Oscar South Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Anyone here had much experience with this? I did an all day session today that I really thought was quite incredible, allowed me to play complex passages with a presence and feel unlike I had before, and I saw and heard singers voices change dramatically with only a few minor posture adjustments. I need to know more!! Anyone else done any study of this method? Any experiences or insight to share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2112 Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 Any explanation of what it is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 (edited) [quote name='Oscar South' timestamp='1352571291' post='1864794'] Anyone here had much experience with this? I did an all day session today that I really thought was quite incredible, allowed me to play complex passages with a presence and feel unlike I had before, and I saw and heard singers voices change dramatically with only a few minor posture adjustments. I need to know more!! Anyone else done any study of this method? Any experiences or insight to share? [/quote] Studied it as part of my secondary teacher training as it was suggested (a long time ago) it could improve problems musicians have (ie back pain, posture issues etc) if dealt with at a younger age with pupils. However, been proven to have very few applications for musicians as the alterations for posture are more 'common sense' and correcting bad habits. Outside of a few minor adjustments, it has been proven to be mostly ineffective in terms of long term practice (and in some cases) has actually made some issues worse for musicians, as the postures suggested conflict with correct instrument postures. It was even proven that the initial development (for respiratory and breathing issues) was not applicable to musicians who were dependant on breathing to produce a sound as they already had good breathing techniques, making the Alexander technique redundant. However, just because it has no scientific evidence to back it up, it has been noted that it has a psychological impact on some patients. So if it makes you play better (regardless of how) then it's worth a shot. Edited November 10, 2012 by skej21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 I think the value is in becoming aware of your posture. Like most things, you learn it by rules, and when you understand it, you forget the rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Its very much a performance thing for me, the session was very focused not just on the technical performance of the artist but on the delivery of the performance to an audience with presence and confidence (the group was a mix of dancers, actors, singers, and I was the only musician). I think the awareness of your own posture is important and the insight into things you may be doing which could inadvertently hold back your performance, and it really did bring the idea of the performer and the audience connecting and feeding off each other in mutually beneficial ways into a new perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfist Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Just noticed this, but am literally straight out the door to work. My mum and sister are both trained teachers of the AT, and I have been using it for well over a decade, so I'll have some input laters !!!!! It's all good stuff though, and there is certainly some decent evidence these days, at least for back pain. It's not something that funding councils want to put much oney into researching. It's not quackery at all though, and has a good logical scientific basis (although some of it's practitioneres have been known to spout other mumbo jumbo, nothing to do with the AT, unfortunately). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesC Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Hi, It's a way of being much more aware of your tensions as you play or sing so you ditch some of the bad habits. There's some good evidence mounting up, but none specific to musicians or singers - the evidence is mainly based around pain reduction, for example six sessions reduced low back pain by half in a big study. I put some evidence here recently... [url="http://www.northwestalexandertechnique.co.uk/evidence-base/"]http://www.northwestalexandertechnique.co.uk/evidence-base/[/url] and a load of other stuff here: [url="http://alexanderplus.com"]http://alexanderplus.com[/url] I teach it myself, shameless plug, and I got into it to get rid of RSI. A lot of good music schools and colleges have it on their curriculum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfist Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) [quote name='JamesC' timestamp='1352638033' post='1865377'] Hi, It's a way of being much more aware of your tensions as you play or sing so you ditch some of the bad habits. There's some good evidence mounting up, but none specific to musicians or singers - the evidence is mainly based around pain reduction, for example six sessions reduced low back pain by half in a big study. I put some evidence here recently... [url="http://www.northwestalexandertechnique.co.uk/evidence-base/"]http://www.northwest.../evidence-base/[/url] and a load of other stuff here: [url="http://alexanderplus.com/"]http://alexanderplus.com[/url] I teach it myself, shameless plug, and I got into it to get rid of RSI. A lot of good music schools and colleges have it on their curriculum. [/quote] Yes, that is the evidence I was thinking of. The lead author of the latest MRC study is actually my brother in law, so I'm pretty well up with all the financial issues holding back more decent research funding into the effcicay of AT. ONe of the key things to remember is that it is NOT a treatment. It is a technique that needs to be learned. We all develop bad habits of inappropriate muscle tension as we mature and it's all about relearning how to use our bodies correctly again without that Excess tension. I have a rather odd connective tissue problem involving my upper limbs, which has given me years of problems with my wrists and shoulders. In fact I lived in 2 wrist splints for several years, and was on the verge of having to give up my job. Using the AT I realised that I was clamping my arms/shoulders in to my body all the time with much too much muscle tension. SOmehow this was aggravating my condition hugely. Over time, I have (re)learned how to use my arms/shoulders in a much more normal, relaxed fashion. THis has revolutionised my life and with sensible use, I can now use my arms/hands in a fairly normal manner. Work is now, no longer a problem. It has been a life-saver for me anyhow. And, sorry Skej21, but your statement of "However, been proven to have very few applications for musicians as the alterations for posture are more 'common sense' and correcting bad habits. Outside of a few minor adjustments, it has been proven to be mostly ineffective in terms of long term practice (and in some cases) has actually made some issues worse for musicians, as the postures suggested conflict with correct instrument postures. It was even proven that the initial development (for respiratory and breathing issues) was not applicable to musicians who were dependant on breathing to produce a sound as they already had good breathing techniques, making the Alexander technique redundant." What a load of old tosh. I would like to see your source and evidence for that. My sister teaches AT to orchestral musicians at times and, although of course, far from all find a benefit, many do and it aggravates no-one. THe "postures suggested by the AT" is a ridiculous statement. The AT merely allows the body to regain the appropriately relaxed posture that the body was built to adopt. Exactly the lovely upright, balanced posture that you see most pre-schoolers use, as they have yet to learn all the bad habits that twist and distort our bodies as we age. Edited November 12, 2012 by hamfist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumbabba Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 As I've posted elsewhere, I couldn't play bass for about ten years due to chronic tendonitis. I tried everything from yoga to physio to health supplements and nothing worked. Finally tried the Alexander Technique and it worked a treat. I'm now back playing gigs (including four hour afrobeat gigs), I've started learning (potentially tendon melting) upright bass and the benefits to my playing (not to mention overall wellbeing) have been so great that I recently studied to become a teacher. Hamfist is right, there's a lot of very rational, intelligent teachers out there but there's also some away-with-fairies types too. Comes with the territory I think. In my experience it's all about finding the right teacher with an approach that suits you. What I love about the technique is that it's not about getting it right or wrong but about finding out what works for the individual. Couldn't recommend it highly enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumbabba Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 Sorry that was an endorsement not an explanation! Check out this description of the technique on the website of the school where I trained - http://www.atstudio.co.uk/aboutat.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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