As musicians, our physical self is the primary instrument. And I write”physical self”, rather than “body” because the brain and body work together. All of the time. They never act separately. It’s simply not possible.
And whether you’re a musician or not, every movement we make is together with a thought, an emotion, and a sensation. This four part “Action Pie” is indivisible. Even if you’re not aware of all of the quadrants, it doesn’t change the reality.
Cast your mind back to the last time you were really angry about something. It would have affected your voice, your tones, your movement. What you were able to think about. It’s not possible to have a strong emotion and it not affect the thinking and the body. We know there’s a correlation with anger and heart disease. If nothing else, the high tonus (activity level of the muscles) of the body when we’re angry makes the heart work harder.
How we think and sense is part of how we feel. And how we move is always in line with that self image. That has direct ramifications with how we play. Let’s look at a real musician:
James, a case study
I worked some time ago with a pianist, let’s call him James. He was having trouble with his ability to read the notes once he’d turned the page. So I observed James playing for a while. And every time he turned the page, he would move his whole body and head like a telegraph pole swinging it back so he could turn the page, and then forwards again. His head moving all over the place. His vestibular system had to make large adjustments during that process, which is why he was losing the page, and the notes in his vision. As he tried to focus, his left brain was probably over-focussing so in his fear of missing notes, he couldn’t see the page in time.
In order to help him change what he was doing, I needed to help him change his thinking.
I asked him how he viewed his spine: more of a telegraph pole or more of a Slinky? And his answer was interesting. He had been told to keep his neck long all the time in a workshop on posture. And that idea had led through habit to keeping the whole spine still. Like a telegraph pole. When he moved his pelvis a little in one direction, the head, at the top of the telegraph pole would swing in a much bigger arc.
Try it yourself:
Sit with two feet on the floor. Push with your L foot, to push your weight to the R buttock. Keep your torso still, and let your head and shoulders go to the right. If you softly close one eye you’ll feel the movement of your head even more clearly. Pause, and let your breathing settle. Try it to the other side. Then alternate sides, you’ll have the sensation of swinging the head in a big arc Right and Left whilst the buttocks make a smaller arc on the chair.
This wasn’t making good use of his own anatomy. The spine has 26 vertebrae. Each has 2 joints – one above, and one below. There are also joints with the ribs that insert into the spine – each rib having a connection with the vertebra above and below- another 2 joints per rib. If there is an articulating joint, movement is intended. Joints are for movement.
Evolutionarily speaking, the ribs and spine are designed for movement.
They come from the time in our evolution of being fish- and we would have moved, like fish, through the water by moving the spine and ribs.
Back to James. I outlined this idea as an option for him, and gave him time for the image to be digested.
I got him to sit with both buttocks clearly on the chair so he could feel them. Then, I held his head still in the middle, and got him to shift weight, from one buttock to both. So he could feel the concertina like movement of the ribs- lengthening on one side, shortening on the other. And that his head could be quiet in the middle. Once we’d practiced this on both sides, and alternated it, he had the imagery of a slinky/accordion of his ribs and spine.
So he could do it himself without me, I taught him the following short lesson.
Find your own slinky spine:
Put both hands down by your sides, so the arms are long. Slide your R arm down gently and slowly release. Repeat this movement until you feel the ribs (and spine) on the R starting to get closer to each other. You can touch the ribs with the L hand to help you feel that movement.
Notice what you do with the head. Does it stay still in the middle, or tilt to the R with the shoulder? Keep it quiet in the middle for now. Not stiff, there’ll will be tiny movements, but the head itself stays in one place. You’ll feel the space between your R ear and shoulder get bigger as you slide the R shoulder down. Find a very slow speed to repeat this movement, so we can begin to co-ordinate the bottom half with the movement of the shoulder.
Add in pushing with the R foot to lift the R side of the Pelvis, and push your weight towards the L buttock. It doesn’t need to be a big movement, just high enough to slide a piece of paper under your R buttock. So the R side of the Pelvis lifts up towards the shoulder, and at the same time, the R shoulder slides down – these two points get closer together. If you pay attention to the movement of the R ribs you’ll feel them getting closer, and if you shift your attention to the L side whilst continuing to repeat the movement, you’ll feel the ribs on the L getting further away- you’re lengthening the L side. If you then bring your attention to the middle you’ll feel your spine curving to the Left in the middle.
Take a pause. Whilst you’re resting see if you feel more movement of breath in one side or the other than before.
Do this all on the other side. Start with the Pelvis this time (the brain likes variation, it keeps it engaged.)
Push with the L foot to lift the L side of the Pelvis and pour the weight to the R buttock and foot. Feel how the spine and the ribs curve from the bottom up – literally! Let your L arm hang by your side, and gently and slowly add in sliding the L arm down. You’ll feel the L side closing this time. Notice if it’s easier or harder than on the right -it’s very rare that we use the two sides completely symmetrically.
Keep the head softly quiet in the middle. Once it’s easier on the L side, and it feels normal to do, alternate sides. Keep the movement light and soft – it should feel nice to do. Close one eye so you can feel if your head is staying where you think it is – if you’re doing it right, you’ll feel the head tilting a little to one side or the other, but not moving left-right in space.
What you’re doing now is side-bending, or side flexion- one important direction of movement that the spine is very well suited for.
Try it a few different speeds, keeping the movement playful and light, no matter how slowly or fast you got.
Changing the Self Image changes your movement
Once I’d taught that to James, we were then able to add in turning a page whilst having a quiet head. He could keep his head quiet, whilst shifting weight on his bottom, His eyes didn’t need to do the same massive amount of vestibular work. So his eyes could follow and focus on the new page more easily. His brain was able to predict where the notes would be much more accurately. His shoulders were part of this more efficient movement, so his hands could be more simple in their movement from the keys to the page back to the keys,
What we changed first was the picture James had of himself. In order that he could move and act better. Better being more ergonomically organised. More efficient movement. Less challenge to the vestibular system. More inclusion of the whole self, so the workload is spread better.
Sometimes it only takes one lesson, like this one to shift an idea to change someone’s self image. Other parts of our self-image are more firmly wedded, and it takes more time, more variations and more lessons to change.
How we move, the quality with which we move, defines our level of success in action. For musicians, that’s at our instruments. (Whether singing or instrumental). And for everyone it’s all the tasks and actions we take in our daily lives.
If we wish to improve the way we more (or perform), we need to improve our self image.
the Feldenkrais Method with Emma Alter 