib cage (in conjunction with the movement of the diaphragm) that increases the internal dimensions of the thorax, which causes the inhalation.
  • You need to completely empty your lungs (again, by “pushing” from the diaphragm) before you inhale again. In truth, you don’t ever want to try to completely empty your lungs. Trying to do so just interferes with the coordination of your breathing. A minimum atmospheric pressure  between your lungs and your external environment must be maintained at all times.
  • Your lungs expand because you fill them with air. In truth, it’s the opposite: You fill yourself with air as a result of your lungs expanding ( a vacuum, like a bellows).
  • You need to strengthen your muscles to meet the breathing needs of playing a wind instrument (or singing). In truth, you need to improve the coordination of your breathing.

And there are more. The problems arise when you believe these misconceived ideas to be true, and attempt to breath in accordance to them: excessive neck and jaw tension; stiff shoulders and arms; noisy and distracting (in recording or live performance) inhalation; mal-coordinated (and thus more limited) inhalation;  excessive use and tension of the abdominal muscles, etc.

If you play a wind instrument or sing, it is absolutely imperative that you have an accurate understanding of breathing. If you teach wind instrumentalists and/or singers, it is your duty and responsibility to make sure your students are not misapprehending the breathing process.

Recently I purchased an excellent tool to help my students to better understand breathing, and I would like to tell you a little bit about it and recommend it to you.

It’s called Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing: Rib Animation DVD. It’s a brief, yet clear and thorough visual representation of how breathing actually works.

Jessica Wolf is considered one of today’s leading experts on breathing. She is a certified Alexander Technique teacher, and has also studied extensively under the revolutionary breathing coordination pioneer, Carl Stough. She also teaches her Art of Breathing certification courses as post-graduate training for Alexander Technique teachers. I have immense respect for her knowledge and skill.

Through beautiful animation and easy to understand words, she starts by showing how the ribs and spine function together (how they move) in the breathing process. Next comes the diaphragm: where it’s located, it’s various structures, how it moves, etc. Then comes the abdominal organs in relation to this movement, and finally all the other muscles that are involved in respiration (introduced one at a time).

Besides its clarity and simplicity, one of the  other great features of this presentation is that each new anatomical element (e.g, bones of the spine, ribs, pelvis) that is introduced is easily understood in relation to the previous elements (e.g., the diaphragm) . So easy to comprehend. Nothing is left for vague interpretation or misunderstanding.

I’ve been using this DVD in my Alexander Technique classes at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles, with excellent results. In a very short period of time, my students are able to de-mystify many of the misconceptions that are holding them back from better breathing.

The word I would most use to describe this brief, but thorough presentation is efficiency. There is nothing but the essential information (that need to be known and understood!) Watch it several times. Memorize it. If you teach, you’ll find that you’ll be able to convey breathing principles so much more effectively to your students.

Here’s a link (Amazon.com) to make a purchase.

If you really want to deepen your understanding of breathing, I also recommend Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing: Collected Articles.

If you play a wind instrument or sing, a little bit of (accurate) information about your most vital physical function can go a long way to improving how you perform (and teach!) Best wishes.

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