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What the hell is this thing? Alexander Technique, or AT for short, is a method for reducing body tension and avoiding injuries. It was created by F.M. Alexander in the early 1900s. He was a singer and had trouble with getting hoarse every time he sang, and doctors were no help. He started observing himself and realized he had habits he was completely unaware of, that were hindering his singing. He developed a method of thinking that allowed him to inhibit unhelpful habits, which allowed him to continue his singing career. Later, he started teaching his technique and it became popular with musicians, actors, and dancers, among others. Okay, but...what is it? This is hard to summarize, and different teachers will have different methods. In my classes, we do small experiments on ourselves and observe our reactions. Then, once we've identified a harmful habit, we look for ways to bypass our habit to develop more healthy ways of moving. The most important concept here is that problems in our musicianship is often not caused by over-use, but mis-use. If you learn efficient ways of "the use of the self", practicing and performing need not be a painful process. Alright, I'm interested. How do I try it? The best way to give it a try is with a qualified teacher. I own a couple books on AT, and, while they were helpful, nothing came close to working with a teacher. There are several teachers that offer online instruction (FWIW, I have only done this online since I started after COVID). YMMV - not all teachers are alike. You can probably expect to pay $50-$100 for a private lesson, or less for group lessons - I attend a weekly musicians' group workshop which costs $20 for an hour. Most large music conservatories employ an in-house AT teacher, which should give you an idea of how professional musicians regard it. What should I expect? Don't expect this to work instantly. During my first couple sessions, it felt like I was having major epiphanies - my shoulders don't hurt! I can fret notes without pain! Unfortunately, habits are strong and will come back, over and over. At this point I've been practicing AT for a year and a half, and have experienced several milestones in my understanding and use of the technique. I plan on continuing the work for the immediate future. Testimonials Many prominent musicians have used AT to reduce injuries and play better. Some examples off the top of my head: Paul McCartney, Julian Lage (good essay by him here: https://www.easeofbeing.com/digging-deeper-the-diving-board-effec), Sting Resources https://alexandertechnique.com/ - a general site for AT info. This is largely run by one teacher, who has a podcast, likes to promote himself, etc. You can use this site to find a local teacher, if you like. Quotes (taken from https://www.chicagoalexanderteachers.com/performers) I find The Alexander Technique very helpful in my work. Things happen without you trying. They get to be light and relaxed. You must get an Alexander teacher to show it to you. -John Cleese, actor I love the Alexander Technique. It has corrected my posture, improved my health and changed my life. -Alec McCowen CBE, actor The Alexander Technique has played an important and beneficial part in my life. -John Houseman, actor, producer and director Alexander students rid themselves of bad postural habits and are helped to reach with their bodies and minds, an enviable degree of freedom of expression. -Michael Langham, Director, The Juilliard School, New York USA The Alexander Technique has helped me to undo knots, unblock energy and deal with almost paralyzing stage fright -William Hurt, actor The Alexander Technique can be sustaining; it is something that if learned well, can be carried along with you for the rest of your life. It gives you confidence to be who you are when you are up in front of an audience. -Patrick Maddams, managing director, Royal Academy of Music The Technique's many benefits for actors include minimized tension, centeredness, vocal relaxation, and responsiveness, mind/body connection and about an inch and a half of additional height. -Kevin Kline, actor The Alexander Technique makes a real difference to my often tense and busy life. Its thoughtful approach has made me calmer, improved my concentration and given me a clearer sense of my own well-being. I am grateful for it. -Joan Bakewell, TV presenter and journalist End Relay your experiences with AT here, or ask questions. I've experienced such profound changes in the way I play guitar through AT, and feel strongly that many musicians would benefit from paying attention to their use of the self.
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Sep 15, 2022 15:39
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I want to know about Alexander Technique as it applies to fingerstyle guitar! Specifically, I have a problem when playing electric guitar without a pick, because muting the open strings is quite demanding on my technique! Sometimes my right hand will feel cramped playing electric, because trying to keep everything muted on electric creates tension. Acoustic is fine, because you can barely hear the sympathetic resonance, and when you do hear it, it sounds good, so I don't have to mute as strictly. Do you have any insights that could help with this?
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Sep 22, 2022 03:23
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Helianthus Annuus posted:I want to know about Alexander Technique as it applies to fingerstyle guitar! Specifically, I have a problem when playing electric guitar without a pick, because muting the open strings is quite demanding on my technique! i've talked with my teacher about this a LOT, for nylon specifically. muting is a challenge and not one i'm great at. however, here's some stuff you can observe... first: can you sense where the tension is originating? sometimes, if my shoulder feels tense, i can do things like wiggle my elbows, which releases my hands from my upper arms and relaxes the whole system. it can help to think of moving from your fingers and letting the rest of your arm follow. even if you can sense where the tension is coming from, it's often secondary - you may have lots of left side tension, which isn't allowing your right side to move freely. the whole shoulder-collarbone system is actually detached from your torso. we often hold that in place rather than letting it move. second, do you ever play in front of a mirror? i often need to do this because my self-conception is WAY off from reality. for example i keep noticing in the mirror i'm tweaking my wrist during chords, but would have sworn i was keeping it straight. third, and this is more broad. "posture isn't a place", as my teacher likes to say. if you have some idea of the "correct" posture and form, you may be inadvertently restricting your movement to that position. instead, allow yourself to move as needed. "micro-movement", we can call it. let yourself move forward and back from your hips, your shoulders, etc - this can help you calibrate a more comfortable neutral. lots of stuff to try out, but those are some ideas off the top of my head (not an alexander technique teacher disclaimer)
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Sep 22, 2022 19:41
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I did AT lessons for, I don't know, several months in McLean VA in 2010 or so, to try to reduce stress on some muscles that were causing a tendonitis called "hyoid syndrome". It didn't do too much for that but it did, slightly but permanently alter the way I think about how I hold my body in space, posture, alignment. The woman who gave the lessons was very nice and apparantly had done well in life because she had a lovely house in McLean (if you can stand McLean, I can't) and also she had 2 cats and a small dog all of whom only ate grass-fed raw meat. 
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Sep 23, 2022 14:37
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Cabbages and Kings posted:I did AT lessons for, I don't know, several months in McLean VA in 2010 or so, to try to reduce stress on some muscles that were causing a tendonitis called "hyoid syndrome". this has been my experience as well. guitar playing is such a deep, ingrained habit for me that it's one of the last to see improvement. meanwhile, my posture and balance during other activities that i don't do often (like stacking wood) is greatly improved. sounds like those animals had it made
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Sep 26, 2022 19:36
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a.p. dent posted:this has been my experience as well. guitar playing is such a deep, ingrained habit for me that it's one of the last to see improvement. meanwhile, my posture and balance during other activities that i don't do often (like stacking wood) is greatly improved. TMI but one of the first things I noticed a place where I would think about this a lot was sitting down and standing up from the toilet I really need to get back in the habit, my typing movement and posture is atrocious
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Sep 27, 2022 20:35
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a.p. dent posted:lots of stuff to try out thanks for your thoughtful reply a.p. dent posted:this has been my experience as well. guitar playing is such a deep, ingrained habit for me that it's one of the last to see improvement. meanwhile, my posture and balance during other activities that i don't do often (like stacking wood) is greatly improved. What do the Alexander black-belts saying to focus on when stacking wood? Are you squaring up to it before trying to lift, getting your feet under it?
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Sep 28, 2022 02:57
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Helianthus Annuus posted:What do the Alexander black-belts saying to focus on when stacking wood? Are you squaring up to it before trying to lift, getting your feet under it? ha, i didn't get any formal advice on it - this was more about noticing and relaxing the arm & wrist muscles i wasn't using instead of tensing my entire body the whole time
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Sep 28, 2022 16:14
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a.p. dent posted:ha, i didn't get any formal advice on it - this was more about noticing and relaxing the arm & wrist muscles i wasn't using instead of tensing my entire body the whole time One thing I think I'm picking up on is: there are lots of small movements that make a big difference to balance and structure, but most people never do them because you wouldn't think to try unless prompted. What do they have to say about core muscle engagement and breathing?
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Sep 29, 2022 01:48
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Helianthus Annuus posted:One thing I think I'm picking up on is: there are lots of small movements that make a big difference to balance and structure, but most people never do them because you wouldn't think to try unless prompted. yup, that's a good way to put it Helianthus Annuus posted:What do they have to say about core muscle engagement and breathing? we talk about this a lot, let's see what i can remember:
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Sep 29, 2022 15:33
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I did monthly private AT lessons for 2 years and it was incredible. Permanently changed my relationship with my body, movement, and Being. Feldenkrais is another "movement intervention" that focuses on proprioception and votive use of the body. I'd recommend AT over Feldenkrais, but with the right teacher it can also be game changing. If you find that you have issues with tension or fatigue after practicing or performing, definitely consider looking for instructors in your area.
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Oct 4, 2022 11:16
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webcams for christ posted:I did monthly private AT lessons for 2 years and it was incredible. Permanently changed my relationship with my body, movement, and Being. I honestly think this stuff could be life changing for most people. Musicians, computr janitors like me, people who use hand tools for a living --- RSI is the common thread in injuries, and RSI can be greatly mitigated through careful and varied and mindful movement. It's too bad schools are basically a capitalism mill. I do some loving kindness stuff, breath meditation and yoga postures with our older kid most mornings but I am barely qualified to lead that and in no way qualified to do more than think about AT.
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Oct 6, 2022 23:23
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Cabbages and Kings posted:I honestly think this stuff could be life changing for most people. Musicians, computr janitors like me, people who use hand tools for a living --- RSI is the common thread in injuries, and RSI can be greatly mitigated through careful and varied and mindful movement. i feel strongly about this. i came into movement stuff because i'm a computer person, have had horrible posture all my life and along with that came horrible shoulder pain at age 26. there's no reason we should all have to live with that, and it's frustrating that it's talked about that way: i just "have a bad back", "it's what happens when you get old / sit all day at the computer", all that. i don't accept it! webcams for christ posted:I did monthly private AT lessons for 2 years and it was incredible. Permanently changed my relationship with my body, movement, and Being. hell yeah. initially i read this as 2 months, which was cool, but 2 years makes more sense to me. the way my first lessons went was: "wow, this is incredible! i'm completely changed!" then, after the lesson, i went right back to my habits. this stuff takes a looooong time to sink in. re: feldenkrais, i haven't tried it, but the way i see it, all these disciplines are different perspectives on the same idea. how can we move ourselves freely, without pain? they're all valuable in some way and imo there's a lot of value in seeing different perspectives. i have an AT book by Penelope Easten who says as much. she suffered with chronic fatigue syndrome for many years and tried everything under the sun, and what fixed it was NOT alexander technique, but something similar. she rolls a lot of ideas from other disciplines into her work, which is very cool.
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Oct 7, 2022 00:27
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here's something for anyone interested in trying out AT for free. Alexander Technique Teachers of Greater Philadelphia are putting on their annual "Summit", which is free to register and has 3 sessions a day. give it a try! https://alextechgreaterphila.com/online-alexander-technique-summit/
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Oct 11, 2022 21:05
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Another form of this is https://www.timani.no/ I've been rather curious about Timani and AT since hurting my back over a year ago. It got better again but it really made me fear for my back when it comes to surviving as a musician. Maybe I'll look into taking some monthly lessons or something. I bought a few books but haven't had the time to explore them much yet and some of the stuff about AT feels a bit new agey.
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Nov 30, 2022 22:53
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abske_fides posted:Another form of this is https://www.timani.no/ interesting! i hadn't heard of this before. reading their "Seven Pillars of Timani", it sounds similar to the way my teacher conducts her AT classes - minimal new agey stuff, more focus on anatomy, with exercises for movement and breathing. i would give that a shot if i could find a teacher
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Dec 1, 2022 17:12
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a.p. dent posted:i feel strongly about this. i came into movement stuff because i'm a computer person, have had horrible posture all my life and along with that came horrible shoulder pain at age 26. there's no reason we should all have to live with that, and it's frustrating that it's talked about that way: i just "have a bad back", "it's what happens when you get old / sit all day at the computer", all that. i don't accept it! hell ya person, with you 100%. I think of RSI, back injuries, etc as the computer toucher equivilent of the way that construction workers often end up with super hosed joints. Computer work isn't nearly as physically demanding but it forces the same amount of basically unnatural and repetitive use of your body. I have a loving $1500 chair and a desk that moves up and down and I try to never be in the same position for more than about 5 minutes. My fingers have started to trigger up like a MFer though, it's snap crackle pop when I wiggle them. I have fantasies of injecting castor oil into the knuckles. as far as "get old" my mom is 78 and yea it could go the other way hard any day but she made her career on her feet teaching science to little kids, her biggest hobby for years has been long walks in the woods and despite a hip replacement a year ago she seems more active and in less pain than like, I dunno, 75% of people her age. She's taken ergonomics seriously since before I knew it was a word, and has done most of her office work at home kneeling on a soft carpet or kneeling chair in front of a low desk since the late 80s. Cabbages and Kings fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Jan 9, 2023 |
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Jan 9, 2023 19:39
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Cabbages and Kings posted:it's snap crackle pop when I wiggle them. I have fantasies of injecting castor oil into the knuckles. fortunately joint crepitus in and of itself hasn't been established as a risk factor for arthritis or any other musculoskeletal illness, despite what chiropractors may claim. can definitely be annoying though
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Jan 9, 2023 19:48
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webcams for christ posted:fortunately joint crepitus in and of itself hasn't been established as a risk factor for arthritis or any other musculoskeletal illness, despite what chiropractors may claim. can definitely be annoying though interestingly the chiro I have seen here (yes, I have done that) has parroted the same line: if cracking isn't painful then it's just annoying, and even if it's painful, chiropractic manipulation may not actually help. This is Vermont where basically not-that-brokebrained doctors will commonly suggest chiros but also it seems like the chiros are more likely to be somewhat science based. Despite having been referred by an MD this guy was unwilling to touch me without getting xrays to rule out safety concerns or things that need to be addressed otherwise, and I did feel that my specific complaints were somewhat relieved for a period of time after I'd seen him a few times. Still think the industry is a scam that can be dangerous if you get into c-spine stuff, but, there's people out there with that as their credential who do good work, apparently.
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Jan 9, 2023 21:53
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imaging is almost always done as a matter of liability to protect against malpractice claims, and I'm extremely skeptical of the profession as any more efficacious than other modes of conservative treatment. but I do recognize there are people that feel like their quality of life has been measurably improved after a course of treatment. the most important thing is being aware of any attempts to foster codependency: treatment should have relatively clear results within a reasonable amount of time and then it should be a practitioner's goal to never have to see you again. I don't believe they are capable of actually delivering effective preventive care either
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Jan 9, 2023 22:04
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My Guitar Craft sense is tingling
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Jan 12, 2023 09:57
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Aleksandr Technique
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Jan 15, 2023 09:50
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