This September, I started an MSc in Performance Science at the RCM. I want to learn how to design and run research studies exploring Feldenkrais and performance. A simulated stage One of the fascinating resources there is a performance simulator, which I learnt to use last week. It can recreate different venues, complete with their … More What changes when we perform?
How much effort do you need? As musicians, you’re used to working hard. If something isn’t going well, you practise more, concentrate harder, and try again. Sometimes that’s useful. But sometimes, in trying to get it right, you add more effort than we need, and it can make what you’re doing more difficult. You might notice yourself … More When more is less…
One thing that often changes is the breathing. I was performing a concert this evening. The sensation of playing on stage was very different from the rehearsal in the afternoon. I wasn’t particularly nervous myself, so I was asking myself what feels different and why? I did a self scan: a technique I’ve learnt in … More What’s different for you when you’re on stage, compared to in the practice room?
Are you over-using your muscles to stay upright? We tend to think that if something isn’t working, the answer is to use more power. More force. Using muscular power without skeletal co-ordination tends to lead to fatigue, and over-compensation. Which in turn can add more tension that we need. Leading to more fatigue. So more … More Forget Force: Move smarter, not harder
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 … More The brain and body work together.
One of my colleagues was collecting ideas as to why people don’t like Feldenkrais. One cropped up quite a bit, which I found particularly interesting. “Feldenkrais is too slow”. I know what they mean. I started practising Feldenkrais long before becoming a teacher. There were days where I found it hard to concentrate, hard to … More Slow learning
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, whatever we play or sing, boils down on movement: we move ourselves to create music. The less effort and tension we use, the better, and more efficiently, we can bring across to … More Feldenkrais Method for Musicians – Why do it?
Straight after an intense week in Brussles, representing the UK Guild at the International Feldenkrais Federation, this week I’ve been teaching teachers on the London Professional Training Programme! It’s great to be back in a learning environment, seeing the learning process, now for the third time around. We were lucky to have the wonderful Mara … More Perception and Feldenkrais
Looking at Anxiety Part 2 The Neurophysiology of Anxiety Anxiety is created in the brain. Like everything else. As a fear based emotion/response it’s part of the sympathetic-parasympathetic system. The fear response is holistic. (Brain-and-body). Adrenalin gets pumped around the body, and its brain equivalent epinephrine, in the brain. The nervous system includes the brain, … More Improve Anxiety
Our past experience creates the thoughts that we have. It is hard to get rid of limitations of thinking and moving created by our experience. But, whilst our bodies and minds may have limitations, our imagination doesn’t. If we can create freer experiences in our imagination, we can create concrete experiences to follow. To the degree we … More Musicians and Imagination
