Review of Alexander Technique Reactions

[Steve Marcus]

After combing through past TubeNet posts and topics about the Alexander Technique, such as viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8835&p=68035&hilit= ... que#p68035, I ask the question in the poll plus this question:

How important is it to study the Alexander Technique with someone such as John Henes who is a brass instrument player vs. a qualified AT teacher who does not necessarily play a wind instrument--or any instrument that must be held and/or balanced by the player?

[MileMarkerZero]

I think the Alexander Technique can be summarized by a quote from Mr. Jacobs:

"Don't think. Just play."

[eupher61]

"The Inner Game" books are a lot cheaper, and (in my experience working with an AT teacher who was a good friend besides) just as effective.

[PWtuba]

I've attended several Alexander Technique sessions and had a personal 'lesson.' It didn't really do anything more for my posture than just my own attention to posture and breathing. To me, it seemed a little like exaggerated transcendentalism. At least it got me thinking about my posture.

EDIT: I apologize for not answering the question...

[WoodSheddin]

I took an Alexander Technique course at NU with I believe Henes and thought the whole Alexander Technique philosophy garbage. I tried to be open minded during the course and John taught it well. But I still thought the whole thing rubbish.

[Tubadork]

Hey Steve,
I took some Alexander lessons (free woo hoo!!) in grad school and I found them to be helpful, it showed me ways to use my body in a more stress free way, which helped me focus more on music and less on muscles. But, it was not the be all end all, but I think if the instructor was a musician it would have been a lot more helpful. Another thing to check out is body mapping, I've been doing some reading lately and found it pretty helpful, there is a book:
What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body
http://focus-on-music.com/index.php?mai ... 911fec53b5" target="_blank
it's a little corny, but helpful,
also check out the stuff at :
http://mountainpeakmusic.com/" target="_blank
especially the breathing book it's very helpful.
and while on the subject, David Vining is a trombonist who developed focal dystonia of the embouchure, who made his way back using Alexander and body mapping,
check out his story:
http://www.davidvining.net/narrative.html" target="_blank

Bill

[MartyNeilan]

I thought the Alexander Technique meant pushing down all kinds of odd valve combinations, playing almost no notes open, and pulling slides like a madman??

[tubajoe]

Early on I had a teacher who was really into slide pulling who taught me to always have my left arm up and over the horn -- I became a “two handed player” pulling slides for almost every note. I would wrap myself around the horn.

This approach caused me quite a few issues, it was not detrimental, but I later learned that I was tiring easily and was quite tense and uncomfortable... this discomfort taught me to simply be too muscular with my overall approach to the tuba. I would go to the tuba, rather than bringing the tuba to me -- it caused me a lot of imbalance.

Late in undergrad I did some work at an Alexander workshop and did some private Alexander study. They analyzed my situation and we devised a new way to hold my horn which was *much* more ergonomic. This approach, coupled with grad study showing me that I did NOT need to be such an active slide puller made a radical difference in my playing. I took Henes’ class as well. All of this (diving into the ‘Jacobs’ world of playing in general) made me a much more grounded player. Learning how to hold the horn and sit correctly opened up a world of more efficient respiration, less overall fatigue and far far better control.

I’m a big proponent of Alexander if a student is having ergonomic issues, seems quite unnatural, or the horn seems to be an obstacle. Personally, I think it’s worth investigation for everyone, simply as it is about physical awareness. Some people naturally possess a good awareness, and some do not. I think when learning to play a wind instrument, physical awareness is important -- it goes hand-in-hand with philosophies of respiration as to where we utilize what the body already knows how to do, rather than trying to harness it and manipulate it in a forced inorganic manner.


To answer Steve’s question -- my first experience was with a couple of non-brass playing instructors. They watched me play and suggested improvements which helped me greatly. I later took Henes’ class where he did relate some of these concepts to brass playing. So, the brass playing part is a benefit, sure, but not a necessity to look into Alexander. Any qualified instructor should be able to understand and help you out. It was definitely worth the money in my case.