Help for musicians

Some musicians suffer from pain, which is one issue. Others simply wish to improve the level of their playing, which is another. A third motive might be the desire to improve one's instrumental teaching.

In each case, it is always worth thinking about what you do and how you play. At a professional level, faults can be very subtle indeed but they can have a detrimental effect on playing, teaching, your body and on your career.
Angela runs cello teacher training courses in which the Alexander Technique is a basis for all the technique that follows. Musicians have a great responsibility when teaching young children, as the habits that they develop during the first few lessons will stay with them for ever and can be enormously hard to change. Many of the faults are in those most basic moments of holding an instrument of setting it up before you have played a single note. Beyond that, there is constant pressure to play in tune, which makes players tighten up with anxiety. Good intonation has to be learned without pressure. This is just one example.

The lifestyle of a professional musician has a lot to answer for, with very long hours of playing, carrying the instruments and suitcases round the world, dealing with difficult conductors and colleagues, switching from boredom to terror in a moment and the pressure to perform perfectly every time, knowing that a lot of judgement is going on behind your back.

The Alexander Technique shows you that you have a choice how to react to these situations and you then have the freedom to decide how to live your life.

If you are in pain, you can go to any number of therapists who will help you temporarily. For long term relief, you need to find out what is causing the problem and how to prevent it, which is what you learn in the Alexander Technique.

With a foundation of Alexander Technique, you can perform with confidence and you can communicate more effectively with the audience.