String-Moves: workshops for String players

You are your primary Instrument…

Whether that’s a Strad or a factory violin is up to how you use what you have!

All of our technique is about how we move ourselves. It’s just the end result is sound. Everything after being able to play is varying levels of refinement.

If we refine how we’re supporting and creating the movements we need to play, the end result will also improve.

Who are these workshops for?

String-Moves workshops are suitable for professional musicians, music students and amateur musicians who play a stringed instrument, and want to improve their ease and comfort in playing and performing. We’ll explore different ways of helping us play better, more easily. Some workshops will be more general, others more specific.

String-Moves are for players of either bowed or plucked strings. The sessions will be practical, you’ll have tools to take away, and we’ll have time for discussion and questions.

(Dates, details, and registration below…)

(For more general Feldenkrais for Musicians see my MusicMoves, Workshops or WellMusician page.)

In these sessions we’ll look at:

  • How your whole body supports your technique.
  • Developing your self-awareness so you can feel what you’re doing more easily.
  • Learn to sense yourself from the inside out.
  • Discover skeletal movement and structure, and how to use it to better support your hands, shoulders and head.

What to expect:

Each workshop will focus on the relationship of our focus to the rest of ourself. In the movement parts of sessions, you’ll be talked through an exploration of different movements, sort of like a physical jigsaw puzzle, building up more complex movement patterns a few pieces at a time.

We do this, in different ways to engage with your organic learning ability, your curiosity, and ability to sense yourself. You’ll learn to use this new found awareness to release patterns of moving that are not serving you so well, and discover new options to move towards, to improve your playing from the inside-out.

Many people report greater freedom of movement, easing of pain or chronic tension, greater clarity of intention, and depth of tone.

What you’ll go away with:

  • Movement classes specifically thinking of string playing technique.
  • Mini-StringMoves strategies to integrate into your practice.
  • Q&A session
  • Audio recording of the session to download to revisit the ideas again.
  • Access to the videos after the workshop.

Coming soon…

Set-Up Essentials

Workshop for violinists and violists:
 (UK time) coming soon

This workshop is focussing on:

  • Finding neutral in your neck and shoulders
  • Better set-up of yourself
  • Understanding your anatomy
  • Supporting your arms from your whole skeleton.
  • Integrating ideas into the practice room

Price: £30.00

Please check your time Zone if you’re not in the UK. (https://www.worldtimebuddy.com/)

Register your interest:

Once you’ve pressed the button, I’ll receive your details.

Any problems with registration, just drop me a line, by clicking here.

What’s it like to attend one of these workshops? Here are some testimonials from recent attendees:

“Thank you very much for the String-Moves session today. It was very enjoyable and informative. I was very grateful that today focused mainly on shoulders. This has been my ‘problem area’ for many years. I have pain around a vertebrae between my shoulder blades. I could really feel the pain at the beginning of the session. By the end of the session, I couldn’t feel the pain anymore. Fantastic!!”  Sarah Wilson, professional Violinist.

The movement [you taught] taking the hands behind the head is the one that really gets into the knot in my left arm. It’s similar to a movement the physio gave me, but the way you did it is very helpful and I am hopeful it will get my arm working normally again.” Phil Darcy, professional violist.

“Thank you for another wonderful workshop yesterday. When I was playing at the end I had a new sense of connection and freedom all the way to my feet. I was really aware of them on the floor; it reminded me of being on a lovely beach, standing in warm sand. I sense I will be able to cultivate that feeling as I ease back into playing the viola and violin.

More past Workshops are available to purchase in the shop:

Finding Fluidity in the Shoulders 1 – a recorded audio and video workshop

This is a three hour workshop that took place in February this year. Its focus was Improving comfort, and freedom of the shoulders, and integrating the movement lessons into the Practice Room. Your purchase buys access to the videos (via my website), and downloadable audio files of the lessons.

£30.00