Ethan Kind

FURTHER READING

Alcantara, Pedro de. Indirect Procedures. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1997.

Alexander, F.M. Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1923 (Longbeach, CA: Centerline Press, 1985).

Alexander, F.M. Man's Supreme Inheritance. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1942 (Long beach, CA: Centerline Press, 1988).

Alexander, F.M. The Universal Constant of Living. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1941 (Long beach CA: Centerline Press, 1986).

Alexander, F.M. The Use of the Self. E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1932 (Long beach, CA: Centerline Press, 1984).

Bonpensiere, Luigi. New Pathways to Piano Technique. New York, NY: Philosophical Library, 1953.

Caplan, Deborah. Back Trouble. Gainesville, FL: Triad Publishing Company, 1987.

Conable, Barbara. What Every Musician Needs To Know About The Body. Portland, OR: Andover Press, 2000.

Gelb, Michael. Body Learning. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 1987.

Kind, Ethan. Inspiring Musical Performance. AmSAT News, Issue No. 76, 2008.

Kind, Ethan. The Hurting Musician. American Music Teacher, Vol. 56, No. 6 June/July, 2007.

Ortmann, O. The Physiological Mechanics of Piano Technique. New York, NY: E. P. Dutton and Co., Inc., 1929.

Stein, Charles. To Schlep or Not to Schlep: Guidelines for Music Performance Teachers.
American Music Teacher, Vol. 45, No. 5, April/May, 1996.

ORDERS AND INHIBITION IN THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE

Using "orders" (thoughts) to create good use is the technique that helps the performer rediscover the natural balance of his body. There are three steps in changing bad habits. First, the performer must become aware of the habit. Second, the performer is taught to observe his habitual responses to particular stimuli. (An example of a poor habitual response is the raising of the shoulders while playing the guitar. This habit causes excessive tension in the neck, shoulders, arms, and hands.) Third, the performer is taught to inhibit his initial habitual response and to allow the body to find a balanced posture, using orders of allowance. (For example, if you notice that you tighten you neck at the moment you begin to play, then stop playing, inhibit the destructive movement, and begin again.) An example of an order of allowance is: "My neck is releasing and my spine is lengthening as my shoulders float on my ribcage."

Two conditions are necessary for orders of allowance to work. First, the performer should order only movements that are not harmful and are physically possible to accomplish. Second, the movements should be trusted to happen. If the performer does not interfere with the musculature consciously, the body knows the most efficient way to accomplish a movement or posture. If the performer consciously attempts to order movement through contracting the muscles, the quality of movement will be reduced. Movement and posture require so many variables working together that any conscious attempt at ordering all of the musculature will block the ease of playing the guitar.

A teacher of the Alexander Technique has knowledge in the following areas to help the performer make postural re-adjustments: a correct concept of skeletal alignment based on anatomy and body mechanics (which is flexible to allow for differences in body build); knowledge of the typical faults in posture; ability to locate the key areas of poor relationships between the body areas; knowledge of where and in what direction movement is needed to align the skeleton and to bring about postural balance; and the ability to see a restriction of range of motion in a performer. Finally, the teacher encourages self-examination by the performer regarding any false beliefs he may have about posture, movement, and technique, and then to let these go.

The following principles are guidelines for good use in movement. The ordered movement must be possible and should result in a postural or movement change that brings the body closer to its intrinsic sense of balance. The physical laws in an ordered movement should be obeyed, which means to recognize that a force such as gravity is part of movement and can either assist or hinder the coordinated action of muscles. The spine should only be ordered into lengthening upward or downward--not pushed forward--to create held "good" posture. Use different orders of allowance, because the same order may, over a period of time, lose its impact in bringing about the desired movement. Also, different orders may work better for different individuals, depending on whether they are more artistic or mechanical in their approach to playing.

DIRECTING

To "direct" in the Alexander Technique is to give an order of allowance to the head, neck, and spine to release and lengthen prior to movement. A traditional Alexandrian order is, "my neck is free, and my head is moving forward and upward, lengthening my spine". The word "forward" in this instance means that the head is tilting to level on the spine so that the planes of the face are vertical, and the base of the neck, the occipital joint, is released. This does not mean, however, to push the head horizontally forward of the torso.

Alexander came to realize that the neck releasing and the spine lengthening precede all beautifully coordinated and effortless movement. The problem is that most people do the opposite of this, especially in activities that are learned with an element of fear, such as reading and writing, or learning a musical instrument. And he saw that if people really wanted to do something extremely well, like playing the guitar, they usually hunkered down and locked the neck in an attempt to "get it right".
Alexander began teaching his students to use the "my neck is free" order in all their activities so that they wouldn't compress their spines prior to doing something. Therefore, the first movement before playing the guitar should be to release the neck, thus allowing the spine to lengthen. This sets the stage for consistent, elegant, and effortless performing. To play with a lengthening spine means you play with the head, neck, and spine flowing upwards, which is a vector of up--a direction, not a held position.

I have one final point to make on orders of allowance and directing: Once you have used these tools to regain the beautiful body-use so many of you had as children, these new/old efficient habits and postures start to become second-nature again, and you don't have to order yourselves around so much. (Not a bad joke, huh?)

(continued next month- GUITAR TECHNIQUE: RIGHT HAND)