Monthly Archives: January 2012

Maintaining The Conditions In Yourself To Play Your Best

Do you ever wonder why things that you practice sometimes get worse, rather than better, as you practice them? The answer is simple: You gradually worsen the conditions in yourself to play your best.

Simply stated, when you’re playing your best it is largely because you’ve been able to maintain the best conditions in yourself to play your instrument.

One of my Alexander Technique students, himself a highly accomplished saxophonist, related to me a story about working with the metronome to increase his velocity on a particular piece he was practicing:

“I was gradually increasing the tempo each time I played through the piece in my practice session. Each time with great results. I was playing freely, easily and accurately. I had worked it up to quarter note = 140. But then, feeling like I wanted to test the waters, I jumped up to quarter note = 160 (the target tempo) and it all fell apart. Not only was I making lots of errors, but also, I was playing with great effort, my breath was no longer moving freely and I felt like I could no longer really hear my sound.”

But here’s where it gets interesting. He continues: “But then when I returned to quarter note = 140, I played just as badly: tense, rushed, unclear tone, lots of mistakes and so forth. It’s as if I had wasted all that practice. Why couldn’t I play at 140, when just moments earlier I could?”

I answered him, “Because you had drastically changed all the conditions necessary in yourself for playing well that you had gradually been working toward. You did this by jumping far ahead of yourself and falling back into your old habits of tension. Then you took those habits and the frustration that comes with them back into your playing at the slower tempo.”

By “jumping ahead” the way he did with the tempo he indulged in something we in the Alexander world call “end-gaining”. (Specifically, placing 100% of your attention and effort on trying for a specific result, as opposed to paying attention to how best to obtain that result.) Because of this he had a difficult time returning to the ideal conditions he had created in himself earlier.

You see, my student started out paying attention to process (in the Alexander Technique we call this paying attention to the “means-whereby”) as he gradually increased his tempo challenges with the piece. Each time he played he was able to use his thinking, to use his conscious attention, to maintain the conditions in himself to play his best at any tempo.

This is what the “means-whereby” is all about. It’s about using your thinking to maintain the best conditions in yourself. The conditions that give you the greatest chance at achieving your desired end.

So what are the “best conditions”? Here are a few of the most essential, from an Alexander point of view:

Your neck is free-This means that you’re not compressing your head down and back into your spine, nor jutting your head forward. Your simply leaving your neck alone so that it can release your head upward off the top of a lengthening spine. This also means that your jaw is not tense, you are not tightening your face unnecessarily, and that your tongue is free to move.
Your shoulders (and arms) are free-Your shoulders can release and widen in gentle opposition to your spine lengthening. This will create the best conditions in your arms, and in your hands as well.
Your back is free and integrated-You are neither arching your lower back (tilting your pelvis forward) nor collapsing and rounding your back. Just let your back stay in neutral as you let your head balance on top of your spine.
Your knees aren’t locked-No hyper-extended knees (locking your knees backwards). This is something that also interferes with the good integration of your back.
You are breathing easily and naturally-No noisy and effortful inhalation. Your torso is free to expand in all dimensions to allow your breath to work its best.
You are not in a hurry– This is perhaps somewhat less tangible, but crucially important. As soon as you get into the “in a hurry mode” you are taking yourself out of the present moment and are dividing your attention, cutting yourself and your good use out of the picture.

When you maintain these conditions, you just plain play better. When these conditions are not present, you not only run the risk of not playing at your immediate potential, but also, of steering yourself toward fatigue and injury.

So what can you do to help find and maintain the best conditions for yourself as you play your instrument?

Start with your thinking-Every bit of muscular effort you make (whether necessary or not) is conditioned by your thinking. It’s not about your body. It’s about how your thinking is inextricably linked to your body. Always keep this in mind and you’ll avoid the frustration of “my hands just aren’t working today”.
Learn about your body-Try to gain an accurate understanding of your joints, how your body functions best with respect to playing your instrument.
Keep the importance of a free and easy use of yourself absolutely primary-It’s not about playing faster, higher, louder, etc. It’s about staying easy in yourself and developing the kind of playing habits that make playing more challenging material easier.
Be patient-Don’t always try to reproduce what you did on another day. If you could play this piece at quarter note = 160 yesterday, don’t expect to go that fast today when you practice. Expect nothing. Instead, cultivate a “wait and see” attitude. If you always stay with maintaining your good use (the good conditions) your ability to play at more challenging tempos will come as a result. Let there be fluctuations. Accept the present situation.
Seek help-Because of your habits it can be difficult to get a true sense of what it’s like to create these ideal conditions in yourself. A skilled Alexander Technique teacher can work wonders here in helping you with all the above.

By learning to shift the emphasis from what you do to how you do it, you insure yourself a chance for consistent improvement.

A Few Tips For Improving Your Sight Reading Skills

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Being able to read music well at sight is a skill that just about any musician in any genre should aspire to. The really good sight readers I’ve played with not only play the music reasonably accurately at first sight, but also, they tend to be able to really make music out of it, really make the notes jump of the page.

In my work as primarily an improvising saxophonist, I wouldn’t say I devote the attention (both in work and practice) to sight reading that say, a pit orchestra musician might. But I do work on keeping my reading skills in decent condition. Even in my musical world it makes playing with others nicer for me and for them. I waste less time struggling with the notes, plus I’m able to find music in the notes more readily. Win/win situation.

So at the request of some of my students, I thought I’d offer some suggestions about improving your sight reading. Some of these suggestions are things that you need to practice, and others are things you can do immediately to improve your reading.

All this assumes you already have a good grasp of music reading fundamentals. If you don’t, take a class, find a book, find a teacher or get a friend to help you get started on you journey to becoming literate in the notated language of music.

IN THE PRACTICE ROOM

It probably comes as no surprise that those who read well spend a good deal of time reading. It’s as simple as that. So here are some suggestions about what you can practice to improve:

Become a master of time-Work with your metronome on very slow, easy pieces. Learn to really listen and feel the time. Wait for the time; don’t anticipate. Pay attention to yourself primarily, keeping your own ease, breathing and balance in mind as you do so. You cultivate great habits of reading in performance by doing so.

Become a master of rhythm-Keeping the rhythmic flow going as you read is of top importance. The best sight readers I know will sometimes play the wrong pitch, but rarely ever play the wrong rhythm. And if they do, they keep the whole thing flowing along, never being put off track by their mistakes. This rhythmic flow not only keeps the “illusion” of accurate sight reading, but also, it keeps you engaged in hearing and responding to the music in the most helpful way. Two very good basic books for improving your reading of rhythms are, Modern Reading Text In 4/4 Time, by Louis Bellson, and, Rhythm Reading, by Daniel Kazez. Working with, and understanding, polyrhythm and polymeter can also significantly improve your sight reading ability. (I have an eBook available that methodically introduces and explores polymeter, entitled Essential Polymeter Studies in 4/4.)

Construct and practice from your own sight reading book-Put together a huge book, maybe an inch or two thick of things to sight read. Find pieces that run the range from exceedingly simple and easy, to more challenging, all the way to somewhat beyond your comfort zone (or even your ability), and organize them from easy to difficult. Make a commitment to play something from the book every day. Try to find pieces that are short, so even if you don’t have much time you can still play several pieces in various keys, time signatures, styles, etc. The internet is loaded with great resources for free, downloadable music in a multitude of genres.

Practice paying attention to the details-Find pieces that are fairly easy to play rhythmically pitch-wise, but have loads of articulation, dynamic and form challenges (complicated road maps). Aim toward seeing and paying attention to these details with the same sense of priority you give to pitch and rhythm. Learn to cultivate the ability to see all the detail of the music at once.

Sing-Practicing sight singing is a great way to improve your instrumental music reading. It gets you to really absorb the material on the page and immediately turn it into meaningful sound. Not only will this help you with your pitch-reading accuracy, but also, it helps you sound confident and musical as you read.

Practice music that is not for your instrument-This is a great way to challenge your reading at less than ideal ends of your range and to address technically “awkward” movements on your instrument. I’ve seen some pretty decent readers fall apart the moment the piece starts spitting out a bunch of notes in the extreme range of their instrument. It’s not like they can’t play it. It’s just that they sort of “give up” trying to stay with this ocean of perceived “difficult” notes. Don’t let that stuff throw you off your game.

Transpose-If you play a transposing instrument, like saxophone, you have to be able transpose some things at sight. And even if you don’t it’s a great way to get your brain taking in and processing the information on the page at light speed. Do this everyday and discover how easy it is to read flurries of sixteenth notes that you don’t have to transpose. It works.

WHAT YOU CAN DO IMMEDIATELY TO IMPROVE

Whether in the practice room, playing a gig, or sitting in at a rehearsal, here are some ways to help you work optimally:

Pay attention to yourself-Really. Always aim to play with ease and balance, and as you read music, don’t let yourself be pulled away from that ease and balance. In particular, avoid tensing your neck, shoulders and back, and make sure that your breath is flowing readily. This will help you to maintain a state of psycho-physical well-being which keeps you in the best condition to deal with the unknown (the music!)

Scan the music before you play-Make it a habit of looking carefully (as time permits) at the music before you play it. Notice the fundamentals first: key signature and time signature (and if they change!), repeats, road maps (D.C., Codas, etc.), dynamics, etc. Then see if you can notice any potentially tricky passages and give yourself a few seconds just to take the information in. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how this transforms your confidence and execution when the group starts actually playing the piece.

React differently to your mistakes-When you do make the inevitable mistakes, try not to lose your good balance (see above). Remember to be easy with yourself, let your neck, shoulders and back stay free, as well as your breath. By not flinching every time you make a mistake, you allow yourself to keep the musical flow. Very important. This is also something you can begin to apply in the practice room. When you learn to let your mistakes go, you play better.

Trust your judgement-Don’t assume that the player next to you is right and you’re wrong when you enter at different times in the piece, or otherwise seem like your not in sync. This is where some fairly decent readers sort of fall apart. Their confidence is turned inside out. Remain close to your reasoning and discernment, and don’t be afraid to be right.

Stay in touch with your sound and pitch-Often you can tell when somebody is reading simply because their sound becomes strange and tentative. Allow your sound flow out with confidence and self expression. Let those wrong notes be supported by a beautiful tone and good intonation. You’ll be amazed at the difference that makes in how you sound.

So there you have it. A few of the key things I put in practice to make me a better sight reader. I think they can help you, too.

An Important Thing To Keep In Mind When Changing Your Habits

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Musicians come to me for Alexander Technique lessons for a variety of reasons, but typically it’s because they’re experiencing a lot of unwanted tension (and often pain, too) as they play their instruments. Since they know I’ve been successful in applying the Technique to solve my own problems as a musician, they invariably ask this question: “What does it feel like to play music without all that excess tension?”

They are often surprised (and sometimes annoyed) by my seemingly evasive answer: “I don’t really pay much attention to how it feels.”

Of course, they press me on this subject. “So you purposely ignore how you feel when you play?”

“No, I wouldn’t say that. I easily sense what’s going on in myself and include this into my consciousness. But I don’t let the feeling of what I’m doing guide my efforts. I realize that what I feel is a result of how I’m directing my thinking. So I want to stay with directing my thinking in such a way as to play my best, and that includes playing with much less tension and effort than I used to create habitually. I’ve learned to trust my thinking, and so I simply acknowledge and enjoy the feeling of playing my instrument.”

As they press me further, it becomes clear that what they really want is for me to describe what it feels like to play now, as opposed to my “pre-Alexander” self. Fair enough. This is the answer I give: “To play now it feels practically opposite of what I thought it would feel like to play freely and easily before I started taking Alexander lessons.”

Practically the opposite of how I imagined it.

This is an important thing to keep in mind when changing your habits.

F.M. Alexander said that, because we are so strongly guided by what our habits feel like, when we actually do something different, even though it might be better for our purposes, it will very likely feel wrong. He described this as having a faulty sensory awareness.

And it is for this reason that it’s not a good idea to be guided by what you feel when you are trying to change your habit. Instead, you’d be better served by being guided by what you can discern. Guided by your thinking, so to speak.

Musicians are strongly conditioned in their habits by their perception of what it feels like to be in control of their instrument. Yet sadly enough, the very efforts some musicians employ to control their instrument become the habit that makes control more difficult, if not impossible.

Then a vicious cycle begins. You start playing with too much tension in an effort to control your sound, time, technical facility, pitch, etc. You actually start having a harder time controlling these things (because of this tension), so you start misdirecting your energy further, adding even more tension and effort to playing your instrument. This takes you even farther from control and confidence.

After a time you begin to believe that you have to use all this effort to get control over your instrument. Yet the more you try, the worse things get. This begins to develop certain unhelpful, yet strong habits.

And the cycle continues, sometimes until pain and injury step in to tell you in no uncertain terms that it’s time to do something different.

Well, if you’re going to do something different with your playing habits, remember that you have to let go of being guided by what it feels like to be in control.

In my case, I would have perceived the feeling of actually being in better control over my instrument as being out of control. Too soft, too mobile, too flexible. This doing more work, that doing less work. This part moving, the other part being still, etc. All wrong, if I were to be guided by the feeling of my habits. I would have never let myself feel that way, because it would have felt like I couldn’t even play the saxophone.

And this is where the Alexander Technique comes in. As I began to study and apply the Technique, I learned to be guided by reasoning and discernment instead of feeling. What is necessary and what is not to play my instrument. Never mind what it feels like. What am I actually doing (in contrast to what I think I’m doing) as I play? Is this helping me, or making things harder?

As time passed I began to greatly attenuate my habits of tension, and in doing so, began to gain real control over my instrument again. And of course, how it feels to play is much different from before. But as I said, I don’t pay much attention to that feeling. It doesn’t at all feel strange to play now, by the way. It actually feels quite wonderful: fluid, dynamic, easy and free. Because it actually is.

Where our habits are concerned, often what we want is not real change. We want to do the same thing the same way, but somehow with better results (that was Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity). We want it to feel the same way minus the excess tension and pain. That can never happen.

So realize that you probably have no idea what it feels like to play without all your habits of tension (nor should you care). That, in fact, it might feel quite wrong (even though your playing would be considerably better). Don’t hold onto your preconception of feeling. Find yourself a good Alexander Technique teacher and learn to trust your thinking instead to find highly favorable, consistent results.

The Possibility Of Change Lies In Every Moment

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Happy New Year! Since this is my first post of the year, I’d like to talk about something specific to the topic of the coming of the new year: making resolutions.

It has become quite a tradition to sit down and think about what we could be doing better in the coming year, whether it’s practicing music more, eating more fresh fruits and veggies, or even deciding to finally take Alexander Technique lessons.

And of course these are all good things. But is there a drawback to making New Year resolutions?

My brother-in-law, Celio, never indulges in this tradition. He tells me, “Anything I wish to change in myself, I can start changing in this moment. I don’t have to wait for an arbitrary marker in time like the New Year to begin.”

If you ask Celio what’s wrong with making these kinds of resolutions, he says, “Because it takes you out of your responsibility for the present moment. It stops you from realizing that you have the power of choice in every moment.”

Just to be clear, I like New Year resolutions (I actually think Celio does, too; I think he’s mostly speaking from principle.) These kinds of resolutions usually reflect values and ideas that we’ve been pondering for a good while, and the ritual of making a “resolution” is like a making a ceremonial commitment to carrying out our wishes.

Some resolutions are things that really do require planning and a great deal of reflection, things that can’t (or shouldn’t!) be done in the moment.

For example, if you are a completely deconditioned, overweight person with a history of knee injuries, whose New Year resolution is to run a marathon, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to go out for a 5 mile training run without first checking in with your doctor, finding a good running program/coach, etc. You need to think first and take action later.

But how many other types of resolutions do people make that could be started in any moment? I’d like to be kinder to my work colleagues. I’d like to be more available to my children. I’d like to eat only whole foods. I’d like to improve my ear musically.

These are decisions you can make in any moment to begin to take action to achieve your goal. You don’t have to wait for anything.

In fact, if you were to take the marathon running example from above, you could even start planning in that very moment. I’ll call my physician’s office right now to set up and appointment. I’ll do some research to find a good running program.

As I examine my own unfolding urge to improve and grow as a musician, I sometimes find myself waiting for certain points in time to take action. Whenever I catch myself doing so, I ask this simple question: Why am I waiting?

Often I’m surprised by my own answers to this question. Sometimes the answers make sense. After all, for example, it’s a good idea to commit a reasonable amount of time gaining mastery over one simple component of a more complex musical exercise, before plunging right into the complex part. You have to put the horse in front of the cart, so to speak.

But more often than not, my answers don’t make much practical sense. They simply reflect a habit of avoidance and procrastination.

And that’s good news for me. Because once I realize my habit, I’m free to change it. (That’s an essential principle and value of the Alexander Technique.)

So in my music practice, I let myself to begin anew at any moment. I stay willing to alter my course, drop my agenda, step into the unknown, even open a can of worms if need be. I really need to improve my facility in altissimo. Start now. I really need to feel more comfortable improvising in unusual meters. Start now. I’d really like to learn how to get a darker sound in the upper register of my saxophone. Start now.

Begin the entire process of change in this very moment.

Some of the music students I encounter are waiting for something to happen. In doing so they get stuck into the rut of their routine. With jazz musicians it’s sometimes spending too much time learning the language of other jazz artists before exploring and developing their own language. Start now, I tell them. Don’t wait to find your voice. Discover and develop your language as you learn the language of others.

With many other musicians (including jazz musicians) it’s sometimes procrastinating dealing with habit. One of these days I’m going to start really paying better attention to how much strain and effort I bring into my playing. I sometimes feel blocked when I play. Start now, I tell them. Use this moment to notice, to decide to change. And then continue from there.

So make your resolutions for the New Year (as I have), but let me offer you this as a possible resolution: I’m going to look at every moment as an opportunity to change. You’ll be surprised at how liberating this can be, and how positively productive as well as satisfying it can be, as well.

To quote the great artist, Charlie Parker, Now’s the Time.

Wishing you all the Best Year yet….