Monthly Archives: August 2012

The Importance Of Finding Satisfaction

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One of the potential pitfalls of approaching an art form (such as music) in a deeply dedicated way, is losing perspective between the desire for improvement and a sense of satisfaction. Often, in the pursuit of perfection, it’s easy to not even notice the beauty that we create each moment as we play.

That’s a shame, because to play music is one of the most divinely human, essentially human, blissfully human, experiences of all. There is no culture in the world where music doesn’t play a significant role in the daily lives of its people.

Musicians in “less developed” societies are known for how effortlessly, unselfconsciously and joyfully they play. To them, music is nourishment. It’s essential. To play it is a blessing. It’s as natural as eating, sleeping or expressing affection.

But to many of us who play “seriously”, music can sometime be a yardstick, measuring and exposing our shortcomings. We can sometimes look at music from the point of view of “what I can’t do”, instead of “what I can do.” From “what I’m lacking”, instead of “what I’m blessed with.”

We proceed day to day in relentless pursuit of our weaknesses. And that’s fine (as long as we’re not harming ourselves in the process). That becomes the fuel for growth, which leads to greater possibilities, deeper expression, deeper humanity, even.

But there needs to be a balance between this drive for improvement and a true and always available sense of satisfaction with what we’re doing as musicians. This balance can be found more easily than you might think. It begins with cultivating a clear, sincere and constant sense of gratitude.

For me personally, it’s important to know what satisfies  me as I play, even if things aren’t going as well as I know they can, even if I know I need improvement, even if I know there is so much more for me to learn and express.

As a saxophonist, I always find a particular pleasure in feeling the resonance of the instrument in my hands as I play (yes, even with a bad reed!) There is a tactile thrill in feeling the energy going from my thoughts to my breath, to my sound and into my body.

As an improviser, I find particular pleasure in letting my muse loose. I still surprise myself everyday as I create music spontaneously. It’s as if I’m discovering some hidden gem that has been given to me, and has always been there inside of me.

I also find great pleasure in the entire ritual of practice. Of putting myself into a calm and receptive state of being, of mindfully assembling my instrument, of discovering anew the thrill of creating and hearing sound, of seeing what needs work today and how I’m going to plan and implement this work, of stopping and assessing what I’m doing, of redirecting my energy.

There is the exhilaration of not knowing, but of discovering.

And that is plenty for me. That’s ultimately what fuels my desire to practice. Sure, I wish to improve (work diligently at it!) Sure, I want more. But each day, I finish practice with a strong sense of satisfaction, as if I’ve just had a great meal, or a good night’s sleep, or had an evening out with close friends.

So I encourage you to find your daily satisfaction in your music practice. Find the intrinsic value of playing your instrument.

Make a list, if you like. Maybe it’s simply hearing your sound. Maybe it’s that deeper state of consciousness you get into as your breathing changes. Maybe it’s simply the satisfaction of staring your precoception of perfection squarely in the face as you maintain joy in your heart and persistence in your attitude. Maybe it’s the feeling of being part of something bigger than you.

Whatever your reasons, if you find satisfaction each day, you will easily find meaning in your endeavor. And that, my friends, will guarantee your continued growth.

 

 

 

This Simple Shift In Attitude Can Yield Great Rewards

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I gave a lesson the other day to an excellent saxophonist who has been studying with me remotely for many months now. He was very pleased with the recent breakthroughs that he’d made in his playing, and expressed this profound change simply, but quite accurately:

“Before, I was anticipating; now, I’m responding.”

I was filled with joy when I heard him say this, because I knew that he had discovered, through his own experiences, a shift in thinking that was showing him significant gains.

I could easily hear this change in attitude in everything, from the quality of his sound, to his breath control, to his time, to his expression. All freer, more flexible (yet precise), more spontaneous and powerful.

I could also see this change in attitude as it is manifested in his body: calm, expansive, mobile, easy, balanced. In fact, I would say that I heard and saw the same things. Everything integrated into the present moment.

Anticipating versus responding. Let’s look at this with respect to what my student was doing (and what many musicians do) that was causing some of his problems:

  • Anticipating posture-His back arched, chest lifted, eyes fixed, neck stiff, legs rigid.
  • Anticipating  jaw position, embouchure formation-His jaw held rigidly without enough energy being directed toward the reed; his facial muscles around his mouth working more than they need to.
  • Anticipating note voicing-Creating a strain everywhere in his body, as he tried to “place” the air “just right” into the mouthpiece/reed.
  • Anticipating breathing-Never allowing the actual demands of the music to inform his breathing; instead, sort of “holding on” to his breath, never really letting it release to balance itself against the resistance of the mouthpiece/reed.
  • Anticipating sound-Having a somewhat fixed idea of his own sound (not only what he wants to hear, but how it should feel), sometimes to the point of not fully hearing and realizing his sound as it actually is.

As you might imagine, all of these habits of anticipation were inviting strain, loss of coordination and artistic dissatisfaction to my student. With his somewhat rigid ideas of how it should be, he was closing himself off to the possibility of how it could be. Specifically, he was keeping himself from responding to the actual needs (in the moment) of what was necessary to play his instrument.

Through our work together using the Alexander Technique principles, he began to allow himself to explore the possibilities of playing without many of his habitual preconceptions. He began to discover, through direct experience, that there is a natural way to respond to the demands of playing his instrument.

He began to think about balance instead of posture. He realized that he could let his jaw be free to respond to the resistance of the mouthpiece/reed. He learned that (just as we do with our own voices) his internal embouchure (soft palate, tongue position, etc.) will effortlessly and dynamically respond to voice the note clearly and powerfully.

He also discovered that his sound could inform his breathing, integrating both breath and sound into one responsive, dynamic, flexible and controlled, whole entity.

And oh, how his sound changed! It went from generically good,  to highly personal and expressive. Beautiful! This to me was the biggest thrill to experience. It was like I was hearing his true voice for the first time.

All of this largely due to a shift in his attitude. A shift from rigid beliefs about what it takes to play, to trusting his ability to respond constructively.

I should point out here that anticipation itself is a form of response. (In truth, it is the reaction to the thought of playing, rather than the response to the needs of the act itself.) But too often, it is a response that carries lots of misdirected energy. Suffice it to say, that most of your habitual tension and strain as you play your instrument is from this kind of anticipation.

It is easy to get stuck in anticipation mode. Maybe you do so from unconscious habit, advice given to you, anatomical or acoustical misunderstanding…even fear. But whatever the reason, shifting your attitude from expectation to exploration can help you play better, easier, more expressively and joyfully.

Start by noticing your own thinking and the habits that come along with it. What do you do to prepare as you play your first note? What are you doing that is not necessary to produce that note (tension, gesture)? What would it be like if you played without those habits of anticipation?

Give yourself a chance to explore these questions. I think you’ll be surprised by what you discover. And please, let me know.

Clarify A Few Misconceptions About Your Body To Make Better Music

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In my experience as an Alexander Technique teacher, I find that a significant contributing factor to many musician’s problems is a misunderstanding of how their bodies work with respect to playing their instrument.

I’ll see, for example, flutists who strain as they try to bend fingers where there are no joints. I’ll see pianists trying to use their necks to lift their arms. I’ll see brass players trying t0 “push the air from the diaphragm” even though this is physically impossible (the diaphragm, which is a muscle,  releases on the exhalation).

These are examples of what F.M. Alexander (founder of the Alexander Technique) would call erroneous preconceived ideas about the use and the functioning of the body.

Your brain actually creates a representation of the size, structure and functioning of the muscles, bones and joints in your body.  One thing that many postural scientists assert is that this representation always trumps reality.

In essence, this means that you will try to move in accordance to how you believe your structure works, whether that belief is based upon truth or fallacy. (Again, you’ll strain trying to bend at joints that don’t exist, for example)

Of course, much of this “belief”  (or misunderstanding) is on an unconscious level, and has been cultivated by a lifetime of habit. Equally unfortunate,  some of this belief is conscious, due to misinformation. Too many times I see musicians creating excess strain as they try to carry out some bad (anatomically counterproductive, if not impossible) advice given to them by their music teachers.

But whether below the level of consciousness or not, the unfortunate truth for musicians is that this misconceived sense of self, multiplied by thousands of repetitive movements everyday (practice),  leads to strain, injury, poor coordination and inconsistent technique.

The good news is that you can change your misconceptions about how your body works. You can learn to move more in accordance to the design of your structure as it relates to gravity.

How? Start by gaining some knowledge. Get a basic understanding of the structure and functioning of your musculo-skelatal system. Look at pictures from anatomy books and study the structures. Experiment with your own body to find where your joints are and how they work.

I’ve come across a tool that is highly useful for helping you to gain a clear and accurate understanding of how your body functions as you move and maintain posture. It is a marvelous DVD produced by Barbara Conable (edited and narrated by Amy Likar) entitled Move Well, Avoid Injury: What Everyone Needs To Know About The Body.

Barbara and Bill Conable are both Alexander Technique teachers,  and have developed a method they call Body Mapping to help musicians (and non-musicians alike) to gain a practical understanding of how their bodies work in movement and stillness. Amy Likar is an Alexander Technique teacher and a professional flutist.

This clearly narrated, logically organized presentation has 2 hours of absolutely essential information. Each chapter has lively animations and images that give you an easy way to understand, visualize and clarify your own body map.

It is organized in chapters covering such important topics as:

  • Balance-the physiological components that help us maintain our upright stature
  • Arms-thorough explanation and demonstration of how your arms (including your wrists, hands and fingers) work in relation to the rest of your body
  • Legs-besides examining the structures of the legs (pelvis, too), this chapter helps you to understand your legs in relation to your arms in moving and maintaining balance
  • Breathing-really demystifies so much of the conflicting information about this too often misunderstood function
  • Inclusive attention-how your other senses are integrated and impact how you move and maintain posture

The other chapters are equally interesting and helpful, addressing specifically the issue of how our body maps become flawed, and how we can correct them.

Here is a sample video demonstrating the rotation of the lower arm:

If you’re a musician, you will be nothing but helped by viewing and studying this video. If you teach music, you owe it to your students to have a reasonably clear understanding of the type of functional anatomy and physiology presented in this program. Not only will you give them accurate information, but also, you’ll be able to help them to prevent many of the harmful habits that come from these misconceptions.

I own the DVD, have spent many hours with this material, and highly recommend it.

Clarifying your body map won’t guaranty that you’ll solve all your movement and coordination problems as you practice and play music. Because your habits often feel “right” to you, it can be difficult to sense the misdirected energy and tension that comes with a poor body map (this is where a skilled Alexander Technique teacher and/or Andover Educator can help).

But just gaining the right information, studying it and applying it to what you do can make a huge difference. As I said, it’s a great place to start. I’ve seen some of my students improve instantly and significantly just be rectifying a particular misconception about their bodies as they play their instrument.

And that reminds me of this “oh, so true” aphorism by F.M. Alexander:

“We can throw away the habit of a lifetime in a few minutes if we use our brains.”

No doubt.