“The release of unnecessary muscular tension is vital to our well-being; if our muscles are habitually over-tightened our bodies become distorted, unbalanced and compressed. The Alexander Technique offers a way to let go of such destructive tension by learning to monitor the way we coordinate ourselves in any activity so that we can carry out that activity with … the minimum of strain.”
Timothy Soar, an Alexander teacher in Swansea, England
Alexander’s technique introduces body movement awareness, using the innate balance of our muscles and skeleton and its interaction with gravity. The idea behind this powerful and yet simple technique is to help release unnecessary tension in our muscles, which has been generated and accumulated with time, due to distorted body postures we tend to take in our everyday life. We are all familiar with and practising at least one or more sports, devote time to developing strength, endurance. What we actually hardly ever notice or pay attention to are our sitting and standing positions during work. This happens because, while we are concentrated in the particular activity, our brain uses a certain capacity for it and disregards the distorted position our physical “house” has taken. Not being trained to be constantly observant and aware of it, we allow it to slouch, hunch and with time to become stiff, the muscles – tightened. Then thе actual problems begin – back pain, neck blockages, etc.
Alexander’s technique is not a set of exercises aiming to release you from an already existing pain, but instruction on how to actually avoid its appearance. In other words, we are being taught how to sit, walk, move, stand, so that we use the natural balance of the body, to develop a sensitivity to the messages our body is sending us, and how we can respond in a useful and constructive manner.
It was developed by Frederic Matthias Alexander in 1890 in an attempt to address his voice loss during public speaking. This helped him to pursue his passion for reciting Shakespearean theatre.
He believed that poor habits in posture and movement damaged spatial self-awareness and as a consequence of that physical and psychological health.
How is that related to violin players?
There are two primary goals violinists have: one of them is to develop an aesthetic feeling and understanding of how music should sound and the second – to develop the technique which will allow them to express it in a performance. There are plenty of schools and methodologies that go into detail on how to hold the bow, how to press the strings and how to hold the violin. Yet any of these particular positions of certain parts of our body, that are active during the process of playing cannot be considered separately from the rest of the body since they are part of the whole system of muscles, bones and tendons. Just as the vocal chords cannot be isolated and forced to produce noble sound without the proper support of the breath, which is stable and secure only when the body and mind are centred and grounded. Thus an upright player with straightening back, feet firmly aligned with the floor, released from tension neck, shoulder and even facial muscles will improve the quality of the tone immensely.
While developing this constant awareness a mental tiredness might occur as is with any new healthy habits we attempt to adopt. Yet with time, this becomes a second nature and feeling of lightness and even higher productiveness are the benefits we will enjoy.