Category Archives: Practicing Improvisation

Being Still Is Not The Same As Being Stiff

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Playing music involves movement.  No matter what instrument you play (even your voice!) you have to be able to move to make music. How would you describe the quality of your movement when you play music? Are you fluid and free, or are you somewhat stiff and strained? Do you “plant” yourself in one position, or do you sort of “dance freely” as you play? I notice in myself that as time goes by I tend to be a bit more still as I practice and perform music.

Some years back you could see me flying all over the place as I played, going up and down, side to side, twisting in rotation, raising and lowering my saxophone as I followed the dynamics of my musical expression. What you’d likely see when I perform now is relative stillness. Yet, ironically,  I’m far less stiff in my stillness than in my excessive movement. I still move as I play, but usually not much more than a gentle sway that ebbs and flows with the music.

To be clear, I think it’s okay to move around a lot when you play music. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to confuse movement with freedom and ease. In my own case, a great deal of these movements of “expression” were primarily patterns of tension trying to hide the fact that I was not comfortable with stillness. Stillness (I believed) was the same as stiffness. (I also find this to be the belief of many of the musicians to whom I teach the Alexander Technique.)

For me this was largely because I never really learned to find balance as I played: Locked knees, tight shoulders, stiff neck and strained breathing to name but a few of my habits. I was in a constant battle with gravity.  As I began to study the Alexander Technique, I gradually began to find true, reliable balance. And over time I found myself being in a state of easy stillness as I played.

Watch this video of the legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker as he improvises a stunning solo over the tune, “Hot House”, from 1952. He’s certainly moving as he plays.

But notice what he’s not doing: He’s not hoisting his shoulders up toward his ears; he’s not collapsing or raising his chest; he’s not pulling his arms tightly inward toward his body; he’s not craning his head forward.

For sure he’s gently swaying with the music, but not in any kind of excessive manner. His movement looks organic and natural. He’s relatively still, but not  at all stiff. Even on (or especially on!) his blindingly fast passages he is calm, balanced (notice his hands, too) and completely present:

As Parker plays you can see that he stays in balance with his movement. His head is always poised above his pelvis. And you can easily get a sense that he could move in any direction he wanted. He’s not locked down. All this supports his playing, providing a fluid yet stable foundation for him to work. All his energy is directed efficiently into the act of making music.

You could easily contrast his playing to other saxophonists (who shall remain nameless) who flail like mad in what looks like a series of ever-stiffening contortions. Even if they play well (and many do!), I think it’s fair to say that their postural and movement habits don’t support their performance. Specifically, they are not directing their energy efficiently towards the act of making music.

So think about what you do as you play. If you’re moving a lot, see if you can notice any excessive tension as you move. Do you move from one strained posture to the next? See what happens as you become still and play. Do you get uncomfortable? If so, ask yourself “why?” It might be because you’re unable to find balance and stability in stillness. If that’s the case you can begin to seriously consider how you’re dealing with balance as you play.

Conversely, if you barely move a muscle as you play, ask a similar question: “Am I holding myself here in this position with a good deal of effort?” See that your jaw is not clinched, that your neck is free and that your shoulders are balanced over your ribs. Make sure you’re not locking your knees and holding your breath.

If you continue to explore the quality of your movement as you play, you’ll open a door to not only a less stressful way to make music, but also to greater expression and clarity.

What Does It Mean To Be Persistent?

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When it comes to improving at anything (especially music!) through practice, I often think of Albert Einstein’s definition of  insanity. I’m paraphrasing here, but it goes something like this: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again the same way, but expecting a different result.”  

Or as a dear friend of mine would say: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”  This is precisely the trap that many musicians fall into when it comes to practicing.

As human beings we are constantly trying to make sense and find order in our world. For this reason most of us love to have a routine (even though we may complain about it from time to time).

Practicing music daily is a form of ritualistic behavior, a manifestation of routine.

It is more than just preparing for performance. It is reconnecting to our instrument, to our aesthetic impetus, to our most personal and expressive selves.

And with most of us, it’s a constant quest for growth and improvement.

But there is often a conflict within us: We want to grow, but we don’t want the process of growth to be too unfamiliar. We want to feel each day that we’re stepping into the known territory of our beliefs about what makes a “productive” practice session.

For that reason we tend to solidify our practice routines into something that seems symmetrical and tangible. “First I do this, then that, then that for 15 minutes, then that in these keys, in this order…”

The truth of the matter is that for you to improve you have to be willing to step into the unfamiliar.

Or as F.M. Alexander (the founder of the Alexander Technique) said, in order to learn we must go from the “known to the unknown”.

As obvious as that seems, you might be surprised to see how reluctant you are in your practice routine to step too  far from what you know.

This doesn’t mean that you’re only practicing things that are easy for you to play (if you are, understand that that’s one of the main obstacles towards growth).

It might also mean that you are struggling with the same thing in your music making, whether it be something technical or artistic, even though you’ve been working on it for years.

If you’ve plateaued in your progress with a particular technical (or aesthetic) aspect of your playing, not really improving for a long time, it’s probably because of what  you’re practicing (and/or how  you’re practicing it). You’ve been persistent  in your effort to improve in this particular area, but to no avail (see Einstein’s definition of insanity above).

But here’s where you have to be persistent in a different way: You have to be persistently re-evaluating the effectiveness of your practice routine. 

This means always aiming to change what you do in your practice to find new ways to grow and improve. Here are a few things to consider to help you with this:

  • Don’t spend too much time practicing the things you can already do-Musicians often waste a considerable amount of time practicing things they can already play. For example, if you can play a particular exercise or pattern  fairly easily in all twelve keys except for Db and Gb, don’t spend an equal amount practicing it in all twelve keys. Spend the bulk of your time on the unfamiliar (in this case, Db and Gb).
  • Learn to stop– There’s no point in “playing something through to the end” if you’re encountering the same difficulty in the same place every time you practice it. Get comfortable with stopping the moment something isn’t going quite right. Then give yourself a chance to discern what the problem is so that you can do something different to solve it. Once you’ve come up with a new strategy to approach this problem, apply it a few times to see if it’s going to be helpful.
  • Let yourself be wrong-Learn to sound bad without loosing your composure: lose the tempo, play out of tune, play the wrong notes, let the articulation fall apart, etc. Getting comfortable with hearing yourself make mistakes while you practice will open up a whole new world of growth possibilities. It will encourage you to try new things, and shift the focus of your practice from immediate results, to quality of process. Often I find great new exercises by “mistake” in this manner.
  • Understand clearly what you’re practicing, and why you’re practicing it-Be clear in your objectives about how you wish to improve and grow. As you approach each exercise in your practice routine, ask yourself, “Why am I practicing this?” and, “How will it help me?” You should be able to easily answer this if your clear about  your objectives. What you choose to practice either serves your objective or it doesn’t.
  • Evaluate the quality of your practice over time-As stated earlier, if you’re playing the same exercise day after day for many weeks or months (years, even!) to help you with a particular aspect of your musical skill, and you’re not showing any improvement, consider throwing that exercise away. Never mind that somebody you really respect recommended it to you. Just because it works for them doesn’t mean it works for you. Explore and find something else.
  • Be flexible with the order of your practice routine-Once you’ve warmed up, allow yourself to change the order of what you practice every day. You might be surprised in doing this that you find greater efficiency, focus and enjoyment with your practice. There is no such thing as the best order that works for every practice session. How you’re feeling and playing that day can help you determine the most logical (and most productive!) order of your practice routine.
  • Balance the known with the unknown-It’s important that you have a satisfactory experience when you practice. As you explore and re-evaluate your practice routine, try to keep a balance between what is comfortable and what pushes you into new terrain. If all you do when you practice is seek the unfamiliar, not only will you never solidify what you practice, but also, you”ll never let yourself have a chance to enjoy sounding good. So reward yourself at every practice session with the kinds of things that are easy to play and bring pleasure to you.
If you keep persistent in your evaluation of your practice routine, you’ll find it much easier and more rewarding to practice your way into continuous growth. That in itself is a kind of reward that will keep you excited about practicing every day.

I Love To Practice!

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Welcome to my blog. This is my first entry. I got the idea for this after recently having a bit of a renaissance with my musical practice. I’m a professional saxophonist (and to a somewhat lesser degree, a flutist) who is deeply in love with improvising. I’ve always been well-disciplined where practice is concerned, but about a year ago I sort of rediscovered that spark that makes me truly excited to practice every day.

Unlike many musicians, I don’t practice for the sole purpose of being prepared to perform. Don’t get me wrong. I love to perform and take my readiness for this very seriously. But for me the act of practicing is itself a reward. One of the consistently most joyful and satisfying parts of my day is my practice time. It’s meditative, invigorating, challenging and always edifying. Practicing is also an ongoing tutorial about learning how to learn. It’s a beautiful thing.

I typically spend two to three hours a day practicing (more on days that I don’t work). Because of this, I must be mindful about taking care of myself. I personally know many musicians who struggle with chronic pain and other health issues because of their practice habits. I used to be one of those musicians, too. But not any more. Some years back I discovered something that has helped (and continues to help) me more than anything else as a musician, not only to avoid injury, but also to support continuous growth, technical improvement and artistic development.

What I discovered was a simple, effective method of self-care called the Alexander Technique. I was so impressed by how I was able to help myself with this work that I decided to train to become a certified teacher. I’ve been teaching the Technique now for a few years, and have had great satisfaction working with musicians, actors and dancers, helping them to improve the quality of their practice and performance.

So I’ve decided to share my discoveries both as an Alexander Technique teacher and as a serious improvising musician (they’re more related than you might imagine!) There are two areas of interest to me where this is concerned:

  1. To provide simple, practical information and advice to help musicians stay healthy, pain-free and well-coordinated by applying the principles of the Alexander Technique.I’ll be writing about some of the most common concerns where musicians are concerned, such as chronic back and neck pain, repetitive strain injuries, balance and coordination issues (including focal dystonia), breathing and managing performance anxiety. I’ll also be writing from time to time about other health topics, such as nutrition, exercise (I’m also a personal trainer certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine), rest, self-care strategies  and the use of ergonomic products.
  2. To share my explorations in my quest to continuously develop my skills as an improvising musician. I love jazz, Balkan gypsy music, just about all folk music, conceptual improvised music (free, avant garde, new music…), and just about anything else that involves the supremely human act of spontaneous composition. My primary discipline is modern jazz, and  my main passion is finding my own voice as an improviser. I also love helping other musicians find theirs. I’m always finding new ways to practice and study that help me on this journey. I’ll be sharing ideas, exercises from some of the books I’ve written (or am currently writing) about improvisational pedagogy, and other resources and ideas that I discover from others. I’ll also be posting videos of great musical performers (pointing out what helps these artists play so well) as well as my own video tutorials.
So please feel free to ask, suggest, or criticize to help me make this a better blog. I always welcome comments, and sincerely thank you for reading. Here’s to your health and continued improvement!