Tag Archives: Improving Musical Performance

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.

Practice, Growth And Love

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As I’ve become better at parenting (I have a 17 year old son and a 2-and-half year old daughter), I’ve also learned some important lessons about my attitudes about my musical progress and development.

Notice that I said, “as I’ve become better at parenting”, meaning I’ll never really perfect that skill. I’ll just continue to learn and improve and grow as a parent, mistakes, setbacks and all. And I’m perfectly fine with that.

I can say the same thing about my skills as a musician.

Before having children, I had a very harsh and unbalanced way of assessing my musical skills and perceiving what I needed to improve my playing. Never for a moment satisfied with what I could already do, I had rigid and unrealistic expectations of what I should be able to do.

But since having children what has changed is that I’ve learned to approach and respect my musical growth, potential and development in the same manner I do with my children’s growth, potential and development.

I would never talk to my children the way I used to talk (think) to myself when I was frustrated  or unhappy with my musical progress. That would be cruel (lots of thoughts about “wasting your time trying”, “lacking fundamental ability and talent”, “you’re playing horribly”, or simply, “you just don’t have what it takes.”) Hurtful language, indeed.

Yet I encounter many musicians who carry such hostile thinking with them into the practice room. (I can tell you from experience, both as musician and teacher, this kind of thinking ultimately doesn’t help.) If you are such a musician, I offer you this advice: Treat yourself and your musical pursuits with love, in the same way you would a loved one in your life.

And if you have any experience as a parent, treat your musical growth as you would your own child. Allow me to explain.

I would like for my children to be able to reach their fullest potentialities. But I also love and accept them just where they are in their development. I’m satisfied with them. I take great delight in seeing what they can already do. Time, guidance, resourcefulness, discipline and love will lead them in the direction of growth and improvement. Same with me and my music.

So yes, of course, I want my 2-and-half year old daughter, Julia,  to learn to read. But I don’t find anything “fundamentally lacking” with her right now because she can’t. She’s right where she needs to be. (I could go on forever here about what she can do that I find so amazing.)

This doesn’t mean that I never get upset, frustrated, or angry with my children. (I do, from time to time; that’s part of the parenting experience.) It’s just that I give my children the respect for their sense of self-worth that they deserve. I’ve since learned to give myself the same respect with regard to my musical practice. I encourage you to do so, too.

If you know that you’re a bit harsh and negative with yourself, and never satisfied with your progress as a musician, here are a few thoughts to keep in mind that might help:

  • It’s okay to want to more than what you have now (more sound, better technical control, greater improvisational skills…whatever), but it’s not okay to berate yourself for where you are in your development.
  • It’s okay to recognize and celebrate the skills you already have. You have to find joy along the way in your pursuit of excellence. It’s not being lazy or arrogant to say to yourself, “That sounds good. I like how I played that.”
  • Be mindful of your self talk. Learn to soften your tone and to encourage yourself, the same way you would a beloved child. Keeping a practice journal can be very enlightening and helpful in this regard.
  • Strive to continually clarify and understand your potentialities as a musician. Avoid comparing your natural abilities and talents with others. It’s all about striving towards realizing your potential, not somebody else’s.
  • Hold yourself to high standards. Just make sure they are your standards, based upon your abilities and talents. Expect the best from yourself, and apply discipline (fueled by passion) to keep you aiming high and working hard.
  • Love and fear are strong motivators. In my experience, love is the more powerful, expansive and durable of the two. Motivate and energize yourself from a place of love and inspiration, not fear.
  • It’s okay to be on the “wrong path” from time to time in your musical pursuit. Progress is virtually never a straight line. And no, you didn’t waste your time on that wrong path (perhaps trying a new technique or approach that ultimately turned out to be unhelpful). You simply strengthened and illuminated your conception of the “right path”.
  • Cultivate gratitude. Just like it’s a blessing to be a parent, it’s a blessing to be able to play music. Please never forget that.

So in your practice, I wish for you to approach yourself and your growth with compassion, joy, acceptance, curiosity, humor, and love. Just like my children have taught me. I continue to improve my skills and expressive capabilities as a musician. But I’m happy with what I have, and find satisfaction and joy each day as I practice.

A Wonderful New Tool To Help You Understand Breathing

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One of the things I frequently encounter as I teach the Alexander Technique to wind instrumentalists and singers is how widely misunderstood breathing is. It’s not uncommon for me to give a lesson to someone who sings or plays professionally who is still unclear as to what actually happens in the breathing process.

I’m talking here mostly about basic anatomical and physiological misconceptions. Some of these misconceptions are a result of ignorance (never really taking the time to study and understand the science of respiration). Others are inaccuracies (and more than a few myths!) that have been handed down to them by previous teachers (who themselves never took the time to understand the science). Among the most common of these misconceptions in my teaching experience:

  • Your lungs are located in the middle part of your torso, toward the front, near your belly. In truth, your lungs are located more towards the back of your torso, and higher up (the top of your lungs is actually slightly higher up than your collar bones.
  • Your diaphragm moves forward and back (the way your belly moves in and out). In truth, your diaphragm moves on the vertical plane (up and down). Your belly moving forward and back is simply displacement of the abdominal content as you breathe.
  • You need to support the airstream on the exhalation by pushing from the diaphragm. In truth, your diaphragm is actually releasing on the exhalation, so you can’t be pushing from it. The tension necessary to support the breath comes from several different muscle groups in the torso (including back muscles!)
  • Your upper ribcage and chest should be still when you breath; all the movement should be down in your abdominal area. In truth, your entire rib cage needs to move as you breath. It is the expansion of the rib cage (in conjunction with the movement of the diaphragm) that increases the internal dimensions of the thorax, which causes the inhalation.
  • You need to completely empty your lungs (again, by “pushing” from the diaphragm) before you inhale again. In truth, you don’t ever want to try to completely empty your lungs. Trying to do so just interferes with the coordination of your breathing. A minimum atmospheric pressure  between your lungs and your external environment must be maintained at all times.
  • Your lungs expand because you fill them with air. In truth, it’s the opposite: You fill yourself with air as a result of your lungs expanding ( a vacuum, like a bellows).
  • You need to strengthen your muscles to meet the breathing needs of playing a wind instrument (or singing). In truth, you need to improve the coordination of your breathing.

And there are more. The problems arise when you believe these misconceived ideas to be true, and attempt to breath in accordance to them: excessive neck and jaw tension; stiff shoulders and arms; noisy and distracting (in recording or live performance) inhalation; mal-coordinated (and thus more limited) inhalation;  excessive use and tension of the abdominal muscles, etc.

If you play a wind instrument or sing, it is absolutely imperative that you have an accurate understanding of breathing. If you teach wind instrumentalists and/or singers, it is your duty and responsibility to make sure your students are not misapprehending the breathing process.

Recently I purchased an excellent tool to help my students to better understand breathing, and I would like to tell you a little bit about it and recommend it to you.

It’s called Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing: Rib Animation DVD. It’s a brief, yet clear and thorough visual representation of how breathing actually works.

Jessica Wolf is considered one of today’s leading experts on breathing. She is a certified Alexander Technique teacher, and has also studied extensively under the revolutionary breathing coordination pioneer, Carl Stough. She also teaches her Art of Breathing certification courses as post-graduate training for Alexander Technique teachers. I have immense respect for her knowledge and skill.

Through beautiful animation and easy to understand words, she starts by showing how the ribs and spine function together (how they move) in the breathing process. Next comes the diaphragm: where it’s located, it’s various structures, how it moves, etc. Then comes the abdominal organs in relation to this movement, and finally all the other muscles that are involved in respiration (introduced one at a time).

Besides its clarity and simplicity, one of the  other great features of this presentation is that each new anatomical element (e.g, bones of the spine, ribs, pelvis) that is introduced is easily understood in relation to the previous elements (e.g., the diaphragm) . So easy to comprehend. Nothing is left for vague interpretation or misunderstanding.

I’ve been using this DVD in my Alexander Technique classes at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles, with excellent results. In a very short period of time, my students are able to de-mystify many of the misconceptions that are holding them back from better breathing.

The word I would most use to describe this brief, but thorough presentation is efficiency. There is nothing but the essential information (that need to be known and understood!) Watch it several times. Memorize it. If you teach, you’ll find that you’ll be able to convey breathing principles so much more effectively to your students.

Here’s a link (Amazon.com) to make a purchase.

If you really want to deepen your understanding of breathing, I also recommend Jessica Wolf’s Art of Breathing: Collected Articles.

If you play a wind instrument or sing, a little bit of (accurate) information about your most vital physical function can go a long way to improving how you perform (and teach!) Best wishes.

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Improvising Music: Four Essential Components

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After reflecting upon a lesson I gave last week to a beginning jazz student, I came to realize a simple truth about what it takes to improvise. I’d like to share my thoughts with you.

No matter what genre of music you improvise in, there are four essential components you rely upon to create music spontaneously. This applies whether you’re a novice or an accomplished artist (or somewhere in between). These  four things are:

  1. Impetus
  2. Imagination
  3. Control
  4. Risk

Allow me to elaborate.

Impetus

You must have something that moves you along, that gives life to your creative impulse.

Time, rhythm, and feel are primary, and are more basic and fundamental than pitch itself. There can be music without pitch, but not without rhythm. In jazz pedagogy, there is often too much of an emphasis for the beginning improviser on which notes to play, with little emphasis on the thing that actually gives life to these notes.

Many of these beginners feel deep frustration when they know a particular group of pitches quite well (like the blues scale, for example) but can’t seem to make any music with it.

This is a rhythmic issue. They need to develop and learn to rely upon their pulse/rhythm/ feel impetus.

Master improvisers are not really thinking  a lot about which notes to play and how to connect them when they’re in the middle of a solo. They’re mostly following their rhythmic instincts (which are, of course, integrated effectively into their harmonic/melodic knowledge and skills).

If you’re a novice improviser, spend lots and lots of time developing this first. I’ve written an article that will help you along with this.

Imagination

You have to be able to conceive melodic ideas (pitch, rhythm, inflection, articulation, dynamics…coming together seamlessly).

In essence, there has to be meaning to what you play (it has to mean something to you!) For this to happen, you need to work towards cultivating a vast musical imagination.

If you’re a beginning student of jazz, for example, you must listen, listen, listen to great jazz recordings! But don’t just listen passively. Make it a point to listen to a favorite improvised solo to the point that you can sing it clearly, accurately and easily. Then sing or hum this solo, making slight variations. This is just one thing you can do to develop your imagination.

You can also practice singing along with jazz recordings (or backing tracks) discovering and cultivating your imagination. Again, make the rhythmic impetus primary.

Control

You have to be able to carry out what you imagine and feel (impetus).

This is where so much of the hard work comes in. You must not only be able to have knowledge of chords, scales, articulations and forms, but also, you must have the skills on your instrument to play them…in real time, with little trouble or thought.

Some of the novice improvisers I teach simply need to spend more time mastering the basics of their instrument (technique, sound production, etc.) You also need to work towards hearing what you can play (scales, chords, melodic patterns, etc.), and understanding how it relates to harmony, melody, form, etc. This is also a component in developing your imagination (see above).

Risk

You must be willing to step into the unknown.

Without this willingness, you’ll never allow yourself the joy of spontaneous musical creation. Improvisation, by definition, involves risk. It involves being in the moment, faced with no exact script, and trusting your muse.

But let this be a fun thing, a human thing. After all, when you’re speaking, you’re improvising, constantly changing and following your thoughts. You do it naturally (through lots and lots of practice). Improvising music isn’t so different.

Great improvisers are not only unafraid of risk, but also, welcome it. They ride upon the unknown like a huge, beautiful wave.

In the study of jazz improvisation there can often be an imbalance of these 4 components. Perhaps too much of an emphasis on technical skills at the expense of developing imagination. Perhaps rarely exploring and pushing the limits of risk taking. Perhaps gaining great technical control over a very narrow rhythmic and melodic imagination.

Whatever the case, it’s always possible to reflect upon your progress, redirect your efforts, change your plan, and improve your playing.

Your Sound: Hearing What Is There Instead Of Listening For What Is Not

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The sound you produce on your instrument is a product of several components: your imagination (conception), your equipment, your physical structure, and your coordination. To get the best sound you can at any given moment, all these components need to be in place and working in harmony.

This is perhaps more immediately evident for some instruments than others. If you play a wind instrument, like I do (saxophone), you know how absolutely crucial it is to coordinate breath with embouchure (including tongue and oral cavity) in response to your equipment as you aim toward your conception of tone.

For an instrument like piano, for example, you may not have to coordinate as many different things physically to produce tone, but you still have plenty to deal with in order to touch the keys with the kind of attack and color you imagine.

Part of the work I do as an Alexander Technique teacher is coaching my students with their sound. What I  find with  many new students  is that they’re not hearing the beauty and resonance that is already there in their sound. Instead they’re in a state of frustrated distraction as they struggle to produce a sound that doesn’t match their exact preconception.

In essence, the problem is that they’re trying too hard to listen, but aren’t really hearing. When this is the case two unfortunate things arise:

1. Unnecessary strain: stiff necks, jaws, backs, arms, legs …all in an effort to muscle the sound into submission.

2. Withheld enjoyment: not being able to take pleasure in the process of music making.

Whenever I work with these students I’m usually taken aback at how they’ve cut themselves off from fully realizing their sound. I hear things like, “It’s really thin”, or “It has no color”, or “It’s not well-focused”. Yet it doesn’t sound that way at all to me when I listen to them. I hear resonance, energy, rich color, intensity, expression…I hear what’s actually there. It’s just that I’m just not listening with my student’s expectations.

Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not saying that my students shouldn’t try to find that “ideal” sound. Of course they should (and you should, too!) That’s part of the journey an artist makes.  It’s just that they might be closer to producing that sound than they think. (You might be closer than you think, too!)

Does you ever struggle like this to more fully realize your sound? If so, here are some things to do and/or keep in mind to help you:

  • Broaden your listening-Rather than listening closely to your instrument, let yourself hear your sound as it resonates in the room you’re playing or practicing in. I tell my students, “Listen out into the room. That’s where the sound is.”
  • Take care of yourself-No matter what you’re hearing (or trying to hear), don’t lose sight of what you’re doing with yourself as you play. It doesn’t help at all to stiffen your body to produce yours sound (makes it rather worse, actually). Instead, think of releasing your sound.
  • Hear with more than your ears-Resonance can be felt all over your body if you’re open to it. Notice how your chest, jaw, neck, back…even your fingers feel as you make your sound. Notice that you can hear more when you’re not stiffening your body.
  • Learn to discern-Instead of immediately judging (as in good or bad) your sound, aim towards being able to identify and describe more objective data, such as pitch, overtones (can you hear the partials?), volume and balance of color. Recording yourself regularly (on good equipment, of course) can help tremendously with this. Learn to hear yourself in a more detached way, as if you’re simply observing something with no personal agenda.
  • Seek out goodness-Even when I’m playing on a bad reed, in less than ideal acoustic settings, I’m actively listening for what is good (what I like!) about my sound. I can always find something that pleases me, as I reconnect to what makes my sound mine. In fact, sometimes I intentionally practice tone exercises with these challenging conditions just to give myself a chance to put this into practice.
  • Be grateful-To play music  is such a huge blessing. Most people who’ve never played and instrument envy even the mediocre musician’s ability of musical self expression. Sometimes in the quest for improvement, it’s easy to lose sight of what you already have. Let yourself enjoy and fully embrace where you’re at with your musical development right now.

It’s natural to want to improve your sound (I’m always working to improve mine; and yes, I’m helping my students to improve theirs, as well), but please do let yourself hear what’s already there. (You might be surprised!) You’ll play better, feel better and enjoy yourself more.

I’ll leave you with these old words of wisdom that I first heard from my mother many years ago: Happiness isn’t having what you want; it’s wanting what you have.