Tag Archives: Musician’s Health

You, Your Instrument, Space And Movement

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There is a fundamental error that I see many musicians make when positioning their instruments in preparation to play. It usually begins seconds before the first note is produced. It might seem like a small thing, but it can have big consequences.

What is it?

It’s in how musicians bring their instruments to themselves to play.

Notice I said, “bring their instruments to themselves.” In a sense this is a misnomer. Because in truth, the real problem is that rather than bringing the instrument to themselves, many musicians bring themselves to the instrument. And they often do so in such a way as to compromise their balance, flexibility and coordination.

Allow me to clarify.

The other day I was giving a first Alexander Technique lesson to a violinist, who came to me because of unresolved chronic neck pain. We spent a good part of the lesson exploring and clarifying her natural balance as she sat, and as she stood. 

(We do this in order to bring her most basic postural and movement habits to light. More specifically we’re looking at how her habits might be interfering with the way she moves, balances and maintains positions with respect to her bodily structure, and how that structure work best with gravity.  How she might be unconsciously “fighting herself”.)

Once I was reasonably sure that my student was aware of (and at least somewhat able to prevent) the most obvious habitual interferences to her balance and coordinatin as she sat and stood, I then asked her to play her instrument.

What I saw was a habit that is common to many musicians: She was there, sitting in fairly good balance (based upon our brief work). But as she brought the violin up to her chin, she (simultaneously) began to pull herself downward (and somewhat sideward) into the chin rest.

So once the violin was in position to play, my student had lost the easy, elastic and flexible balance she had, and had replaced it with a rather stiff and inflexible “position”. (This is all driven, of course, by habit; and that’s where our real work begins.)

It took a significant amount of intention and conscious direction for her to stop this from happening. (This goes to show how powerful the habit of “position and posture” can be to a musician.) But she has made a step in the right direction. (She’s also going to re-consider the height of her shoulder rest, to see if it’s “inviting” her to pull downward.)

And I see such similar habits with so many instrumentalists: I see saxophonists (playing with the neckstrap adjusted too low) pull their heads down into the instrument (not good for your airstream or the freedom of your jaw and tongue); I see trombonists pulling their heads (like the violinists) down and sideways into the horn. I see guitarists hunched over an instrument that is too far (or sometimes, too close) to themselves. And so on.

It’s almost as if there is a fixed perception of where the instrument needs to be in space. And that perception demands that you distort yourself into position to meet the instrument.

So here’s a very simple bit of advice: Bring your instrument to you. Find balance first, as you sit, or stand.

In brief, this means letting your head balance on top of your spine freely as it is poised over your pelvis, with widening shoulders and unlocked knees, letting your weight travel evenly through your body to your sitting bones (if you’re sitting) or through your feet (if you’re standing).

Then practice bringing the instrument to you in such a way that you interfere with this natural balance as little as possible.

If you have to rotate (say, to play flute or violin), see if you can do so by “thinking upward” so you’re not pulling downward into tension and imbalance. Let your neck be free and your eyes be lively and engaged as you allow your breath to flow naturally and easily. Then allow your head and eyes to lead your body fluidly into rotation.

Practice this in front of a mirror (highly recommended!) if possible. Do it lots of times, until you feel reasonably confident that you can keep the awareness and intention up as you play.

Then work on bringing your instrument to yourself to play one note (just one!)

Again, do this with the aid of a mirror. Think of maintaining your internal space (so you’re not contracting and twisting) as you move the instrument toward yourself. 

If you practice this enough, it will become part of who you are as you play your instrument. Not only will you find less tension and more balance and flexibility in your body as you play, but also, you’ll breathe better and will be more accessable emotionally and creatively to make your best music. Give it a go!

Three Misconceptions About Your Hands That Might Be Holding You Back

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Many musicians who come to me for Alexander Technique lessons do so because they have problems with their hands: chronic pain and/or coordination issues (these two can be very closely related).

Medical conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome and elbow tendonitis, as well as general discomfort and fatigue when playing can be, are often caused (or made worse), in part, by a misunderstanding of the structure/location and function (anatomy and physiology) of the hands, fingers and arms.

The same goes for coordination. I’ve lost count of the musicians I’ve encountered who are stuck at a certain level of technical proficiency (no matter how much they practice and how hard they try) because of the mechanical disadvantages they bring upon themselves through their habits (with their hands, arms, neck and back) as they play.

I won’t go into full detail here about how the hands relate to the arms, which relate to the back, which relates to the balance of the head on the spine. (Although this is of prime importance, and I’ve mentioned it before in several other articles).

Rather, I’m going to briefly talk about the three most common misconceptions (in my teaching experience) that most musicians have about the hands, wrists and lower arm. I’m also going to share some videos that will be highly useful in helping you to better visualize and understand how your hands, wrists and lower arms function.

So what are the three misconceptions I’m talking about here?

1. The location of your knuckles. Many musicians imagine their knuckle joints (metacarpophylangeal, or “MP”  joints, as they are commonly called) as being in the location where their fingers connect to their palms (looking at the hand palm-side up). But in truth, these joints are lower than that. If you look at the topside of your hand and bend your fingers at the knuckle, while at the same time keeping them straight, you’ll see exactly where that joint is.

Now, bend your fingers the same way and look at the palm-side of your hand to see how much farther down those joints are from that fleshy place where your fingers meet your palms. If you play your instrument by trying to bend your fingers at this imaginary joint (where the fingers meet the fleshy part of the palm), you’ll create a signficant amount of excess tension and compression in your entire hand.

2. The joints of your thumb. Your thumb has three joints, not two. Many musicians think of the thumb has  having one joint at the knuckle and the other joint at the fleshy location of where the thumb connects to the palm (an accurate, but incomplete understanding). But if you take the tip of your thumb (again, do this palm-side up) and touch the tip of your small finger with it, you’ll see how your thumb rotates from the bottom/middle part of your hand (from a third joint).

If you don’t allow for this movement when you play, you’re going to get a great deal of fatigue in you entire hand, and you’ll measurably interfere with the freedom and coordination of your other fingers. (I see this often in how woodwinds players use their right hands.)

Here’s a video excerpt from a DVD that I very highly recommend, called  Move Well, Avoid Injury. This video not only illustrates my points about the knuckle joints and the thumb more completely, but also, offers a more constructive way of thinking about them:

3.How your wrist rotates. You have two bones in your lower arm (the ulna, which is on the small-finger side of the arm; and the radius, which is on the thumb-side of your arm). When you rotate your wrist at the elbow (let’s say, for example, what your left hand does as you play flute), the bones cross one another. (This movement is called pronatation and supination.) The most efficient way for this to happen is to allow the pivot point to be on the small-finger side (the ulna), so that the thumb can sweep radially into rotation (hence the name, radius).

If you try to rotate your wrists from the thumb-side, you’ll create a good deal of strain in your entire lower arm, as well as your hands and fingers. Your elbow joint, in particular, will be negatively impacted. This movement habit is what can lead to elbow tendonitis, among other things.

Here’s another video clip from Move Well, Avoid Injury to help illustrate this and suggest more helpful ways of thinking about it:

So whether you play, piano, guitar, saxophone, trumpet, drums (or any instrument where your hands are involved), by clarifying these three things you can play with greater freedom, less strain and more pleasure.

Fitness And Exercise For Musicians: Choose Wisely

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As someone who not only practices music daily, but also, engages in physical fitness activities on a regular basis, I firmly believe that your fitness has an impact upon your music making.

It’s not as if you can’t play well if you’re not physically fit (lots of very unfit virtuosi out there). It’s just that you might do better if you stay fit.

Regular exercise not only helps improve your vital bodily functions (circulation, breathing, digestion, sleep), but also, has a measurable impact on your mental faculties. Exercising regularly improves your mood, your memory, learning and processing information…your overall mental acuity.

In my experience as a teacher, I find that students who are physically fit tend to have better concentration, efficiency and endurance in their musical practice as well (again, there are exceptions to this observation).

Yet it is with a note of caution that I recommend a physical fitness regimen to musicians. Here’s why:

Exercise in of itself can be harmful or helpful. It depends on how it is prescribed and how it is carried out (much like a good practice routine on your instrument).

As both a certified fitness trainer (through the National Academy of Sports Medicine) and as an Alexander Technique teacher, I too often see musicians blindly making poor exercise and fitness choices.

(And particularly as an Alexander Technique teacher, I witness the harm that some of these musicians bring upon themselves with their choices: stiff, inflexible bodies; sore joints; chronic injury, impaired technique on their instruments, and more.)

If you exercise regularly, or are thinking about starting an exercise program, I’d like to offer a few thoughts for you to consider. Keeping these thoughts in mind can help you make better choices to improve your overall health, as well as to support your music making skills. (Well, at the very least, not to interfere with your skills.)

To begin, it is important to understand what it means to be physically fit. Though this definition can vary from individual to individual, many fitness experts would agree that being physically fit means that you have the capacity to do your work, and to engage in recreational activities with sufficient energy and enjoyment. (In essence, you can meet the demands you face daily and not feel like you’ve been run over by a truck at the end of the day.) I would also expand this definition to include maintaining a healthy body composition (muscle to fat ratio; good bone density).

For you to have the kind of fitness I’ve defined above, you need to exercise in such a way as to call upon the various components that keep you functionally fit. These are:

Balance-This is the most important component of fitness, in my opinion. Without balance, your strength and flexibility are greatly compromised. The capacity to maintain posture and move safely and efficiently is crucial to anybody’s functional fitness. (One of the main benefits from studying and applying the Alexander Technique is a significant, measurable improvement in balance.)

Flexibility-You need a healthy range of motion around your joints. In part, this means you need good pliability and extensibility of your muscular tissues. It also means you need to cultivate the kind of coordination that enables safe, yet wide ranges of motion in all your movements.

Cardiovascular endurance-You need a healthy heart, lungs and circulatory system to help you sustain effort in activity (and to quickly recover from that effort).

Muscular strength-You need the capacity to generate enough force through your limbs to be able to remain functional (to be able to easily and safely perform tasks  that demand a reasonable amount of muscular strength, like gardening, or carrying luggage, for example).

Muscular endurance-You need to be able to effectively employ repeated muscular effort  as you carry out an ongoing task (while minimizing fatigue).

Core strength and control-You need the muscles in your trunk (including your neck and pelvis) to work in an integrated, efficient way, according to how your body works with gravity (again, this is where the Alexander Technique really helps). The better your core works, the more strength you have in the rest of your body.

Agility-You need to be able to quickly change the direction or position of your body as you move. (This can also be a crucial element in functional balance.)

By addressing the above components with regular, carefully planned and thoughtfully carried out exercise, I remain fit (I’m 57 years old at the time of this writing). I do this by engaging in what I call an integrated functional fitness routine. I use free weights, body weight, medicine balls, resistance bands, and balance modalities (like a wobble board, for example) to address all of the components in every workout. (Not only is it effective, but it’s actually fun. Yes, really!)

The three biggest mistakes I see musicians making when they decide upon a fitness activity or program are:

1. Choosing exercises that are contraindicative to playing their instruments (or singing)-Whatever exercise you choose, make sure it’s something that won’t interfere with or harm your physical instrument (you!) when you’re playing music. For many years (before I became an Alexander teacher, or started studying exercise science) I did lots of cycling (competitive and recreational, 200-300 miles per week). All that pressure and gripping I was putting on my hands as I was  riding began to have a significantly negative impact on my saxophone playing.

2. Not addressing all the above mentioned components of fitness-If you simply train with weights, or spend time on a treadmill, you’re only addressing a couple of couple of the above mentioned fitness components. Try to find activities that address them all. If you vary your exercise activity to address all the components I mention above, you’ll also most likely avoid boredom or burnout.

3. Failing to get good professional help (especially from the start)-Make sure you begin any exercise program by getting a medical clearance from your physician (VERY IMPORTANT!) Then, find a good personal trainer to  listen to your fitness goals, assess your current fitness level (VERY IMPORTANT) , and then prescribe and design a good program for you. Seek out a good trainer (get somebody highly recommended from somebody you trust, if possible). There are lots (and lots!) of very bad (unsafe and/or inneffective) trainers out there.

Avoid these three mistakes, and you’re on a good path to start a safe and effective exercise program.

And speaking of professional help, always keep in mind that the quality of your movement in an exercise is proportional to the benefit of the exercise (sort of like your music practice!) Exercising with poor form is not only counterproductive, but can be downright dangerous.  Working with somebody who can help you move well (either a personal trainer, or an Alexander teacher) as you exercise would be a wise investment of both time and money.

Bear in mind too, that no single exercise can effectively address all of these fitness components.

For example, bicycling is great for cardiovascular endurance, but does virtually nothing to improve over all muscular strength or flexibility. Whereas Pilates is very effective in improving flexibility, core strength/control, and balance (to a certain degree), but it doesn’t really improve cardiovascular endurance to any measurable degree. Resistance training builds muscular strength and endurance, but does nothing for agility or flexibility. And so on. (This is one reason why cross-training and interdisciplinary exercise is so effective.)

Finally, just about all forms of exercise can be of benefit to you as a musician. Generally speaking, find things that get you to move in as many different ways as you safely can (make sure you enjoy it, too). The aim is to choose wisely. I encourage you to give it some mindful consideration. Here’s to your good health!

A Potentially Bad (Yet Highly Popular) Bit Of Advice About Your Fingers

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“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

-Mark Twain

The words above are especially true when it comes to musical pedagogy. There are lots of myths out there (often in the form of simple advice) that are based on a misunderstanding between cause and effect. These myths often prevail because they seem, on the surface, quite logical.

And that’s where the problems begin.

The one I’m talking about here specifically is this: To play a woodwind instrument (though I’ve read/heard the same thing about string instruments and piano, as well) with optimum speed and efficiency, you must train your fingers to stay close to the keys.

On the surface this seems logical. For you to play passages rapidly and with control, there needs to be an efficiency of movement. Ideally your fingers need not move any more than necessary to open and close keys.

And more often than not, if you witness a musician playing with great speed and control, this is what you’ll notice in the fingers. Like a well-trained athlete…economy of motion.

Lately I’ve seen several videos online where very good saxophonists are advocating this idea, even giving specific instruction on how to train the fingers in this manner. As much as I respect these musicians, I don’t at all agree with their advice in this area.

Here are  four reasons why not:

First, there is a misunderstanding of what actually leads to the efficiency of your fingers. When you see somebody playing with the fingers flapping up and down like crazy while playing, what you are witnessing is excessive muscular tension. The fingers are going too high, for example, because the player is tensing them (over-extending) to bring them there. As they come back down to the keys they often do so with a thud (again, too much tension as the fingers flex).

You see, efficiency of the fingers (staying close to the keys) is a result of the balance between tension and release. The fingers flex lightly to come toward the keys, and release to come off of the keys. As they release they don’t move very far. Sometimes they even keep in light contact with the keys. So get rid of the excess tension, and the fingers do no more nor less than what they need to do.

Second, by trying to hold the fingers close to the keys and limit their movement, you’re mostly replacing one type of unnecessary tension with another. (Please note that the operative word here is “hold”, as in “hold the fingers and not let them be free to respond and move“.)

Third, this over emphasis on one part (the fingers) divides and disintegrates your attention as you play. It also takes away from your ability to sense how each part is related to the whole. For example, if you see a saxophonist playing with stiff and high flying fingers, you can also notice that there is a chain of habitual muscular tension on display: stiff fingers connected to stiff arms, connected to stiff and narrowed shoulders, connected to a stiff neck. This whole pattern really needs to change in order to support economy of motion in the fingers.

Fourth (and perhaps most important), this kind of practice (trying to hold the fingers closely to the keys) can lead to other troubles for some musicians. As an Alexander Technique teacher, I’ve had students come to me with three specific types of problems that have been exacerbated by their obsession with over-managing their fingers as they play: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Elbow Tendonitis and Focal Dystonia. Part of what I help these musicians with is to strike a balance in their attention as they practice  in order to expand and include more of themselves (and their external environments) into their music making habits.

I have no doubt that the saxophonists I refer to above sincerely believe that they have been helped by their approach and their specific remedies (everything from holding pencils between the fingers while playing, to attaching the fingers to the keys with rubber bands).

To them I would say this: you play very well despite doing that. And to be honest, as I watch them play, I don’t see a huge amount of unnecessary tension in the rest of their bodies (thought I certainly see areas that could improve!)

But I don’t know what they were doing with themselves before they started to practice this way, so it’s impossible for me to know the improvements (and potential harmful habits) that have been gained.

I do know this, however:  Your fingers move most efficiently when you leave them alone to do so. If you have clear intentions about the music, a good sense of time and a nice balance of tension and release in your body as you play, your fingers will do the right thing easily, without self-concious effort.

So if you notice your fingers moving “too much” as you play, stop and observe. Are you raising them through release or tension? If you notice that you’re tensing your fingers, trace that to what your arms, shoulders, head and neck are doing. If you’re finding lots of tension in these areas, it just might be the right time to find a good Alexander Technique teacher 😉  You’d be amazed at how much more efficient and effortless the entire music making process can be.

The Technique That Has Helped Me The Most

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I’ve been playing, composing and teaching music for nearly 40 years. In that time I’ve come across many different approaches to improving what I do. Nothing has come close to helping me as effectively and as completely as the Alexander Technique.

I came to study the Technique after struggling with some serious coordination problems that were threatening my career as a saxophonist. I was so impressed with how I’d been able to help myself with the work, that I decided to commit to the three-year training program necessary to become qualified to teach (completing my training in 2006). It was easily the best decision I’ve ever made in my musical life.

Everything I do in my musical practice is informed by the Alexander Technique. I would even say that I approach composition and improvisation with the Alexander principles very close at hand. And of course, the Technique is at the heart of what I teach when I’m teaching musicians.

So what is the Alexander Technique?

In the simplest (and most practical) sense, the Alexander Technique is a way to learn to recognize and prevent unnecessary (and potentially harmful) muscular tension in any activity. (This alone is quite helpful for musicians!)

But I would also say that it is a a way to more effectively connect thought with action. Clear intention combined with efficiently directed muscular energy leads to a highly satisfying musical experience in both practice and performance. This clarity between thought and action also makes me a more effective, and more authentic composer and improviser.

The Alexander Technique is the technique I apply to all other musical techniques, whether I’m working on tone, articulation, velocity, reading, or improvisation. Anything, really. My brother-in-law, Celio (who’s also an Alexander Technique teacher), calls it the “pre-technique” to any activity. I couldn’t agree more.

Here are eight ways the Alexander Technique helps me the most in my work:

1. It provides a lens through which to evaluate good coordination. In Alexander slang, we talk about the primary control, which is the working relationship of the head, neck and back. This head/neck/back relationship conditions the quality of everything we do in our movements: breathing; using the mouth, lips, tongue and jaw (as well as the other vocal mechanisms); using the arms, hands and fingers; sitting standing and walking; the eyes…as I said, everything.

The primary control is the lens through which I discern and evaluate all my (and my students) movement habits as they pertain to playing music. By learning to stop interfering with the natural coordination of this primary control, I (and my students) play with greater ease, efficiency and control.

2. It places the emphasis on the quality of the process. Rather than aiming only for specific results (with no consideration to how best to attain them), the Technique helps me grow my faith in working by principle, using reason and discernment, always aiming for a good use of primary control (see above). This not only helps me play better, but also, keeps me from harming myself as I play. As long as I take care of the quality of the “how” in what I do , the end takes care of itself.

3. It helps me to improve by doing less. This is perhaps the most important principle I’ve learned. I’m playing better than ever not because of what I’m doing, but rather, because of what I’m not doing (my old habits of excess tension) as I play. Addition by subtraction, as the cliche goes. I see far too many musicians making their playing more difficult by adding yet more things to “do” in a forced and unnatural way (breathing and embouchure are prime examples). No need for this added effort.

4. It teaches me when (and how!) to stop. To me,  this is the most essential skill for a musician to have during a practice session. Learning to strategically stop and redirect my thinking has helped me improve more than anything. By doing so I prevent myself from reinforcing the habits that are interfering with my playing, and give myself the means and opportunity to truly change.

5. It provides tools for self-care. Constructive rest, breath work, taking care of how I use myself (in all my activities) have helped me significantly to practice music without pain or worry of injury.

6. It helps me maintain a better balance between the internal and the external. I’ve greatly improved my ability to stay connected to internal things as I play, like sensing time, imagining pitch and tone color, following my creative impulses, and what’s going on with my body; with external things like hearing my sound, hearing the other musicians, and my visual and spatial senses. This balance  of attention (rather than the imbalance of over-focusing on certain things at the expense of ignoring others) has deeply enriched my musical experience. (It has also improved my pitch, sound, time and creativity.)

7. It helps me observe and improve my thinking. If I’m facing a particular challenge as I play, I immediately go to my thinking. When I ask myself, “Where are your thoughts going as you play this?”, I usually find that my thoughts are not supporting what I’m trying to do as I play. So I simply redirect my thinking. Improvement always follows. As an improvising musician, this has been especially helpful.

8. It clarifies my understanding of cause and effect. There is plethora of useless, even harmful, pedagogical information out there for instrumentalists and singers (much of it disseminated by highly respected musicians with limited knowledge of anatomy and physiology). By understanding how I work best in nature (again, see primary control, above), I can easily filter out the bad information, and stay with what truly works. I get a clearer idea of how “A” influences (or doesn’t influence!) “B”, so I  can more accurately answer the question: Am I playing well because of what I do, or despite what I do?

Besides these eight, there are even more ways the Alexander Technique has helped me. I just wanted to list a few of the ones I personally consider most essential. By staying with the Alexander principles, I continue to develop a set of tools that I can use with confidence and consistency.

I’ve also enjoyed the privilege of  teaching the Technique to a variety of musicians, from jazz artists, to Indian classical musicians, to musical theater performers, to principle players in symphony orchestras and more, with measurable benefits. It is remarkable work. I encourage you to find a good teacher and give it a try.