Tag Archives: Alexander Technique

What I learned From The Gypsies About Playing Music

For years I’ve been deeply interested in the music from the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. I’ve traveled to Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania and other countries primarily to listen to the folk music there. Early on I discovered the music of the Roma, or as they are more commonly known, the Gypsies. They are ubiquitous in this part of the world, and are well-known for their very distinctive musical stylings and stunning virtuosity.

It is commonly held that the Roma originally came from the Rajastan region of India and migrated towards Europe. I’ve had the privilege of witnessing many astonishing performances in the Balkan countries by the local Roma population. I’m always struck by how absolutely easy it looks for them to play music.There is literally no barrier between expression and execution. No nerves, no self-consciousness, no judging, no excess tension. Just joyful, fiery music.

They are also known for their incredible endurance playing music. It’s no problem for them to play all day and all night (as many weddings in Balkan villages require), seeming never to tire.

If you were to ask one of these musicians if playing music was difficult, you would probably be met with an incredulous, bemused look. It would be as if you asked them if it was difficult to taste food. It’s something that comes so naturally to them, that I doubt whether these musicians even ponder the question.

Some years back I saw a marvelous film called Latcho Drom. I guess you could call it a staged documentary about how the Roma have migrated from India, as told through their music. In the film, one particular group stood out to me. They’re called Taraf de Haidouks, and they are from a small village called Clejani, which is situated in the Wallachia region of Romania. I was floored by their passionate, soulful, technically dazzling playing. I immediately became a big fan. About a year after seeing the film I got a chance to see them perform here in Los Angeles at Royce Hall.

It was at that performance that I witnessed a simple, almost unnoticeable thing that completely changed my belief about playing technically challenging music (about playing music in general, really). For the first time in my life I began to notice a sort of reciprocal relationship between technique and tension. With these musicians, specifically, the more technically challenging the music became, the more free and relaxed they seemed to be in body and mind.

At that point in my career I believed the exact opposite. Speed equals tension and contraction.Intensity equals tension and contraction. A big sound equals tension and contraction. (This was before I began to study the Alexander Technique. In fact, it was my experience at this concert that ended up being a stepping stone to my discovery of the Alexander Technique.)

The moment that most sticks out in my mind from this concert was when the leader of the group, Caliu Gheorghe (a virtuoso violinist!), was playing a piece from their repertoire that I was quite familiar with. It was a suite of dances from different regions in Romania. At one point in the piece, there is a break where the band stops playing and Caliu Gheorghe plays a lightning fast unaccompanied solo at a ridiculously fast tempo to introduce the new tempo of the next dance in the suite.

As I anticipated this solo break, I could feel myself beginning to “prepare” (as if I had to play such a solo). I started holding my breath, clenching my neck and jaw, bracing my arms and locking my knees…all as I sat in the audience watching. Essentially I was contracting into myself. That was my reaction to playing fast tempos.

But then I saw this remarkable thing: The split second before the solo break I saw Caliu Gheorghe react in a different way. I witnessed him softening his knees as he sort of let his head float up off the top of his spine. I could also see him releasing his arms away from his body and I think I even saw how easily he was breathing. He was expanding and releasing as he prepared to play instead of contracting. A much different reaction than mine. (Again, this happened in one split second.)

Then he launched into his solo with such joy, presence and utter technical control that I found myself laughing out loud . Besides sounding so good, it looked so easy to do. I was inspired! From that day forward I began thinking about a different way to react as I played music. I’ve been on this path for some years now and the rewards have been huge.

Here is a video clip of Taraf de Haidouks performing Rustem si suite. Notice how free all the musicians are as they play this very intricate and rapid piece. (Caliu Gheorghe is the first violinist to appear at beginning of the performance). Notice the joy, ease and deep emotional expression these musicians bring to the performance. Hope you enjoy!

Prevention As The Key For Improving Your Technique

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Bill Green, who was legendary in Los Angeles as a wise teacher and master of woodwind instruments once said to me: “You know, it’s a shame, but many musicians spend the first half of their lives learning to play, and the last half unlearning the habits that came along with learning to play.” And so it is with most of us, especially with respect to instrumental and vocal pedagogy.

In an ideal world (and what Bill Green was advocating) was to start off well on the learning journey, always developing habits that help us to make music instead of interfering with the process. I couldn’t agree more with this approach.

Unfortunately, not all of us have had the good fortune to have a clear-thinking, vigilant teacher always by our side to help us along the way. Many musicians find ways to improve despite what they’re doing, not because of it. (I’m no exception to that.) And even those musicians who have had brilliant teachers often still find ways of developing habits of misdirected effort that come with making music.

When I teach a class in the Alexander Technique to musicians, I like to go around the class and ask each person which aspect of pedagogy (technique, intonation, etc.) he or she would most like to improve. Practically without fail all the responses I get from the students have one thing in common: the need to stop something habitual from happening while playing music.

I hear things like, “I’d like to be able to play in the upper register without clenching my jaw.”, or, “I’d like to be able to play pianissimo in the bottom octave without stiffening up and going sharp.” In other words, these musicians are hoping to unlearn the habits that are contributing to their playing challenges.

Even the musicians who don’t directly use the “without doing” language still want something that calls primarily upon prevention of habit.

For example, “I’m awkward with my arpeggios. I’d like to increase my speed and fluency.” As I begin to work with the student he or she comes to realize that to do this involves stopping the habitual pattern of misdirected tension that interferes with the speed and fluidity of playing arpeggios. Again, prevention.

This preventative approach involves unlearning habitual response patterns. Once the student gets into the frame of mind to unlearn instead of learn, the true road to improvement is opened.

I call this subtractive practice.

Rather than adding some new thing to do in order to improve technique, the aim here is to subtract (prevent) something old (your habit) from happening as you play music to help you improve.

This has become a fundamental principle of how I practice everyday, whether it is something specific to saxophone technique or an improvisational concept. From this I’ve been able to find consistent growth, satisfaction and surprise along the way.

F.M. Alexander (the founder of the Alexander Technique) said, “If you can stop doing the wrong thing, the right thing will do itself.” With respect to instrumental or vocal pedagogy for so-called “advanced” or “artist level” musicians, this is true in many cases. (You already know how to play. It’s just a matter of attenuating a few habits to help you play even better.)

I encourage you to consider this idea as you approach your practice. Ask yourself: Are my habits interfering with my progress? If the answer is yes, I want you to know that you can begin to change that any time you wish. Here are a few things to keep in mind to help you:

Make a list of what you wish to change-Write down the 3 or 4 things (or maybe just one thing or 10!) you’d like to change to improve the technical aspects of your playing. It could be anything from cleaner articulation, to better intonation, to a more speed and fluency, to….

Reframe these changes from a point of view of prevention-With respect to each area of improvement you wish to make, see if you can notice if you have a habit of tension associated with it. For example, if you wish for faster and cleaner single tonguing articulation, see if you notice yourself tensing up as you “try” to play faster. Notice particularly what you do with your head (including your jaw and lips), neck, and shoulders. If you find yourself tensing up unnecessarily, see if you can understand how this tension not only doesn’t help, but might actually be interfering with your progress. If it is, then you know specifically what you need to prevent to improve. Almost without fail, sloppy technique goes hand in hand with misdirected muscular energy (too much tension here, not enough there). Make your desired aim be, “I’d like to stop tightening my jaw (for example) as I increase the speed of my articulation.” Reframe your other desired changes from your list in a similar way.

Allow yourself dedicated time each day to consciously work to subtract or lessen your habits-Don’t spend each moment of your practice time doing nothing but trying to stop your habits. Besides making you a little crazy, it can get boring and frustrating very quickly (I’m probably stating the obvious here). Just dedicate a certain amount of easily invested and manageable time each day to working specifically against each habit.You can say, for example, “For the next 10 minutes I’m going to practice making a conscious decision to prevent my jaw from tensing up as I gradually increase the speed of my articulation. That will be the aim of my practice. I’ll go no faster than I can go without tightening my jaw.” Over time your old habits of tension will become weaker and weaker, and your playing will improve. It’s that simple.

Allow yourself to stop-There’s nothing to be gained from doing your habit over and over if it is not helping you. Learn to stop at the very moment you notice yourself going into an unwantd playing habit. Every time you stop, you weaken the pattern. And you improve.

Allow yourself to sound worse-Anytime you change how you play your instrument, you run the risk of sounding worse. Now, keep in mind that this doesn’t always happen. Very often you’ll sound immediately better if you play with less tension. In fact, that’s the norm. But sometimes just changing one little thing you do habitually can throw you off for a minute or two. Don’t let that discourage you. Look upon this as an experiment. Give yourself a chance to adjust to the changes. See if you can understand specifically what your doing that might be making things worse. Are you trying too hard? Thinking too much about one thing? Tensing something else in your body unnecessarily as you play. You have another learning opportunity right there if you can do this.

I’ll talk more in future posts about bringing prevention into the aesthetic aspects of playing, particularly as they relate to improvisation. In the meantime, see if you can make a shift in your thinking from doing to prevention. You’ll be surprised by how much you can grow.

Juilliard Music Students Talk About The Alexander Technique

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One of my greatest satisfactions in life is being able to use the Alexander Technique as a tool help musicians. If you’re a musician, the Technique is useful for everything from teaching you how to avoid injuries and play with less pain and strain, to improving your coordination and skill, to helping you hear and respond more effectively to the music around you, to giving you a way of finding and developing your authentic expressive voice as a performer. It has helped me to improve as a musician more than anything else that I’ve yet discovered in my life.

Here’s a very nice video made by Lori Schiff, who teaches the Alexander Technique at Juilliard and at the Aspen Music Festival. She doesn’t try to describe the Technique so much as she just let’s the students (she also has a few working professional musicians speaking as well) tell about how they’ve been helped by the work. If you have experience with the Alexander Technique, you’ll likely appreciate (and relate to) what the various musicians are saying about the work. If you haven’t experienced the Technique, I hope this at leasts piques your curiosity. Enjoy!

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.

Three Things to Address to Practice in a Healthy Way

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Playing a musical instrument involves repeating specific movements over and over again within a given time period. When you play your instrument you are repeating some of these patterns literally thousands of times per hour. That’s a lot of muscular contraction. This can (but doesn’t have to!) lead to the unintended consequences of fatigue, muscle and joint pain, repetitive stress injuries (RSI), or worse. (Not to mention frustration, dissatisfaction, and even depression and anxiety.) There are three things that primarily impact your health and comfort in your music practice: use, environment and rest.

If you practice a great deal each day and/or find yourself challenged with chronic back, neck, shoulder, or other kind of musculoskeletal pain, ask yourself these three questions while you work:

Am I using myself well?

The primary aim of the Alexander Technique is to teach you how to use yourself well as you carry out your activities. Because much of your excess tension is carried out on a regular basis (falling below your level of consciousness) your first challenge is to become aware of your habits. (This is where lessons with a certified Alexander Technique teacher can yield huge benefits in a fairly short period of time.)

The most important thing to consider here is what not to do (i.e., what to prevent yourself from doing as you engage in an activity). Don’t stiffen your neck. Don’t hold your breath. Don’t clench your jaw. Don’t lock your knees. Don’t pull your shoulders up into your neck. (In short, don’t stiffen and tense yourself up!) These are a few of the most essential things to prevent in order to use yourself in an efficient and safe manner.

You can also check to see that your head is poised in a relaxed manner above your pelvis (not stiffening your neck and shoulders) as you sit or stand, and that you are able to move freely from your hips, knees and ankles if you need to bend forward (whether to get closer to your instrument or the music in front of you). Make sure you are on your sitting bones when sitting, and that you are neither collapsing, nor trying too hard to hold yourself up. Simply let yourself find an easy balance between the two extremes.

Most important, don’t forget that it is your thinking that primarily conditions your muscular effort. This is in part determined by your attitude. If you imagine your work as easy, as opposed to strenuous (whether it is or not), you will save yourself considerable energy. Make things light and playful when you can.

Is my environment supporting my good use?

Alter your work environment (instrument, accessories and other equipment, furniture, lighting, music stand, etc.) to support your good use. If you’re sitting, make sure your chair is the correct height for you. Often I see musicians sitting in chairs that are too small for them. This invites collapse in your spine and strain in your hips, back and shoulders. Your knees should never be at a higher level than your hip joints when you sit. (Ideally, they should be slightly lower.)

For many musicians, a good stool is a better alternative to a chair. Even a simple bar stool with a (not too softly) padded seat can be a significant improvement. Research and explore the possibilities to find what works best for you.

If you stand a lot, make sure you’re wearing comfortable, low-heeled shoes. Your footwear should be compatible with the surfaces you walk and stand on. Some musicians (myself included) prefer practicing without shoes. Letting your feet really feel the floor can help you stay in good balance and encourage upward release and mobility.

Make sure that your instrument and all accessories are the right size for you and are adjusted appropriately. I’m always amazed at all the saxophonists I see who use a too-narrow neck strap with their instrument slung too low, creating a huge amount of neck strain. It’s worth the time and effort to make a study of your equipment.

Arrange your work environment to most efficiently meet your needs. This takes some thought. Your first consideration should be lessening your physical effort. It’s also a good idea to arrange things so that you are not bending and/or twisting so much. Sometimes just giving yourself a little time to plan before you begin your work can save you discomfort or injury. This might mean gathering all your music practice materials and equipment before you begin your practice session. (As opposed to struggling and straining to find that method book or metronome while holding on to your instrument.)

Always make sure you have adequate and appropriate lighting. This is one of the most overlooked aspects of the work environment. If you are struggling to see your work, you will be tempted to use yourself poorly: squinting your eyes, holding your breath, craning your neck forward, etc.

The same can be said about the height of your music stand. Find your good balance and comfort first, then adjust all equipment to your good balance.

Unfortunately, you can’t always control the quality of your work environment. This is why you need to pay attention to what you can control: Your use.

Am I resting adequately?

You’re not made of steel. Even if you are using yourself well and have a supportive environment, you need to take breaks from your work. It is fundamentally important that you rest before you get tired. (Don’t wait for exhaustion or discomfort to tell you when you need to rest.) Here are a few other basic ergonomic guidelines concerning rest:

Alternate sitting and standing (when possible) while you work.
Avoid prolonged periods in the same position.  (Allow yourself to move. Don’t be “planted” down in any one position.)
Try not to sit for more than 30 to 40 minutes at a time without getting up to move around. Conversely, don’t stand for too long a period without rest.
Consider breaking your practice routing into several small sessions. I find myself practicing for no more than about 10 to 20 minutes at a stretch without taking at least a brief break. I’m way more productive by approaching my work this way.
Consider breaking your practice routine into two or more practice sessions per day. This is particularly helpful if you practice for three or more hours per day. A morning and evening session (as opposed to one marathon session) can lead to better health and greater productivity.

Lying in the semi-supine position (constructive rest) is a great way to give yourself a fully restorative break during your practice period. This involves lying on your back (on a carpeted floor or other firm surface) with your knees bent, feet on the floor and elbows bent with your palms resting where your ribcage meets the sides of your tummy. Put a book or two under your head to keep your head in good integration with your neck, back and pelvis. Fifteen minutes or so of resting this way in the middle of your practice session will greatly improve your comfort, endurance and overall health and safety. Here’s more about constructive rest.

So you can begin today to make a difference in how you practice. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much easier things can be if you keep these three things in mind.