PRACTICE TIPS #47: The Suspense! The Stress! The Tension!
AAaaack!
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Brent Hugh
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Dec 06, 2000 19:52 PST
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PRACTICE TIPS is an occasional email newsletter with practical
piano practice tips and ideas, by Brent Hugh
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PRACTICE TIPS #47: The Stress! The Suspense! The Tension! AAaaack!
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A couple of weeks ago, I promised to tell more about the Alexander
Technique in a future Practice Tip. Well, if the suspense has been killing
you, this Practice Tip arrived just in time . . .
WHAT is the Alexander Technique?
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The Alexander Technique is a method that teaches you a different and more
natural way of using your body. This would include everything you do with
your body from combing your hair, brushing your teeth, sitting, standing,
lying, walking, breathing, moving, and, of course, playing a musical
instrument. Many athletes, actors, and musicians--anyone who uses their
body in a way that requires coordination and skill--find the Alexander
Technique invaluable.
WHY would pianists be interested in the Alexander Technique?
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Most pianists, on first taking an Alexander Technique lesson or seeing an
Alexander seminar, immediately ask themselves, "Why in the world would I be
interested in THIS? All they're doing is standing up and sitting down, or
lying down and breathing. *I* need lessons on Chopin, Bach, Beethoven, and
most of all INCREASING MY FINGER VELOCITY and I can see right off the bat
that all this standing, sitting, lying, and walking isn't going to help
that even one percent."
Well, it turns out that the line that forms the shortest distance between
two points isn't always where you think it's going to be (see Einstein,
Albert . . . ) and, in fact, spending time with an Alexander teacher
sitting, standing, lying, breathing, walking, and so forth, *might* just be
the best thing you could possibly do to increase your finger velocity, as
well as your interpretations of Chopin, Bach, and Beethoven.
When you spend time in an Alexander lesson sitting, standing, and so forth,
you are not interested in the sitting or standing per se, but in the HOW of
these movements. The Alexander teacher will, over the course of a series
of lessons, help you find a new way of doing (or "undoing", as some
Alexander teachers are fond of saying) these basic movements. Once you
have unlocked this more easy, natural way of moving and using your body,
you are free to use this more natural way of moving in ANY movement you
make. This would include such basic movements as sitting while you play
the piano, breathing while you play (YES, you should breathe while
playing--a little-known secret of piano technique), moving your arms,
torso, and fingers around the piano keyboard, and so on.
HOW LONG will it take to "learn" the Alexander technique
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How long it takes to make progress with the technique depends to a great
degree on you (where you are in your understanding of your body and how you
use it) and your teacher. You might notice some immediate changes in only
a lesson or two, or it might be 10 or 15 lessons before you notice much of
a difference.
It is common when taking Alexander lessons for rather drastic changes to
take place in the way you stand, sit, and coordinate your movements,
without your being aware of them for some time (most of us shut off our
awareness of how we are using our body to a great degree; one of the things
Alexander lessons help you to do is to bring back this "lost" awareness of
your own body). Often teachers, spouses, or friends notice a difference in
the way Alexander students are moving or playing their musical instrument,
before the student is consciously aware of any change.
More on this topic in a couple of days . . .
Happy Practicing!
--Brent
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PRACTICE TIPS is by pianist, teacher, composer, and internet nerd
Brent Hugh. Brent knows about practicing mostly because he *does*
it, and in fact is toddling off to do some of it just about now . . .
Please remember that this tip is but a small indentation near the top of
the elephant's right ear--it's not even close to the whole elephant
that is "how everyone in the whole world should practice the piano".
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+ Missouri Western St College Dept of Music, St. Joseph, MO +
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