Category Archives: Practicing Music

The Most Fundamental Skill You Develop When You Practice

There are so many reasons why the study of music is valuable (outside of simply learning to play better). When you practice, you are cultivating a multitude of useful skills: self-discipline, creativity, mathematical ability, aural imagination, and fine motor skills, to name but a few. You’re working “both sides of the brain”, so to speak.

But I think the most essential skill you develop when you practice is this: being able to expand your attention. Specifically, being able to constructively integrate and utilize multiple thoughts and bits of information simultaneously.

This skill not only helps you with many other things in life (part of this involves something called working memory, an important component of skilled learning), but also is absolutely essential in helping you improve as a musician.

I think it is (or should be) one of the primary aims of practicing music. In many ways, it sums up the greatest challenge of playing music with consistently good results: integrating body awareness, artistic intention, time, and aural perception (as well as any other necessary information) into one whole musical experience.

Stop for moment and think of all the things a symphonic musician (as an example) has to be aware of to perform well during a concert: The response, sound and pitch of her/his instrument; articulation; dynamics; the conductor; the notes on the page; breathing (especially for wind instrumentalists). And of course, a constant awareness of the pitch, articulation, dynamics, etc. of the other musicians. Not to mention things like artistic choice and expression.

Yet all this comes together seamlessly for the skilled performer as one thing, really. Just playing music. This is achieved through the discipline and experience of well-directed practice.

There is often an imbalance in this skill, however, with many musicians. Simply put, there is a disintegration of information: too much attention to one aspect of playing at the expense of not enough attention to others.

Perhaps trying too hard to hear pitch or tone color. Maybe too much emphasis on what the hands and fingers are doing (or the embouchure). And of course, too much attention placed on the notes themselves.

When this happens, the most crucial component of the musical process too often gets neglected: You. What are you doing with yourself as you play music?

Are you tensing your shoulders? Locking your knees? Clenching your jaw? Arching your back? Stiffening your wrists and fingers? Holding your breath?

How might these kinds of tension interfere with your ability to perform at your fullest potential?

Of course, you might find that the moment you bring all your attention to what you’re doing with yourself, you lose connection with the music. Maybe you even play worse. This is simply because you have not had enough experience putting this into practice. If you start learning to pay attention to yourself as you practice, you’ll start to reap great rewards.

One of my most dedicated Alexander Technique  students (a professional guitarist) would tell you the same. Each week during his lesson with me, we are working on his ability to expand his attention. He now easily and readily becomes aware of what he’s doing with himself as he plays, and direct his thoughts and energy quite effectively into the music making process.

I’ll ask him as he’s working very well on a difficult musical passage, “What are you thinking as you play this?” He’ll answer something like, “I’m thinking of my shoulders and neck releasing as I imagine the rhythms at this tempo, reminding myself to wait for each phrase and really hear my sound.” It’s not difficult for him to keep these thoughts going as he plays. But that has come after considerable practice.

The same with me. This morning as I was practicing saxophone, I found myself thinking about releasing my shoulder girdle (the area around the collar bones and shoulder blades) as well as my wrists softening, as I listened to the metronome while displacing an eight-note pattern by a half beat every other measure. All the time directing the flow of air into the mouthpiece and reed, and aiming for a dark, round sound (and really hearing it, too).

Even when I practice improvising, I’m able to keep this expanded thinking available. It is not a distraction to my creative impulses. On the contrary, it tends to free me, keeping me both calm and alert at the same time. Truly ready for the experience of creating music.

I realize in my own practice, that as I get better, I do so largely because I’m able to integrate multiple thoughts into one whole. The foundation of this skill starts with learning how to pay attention to yourself first. Even in the most challenging performance situations, I’m able to keep my thinking clear. (Practice helps with this a lot!)

So where do your thoughts go as you practice? Do you focus in on one thing only, losing touch with other important things? Are you able to keep aware of yourself as you play, or is this just another distraction? Can you easily hear your sound? Is the time always clear in your perception? Can you play creatively and passionately as you listen to yourself accurately, perceiving pitch, tempo and tone color?

I encourage you to aim for broadening your attention as you practice. Improve your thinking, and you’ll improve your playing.

Some Helpful Words About Finding Your Creative Voice

“Listen very deeply to the music that touches your heart the most, analyze it and learn all you can about it. Then forget everything and be yourself.”

-Paul Livingstone

This simple bit of advice rings so true to me, both as performing artist and as teacher. It is a direct quote from one of my Alexander Technique students. Paul is an amazing musician. He is a highly accomplished sitarist, touring regularly throughout the world, most recently finishing up a two-month performance stint in India.

A true scholar of Indian classical music, he also teaches, composes, and passionately and generously shares his knowledge and his love of music. During his lessons with me, we go very deeply into how our thinking, movement, intentions, emotions (and even our spiritual beliefs) interact to inform our music making process.

A lot of our work together is aimed at finding not only physical ease and efficiency in playing music, but also, the freedom and the means to play authentically. To listen to your voice and follow it without hesitation.

Paul’s words describes the path of devotion and discipline that leads to deep, personal expression in music, regardless of genre or style.

In the world of jazz pedagogy there is much discussion (and even controversy) about the value of imitation. The jazz trumpeter Clark Terry would say, “imitation, assimilation, innovation”.

Yet, very few ever make it to the “innovation” phase. And maybe that’s okay, just as long as you’re being true to yourself. Perhaps what Mr. Terry was really describing was a natural sequence of artistic development rather than a mandatory destination.

So many questions for the aspiring jazz improviser: Should I transcribe solos? Should I learn all these licks by memory?  Should I find one musical hero to model myself after? Should I learn as many standards as possible? Should I study other styles of music?

The answer to all these questions is simple. Follow Paul’s advice:

Start by what moves you, without question. Go deeply into it (really learn it, no matter how much time it takes!)  Then let it go and discover your true creative self. Simple and practical.

Here’s a video of Paul Livingstone in concert performing with tabla master Swapan Chaudhuri. I hope you enjoy:

A Simple Tip To Help You Play Better At Fast Tempos

One of the things that too often goes hand in hand with playing at fast tempos is excessive bodily tension. This is not a requirement of the music.  Instead, it’s largely because of the habits, perceptions and attitudes of the performer. It doesn’t have to be like that.

One of the aims of the Alexander Technique is to learn to approach any activity with a minimal amount of misdirected effort. Ease, efficiency of movement, freedom, clarity, balance.

As an Alexander teacher and practice coach, I help my students become aware of and prevent the various movement and postural habits that interfere with this easier, more efficient way of playing music. This is mostly a matter of getting them to change how they pay attention  as they are playing.

Many of the problems of excess muscular tension musicians have begin with their thinking. Playing at fast tempos is a prime example.

One of the things that invites all this unwanted tension is something I call “micro-managing” the pulse. In essence, this means that you conceive the tempo as fast beats coming one after the other.

For example, in 4/4 time, at a tempo of quarter note = 262, the quarter note pulse moves by quite rapidly. If you try to feel each beat this way, it not only invites excess bodily tension (you might try to tap your foot like mad as you tighten the rest of your body), but also, it creates a feeling of urgency  that scrambles your thinking a bit. It makes you less open to the control and choices available to you. 

If you watch some of the great jazz masters playing at these fast tempos, you virtually never see them moving with the quarter note pulse this way. Why? Because they conceive of the pulse in a broader  sense.

This means that instead of trying to feel 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, etc. as the main pulse, they tend to feel it more as a broad 1…1…1…, etc. (each “1” being the beginning of the bar). Some feel it even more broadly than that, feeling the time as long phrases crossing bar lines.

This shift in time perception tends to do two helpful things for these masters:

  1. It helps them to maintain a helpful level of physical and cognitive ease, flexibility, responsiveness and balance that supports a great technique (sound, too!)
  2. It helps them imagine  and create  the music in an entirely different way, with many more rhythmic and phrasing possibilities as well as note choices. Instead of merely “making the tempo”, they’re actually expressing themselves with a great deal of clarity and choice.

So no matter what kind of music you play, you’ll play with less misdirected effort and more precision if you broaden your perception of the tempo. Here are some guidelines you can use to help you with this:

  • Stop relying so strongly upon your foot. Seriously. Learn to feel the time without doing that. If you watch great classical musicians playing at blistering tempos you don’t see that foot flapping around. Same with many of the jazz greats. It’s fine to move  with the music. But think of it as a lilting dance instead of a foot-stomping-neck-tightening lurch.
  • Start reducing the metronome click. Once you’ve got the basic idea of the piece under your fingers (or the harmonic form, if you’re a jazz player) stop setting the metronome on the quarter note. At the very least, set it to half notes, with the aim in mind of letting it click once at the beginning of each measure. So, for example, quarter note=260 becomes half note = 130, which then becomes whole note = 65. I rarely let my metronome go faster than about 80 bpm (that  would be feeling the pulse on the first beat of each measure at quarter note = 320!)
  • Think more broadly about rhythmic groupings. If you’re working on a fast eighth-note passage, for example, start thinking of this passage as slower sixteenth notes. Or even slower 32nd notes (yes, really!) Use your metronome.
  • Go from even to odd. If you’re working on a very symmetrical phrase, pattern, exercise, etc., consider modulating it metrically. This change in perception can really free you from your habitually tense anticipation of playing it. So, for example, if you’re working on a phrase that is grouped as sixteenth notes, try playing that same phrase thinking  of the notes as triplets, or even quintuplets (maintaining the same velocity of each note). Again, use the metronome for this.
  • Practice rhythmic displacement. This is another way to help you to think outside the box about tempo and rhythm. It has a similar benefit as the “even to odd”, I’ve mentioned above. Here’s an article on how to approach this.
  • Reconsider beats “2” and “4”  (for jazz playing). I know it is standard for many students of jazz to set the metronome to click on beats 2 and 4 (in 4/4 time) in order to help them feel  the backbeat. But once you’ve reached a place in your musical development where you’re swinging comfortably, consider setting the metronome to click only on the first beat of each measure (especially at faster tempos). Besides helping you to stay less tense, this will also significantly improve your sense of time (it can be a bit of a challenge at first).

So whether you’re playing jazz, working on an etude, or even sight reading, thinking of the beat in this broader way will help you to stay calm and free. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Are You Trying To Hear Your Sound By Creating Excess Tension?

The other day, as I was working with a new Alexander Technique student, I encountered (again) a fairly common habit that many musicians have that usually leads to trouble. Allow me to share.

My student is a singer who came to see me because of problems she’s been having with vocal strain and intonation. As she told me: “I seem to start out okay (actually, she sounds very good), but after about 5 to 10 minutes of singing my voice becomes strident, kind of thin, and my intonation gets difficult to control.” She sang for me for a few minutes and confirmed her own assessment.

It wasn’t hard for me to see how she was creating these problems for herself. As she’d start singing I’d see her stiffening her neck as she thrusted her face upward and forward. This pattern of tension manifested itself through her entire body: shoulders pulled back, lower back arched, knees locked, unyielding ankles and feet.

So I began to work with her with my hands to help her find an easier state of balance as she was standing (without singing).  She was very responsive to the directions I was giving, and was really beginning to release much of her habitual tension: freer neck, widening shoulders and back, neutral pelvis,  softening knees, flexible ankles. She said she felt like “a whole new person”. All good stuff.

In Alexander slang, I’d say she went from doing too much, to a nice state of non-doing (leaving herself alone, to allow for a natural, virtually effortless balance).

I explained to her that this  state of non-doing was a very good place from which to start singing. It was like starting with a blank canvas, and could help her see how much tension she was creating when she sang. So I asked her to sing.

She went immediately from a calm, pliable, free state, to one of immense tension (same pattern as before: head thrusted forward, narrow shoulders, etc.) I asked her if she could sense all that tension she created as she began to sing, and she replied (with a certain amount amazement) that she could:

“Wow! I had no idea I was doing so much in my entire body to try to sing. Working way too hard…”

So I asked her to sing again, but with the thought of not going into that tense pattern, of leaving herself alone. But as she sang again, there was little, if any difference. She’d go right into that tense pattern again.

(This isn’t uncommon when encountering performance habits. They can be quite stubborn. Yet if addressed effectively and consistently, they can be changed. That’s what the Alexander Technique is all about.)

As we proceeded to work more with her singing, my student suddenly came to a great realization: “You know, I think I’m making all this tension in myself as an attempt to hear my voice.”

And she is absolutely right.

You see, to her (and to so many musicians) the sound  is more than what the ear takes in. It can involve other senses (feeling resonance, for example), beliefs (often also about what should be felt), and other expectations.

In the case of my student, she was trying to feel the sound a specific way. She said that’s how she was gauging her intonation. Yet by her own admission, her intonation was dubious as she created this tension.

So we worked on getting her to change her thinking. We shifted the goal from trying to sing well, to leaving herself alone as she sang: no face thrusting, no shoulder raising, no back arching, no knee locking. The aim was not to sing in tune, or even with a good sound. Rather, it was to begin to sing without going into her habitual tension. It would be a bit of an experiment.

In fact, I told her that if she sounded bad, even worse than she’d ever sounded, that she could consider herself successful in this experiment, because it shows she did something differently. She liked that idea.

Well, after a few takes, she finally had a moment when she started to sing without her habits. I had my hands on her, and could tell that she was leaving herself alone very nicely. She continued to sing for about 5 minutes. Her voice was clear, beautiful, consistent…and her intonation was spot on.

She was thrilled, to say the least. “That was hard. I don’t know if I could do that again”, she said. I assured her she could, perhaps not consistently at first, but eventually she’d be able to with considerable consistency.

I asked her, “How was your intonation? Did you notice it?” She replied, ” Oh yes, I could her my pitch so clearly and easily. But the strange thing was, I wasn’t trying to hear my pitch. I could just hear it, and knew it was fine.”

I explained to her that it was this “trying” to hear her pitch that was tempting her to create so much bodily tension, and that this excess tension was interfering with her ability to truly hear herself. That seemed to make sense to her. I’m excited to meet with her for her next lesson to see what else she’ll discover.

As I stated above, so many musicians I teach are struggling with the same habit: trying to feel their sound, both color and pitch, through excess bodily tension. Besides being counterproductive to the goal of a good sound and good intonation, it also carries with it the risk of strain, injury, poor technique and fatigue.

But there’s also something that comes with it that is equally negative. All that tension leads to a kind of physical and artistic prison when making music. You can become so dependent upon feeling your tension that you’re not free to experience the possibility of the unknown, the possibility of discovering something new in yourself as you make music.

So how are you when you play? How much tension do you create as you get ready to play your first note? Remember to allow your neck to stay free so that your head can balance easily on top of your spine. Let your shoulders widen. Don’t lift your chest and arch your back. Don’t lock your knees. Let the weight of your body travel easily into your feet as you let your ankles remain free and mobile.

Leave yourself alone as you play, and you’ll hear yourself so much better. To paraphrase F.M. Alexander, “If you stop doing the wrong thing, the right thing will do itself.” My experience as a musician and as a teacher (and student!) of the Alexander Technique affirms this every day.

The Nagging Truth About Chronic Pain And Injuries

Recently I was reading a thread on a Facebook page (for saxophonists) about chronic pain. The thread started out asking about the value of chiropractic work for musicians, then quickly morphed into a discussion of the merits and/or shortcomings of various modalities to address pain and injury.

Lots of experiences, opinions and ideas were offered up. Several of the participants stated that chiropractic was not addressing the root cause of the problem. They thought that simply manipulating the bones neglected the deeper issue of muscles, fascia, etc. (I don’t necessarily agree with this, by the way).

Others talked about the the value of a good physical therapist to address muscle imbalances and flexibility issues. Deep tissue work was endorsed with great enthusiasm by others. Iyengar Yoga, Pilates, Myofascial  Release, and other therapeutic work were also mentioned.

The thrust of the discussion was about getting to the root cause of chronic pain. Lots of debate about the hierarchy of importance of the structures of the body (bones, nerves, muscles, fascia, joints, discs, etc.) in preventing  pain and injuries.

Yet nobody once mentioned the real root cause of most chronic pain and injury: Habit.

Your habits of thinking determine your habits of posture and movement. Period. You move and maintain posture in accordance to your conscious (and even unconscious) thoughts. And what predominately causes pain and injury for musicians (and others, as well) are dysfunctional postural and movement habits.

When you practice your instrument, you’re repeating movement patterns over and over, hundreds of times in a single session. If you’re doing this in an overly tense and unnatural way, you’re going to invite problems.

To be clear, I think there is a great value in the majority of the modalities that were discussed above. Without a doubt, manipulative work (massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, Myofascial Release, etc.) can be highly effective for ending the pain by bringing the structures of the body back into a healthy balance. It’s often a great place to start to get quick relief from pain.

Well prescribed exercise (Yoga, Pilates, etc.) can also help to change the structural organization of the body, which can help significantly in the long run.

But ultimately,  unless you change how you maintain balance, posture, and how you move in general (with and without your instrument) throughout your daily activities (i.e., change your habits), chances are good that you’ll eventually return to having the exact same kinds of structural problems you had before treatment (or exercise program).

So what are your choices? You can continue to get the same treatment, viewing it as a kind of “maintenance” for your pain. You can try a new form of treatment or exercise and see if that makes a lasting difference.

Or you can learn to change the habits that are causing your pain. You can learn to replace tense, harmful movement with light, safe and easy movement.

Besides being a professional saxophonist, I’m also a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, and I’ve found this Technique to be the most effective way I’ve yet to discover to make lasting changes in postural and movement habits. If it weren’t for this work, I would no longer be able to play saxophone. As it is, I’m playing better than ever. Completely pain and dysfunction free.

You see, the Alexander Technique goes right to the root of the problem: your habits and the thinking that shapes them. A qualified teacher can help you to become aware of the various harmful postural and movement habits you have, and give you the tools to prevent them, so you can make lasting changes for the better.

You’ll learn a new way to think about how you move, how you sit, stand, hold your instrument, use your breath, and more. You’ll clarify misconceptions about your body, and discover a way to move with far less effort and a minimum of strain. You’ll learn to move in accordance to the natural design of your body.

You’ll learn self-care strategies to rest your body and and restore your spine. You’ll even learn how to be calmer and more clear-thinking as you practice and perform music (or carry out any other activity, for that matter).

But most important, you’ll unlearn the habits that are causing the harm (the nagging truth about your chronic pain).

Sound too good to be true? It’s not. It does involve responsibility on your part, and a considerable amount of time and persistence (after all, you’ve spent a lifetime learning your habits). But it does work. Very well. One of my greatest satisfactions in life is seeing all the musicians I’ve been able to help by applying the Alexander principles.

Even the prestigious Juilliard School of Music knows the value of the Technique, and integrates it into its program to help serious musicians play pain-free and avoid injury.

So if you’re struggling with chronic pain, or suspect you have an injury, make sure you see a qualified physician first. It’s important that you rule out any kind of disease or other kinds of damage that must be addressed directly through medical means.

Ask your physician if any of your problems could be caused by dysfunctional movement and/or postural habits. If the answer is yes, then remember that you have a choice. Consider finding a certified Alexander Technique teacher in your area, and commit to taking some lessons. You can change. I have. So have my students. And for us, playing music is pure, pain free joy!