The ASO Newsletter - Helping you stay connected to Alexander Technique related research.

The ASO Newsletter - 18th Edition

Thank you for being here and for your interest in research on the Alexander Technique and its teaching.

This 18th edition of the Alexander Studies Online (ASO) newsletter is the finale of the Alexander Technique and music making series. This month shares the final two interviews between Dr Gabriella Minnes Brandes (CANSTAT, STAT, AMSAT, ATI) and Lorna McGhee, principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, adjunct music professor at Carnegie Mellon University, and Alexander Technique student. We hope you have enjoyed the series and look forward to hearing your thoughts via email or in the comments section below!

Collaboration between Alexander Technique Teachers and Music Teachers

In the third conversation with Lorna McGhee (above), we speak about the ways in which AT teachers can work productively with musicians.  Lorna’s suggestion is for AT teachers to stay away from judgmental language of “right” and “wrong”, and instead focus on efficiency of use and coordination. She suggests that AT lessons serve as a laboratory of explorations of new ideas.  Lorna reminds musicians that Alexander lessons require a partnership with the AT teacher and a commitment to process, and not just seeking relief from pain.  We speak about our team-teaching experiences where we both provide feedback about musical, artistic expression and using the paradigm of AT, seeking efficient coordination.  We invite participants in our workshops to experiment beyond the familiar and known, as we strive to create a shared learning environment, for each participant to find their full potential.

Applying the Alexander Technique to Music Performance

In the fourth conversation with Lorna McGhee (above), we focus on the bridges from the practice room to the performance. Lorna poses the question: How does the musician respond to a stimulus?  Both in the practice room and in a performance there are stimuli, and the question is how to respond to each one with efficiency, coordination, spaciousness and courage. Lorna speaks about psychophysical challenges in performance and now to overcome them with choices that are embedded in Alexander concepts. Lorna reminds us that musicians need craft skill, passion and a generosity of spirit.         

*Please note: The full version of the paper below can be found in the 16th edition ASO newsletter.

“We ourselves are the instrument”: Researching the application of the Alexander Technique when working with musicians (abridged)

Dr Gabriella Minnes Brandes (CANSTAT, STAT, AMSAT, ATI)

In introducing his technique, FM Alexander said: “We ourselves are the instrument – each one of us is the instrument – by means of which whatever we are going to do is done” (Alexander, 1995 / 1934, p. 170).  Each one of us is an instrument that we “play” throughout our lives, and Alexander Technique provides us with a framework to know how to use ourselves with efficiency, poise and intention.  Similarly, and perhaps even more so, musicians are the instruments that make sound. A piano, guitar, violin, cello or drum does not make sound until a musician utilises them. The ways musicians move and breathe determine the quality of contact between themselves and their instruments, and thus determine the quality of sound that is produced.

Musicians are well versed in analysing how they make music, and they continuously evaluate the quality of sound that they make. They often show intensity and commitment as they seek ways to overcome challenges that arise from many hours of practice, and from the particular pressures of performing in front of an audience. Though musicians are not always aware of the ways in which they use their bodies when they play, they know when they are able to achieve what they are aiming for musically. When artists see themselves as the vehicle for their expression, as the instrument through which they express themselves, AT can provide them with specific ways to “tune themselves” as they would tune their instruments creating spaces for new and creative explorations through music making. Alexander teachers are well suited to support musicians in such explorations. 

This blog is based on years of working with performers and specifically on the analysis of data from interviews I conducted over a period of two years (around 2010-2012) [1] with twenty musicians who studied with me. At the time of the interviews, some of the participants were finishing their music degrees, others had been professional musicians for many years, and some were both teaching their instrument and performing. In the interviews I asked each of the musicians what brought them to take Alexander lessons, how they understood Alexander principles and applied them in their playing, and if they saw tensions between focusing on music and focusing on AT. Ultimately, I was interested in exploring the connections between AT, music making and creativity. I wondered if the structure of AT provided a set of tools for musicians to explore and enhance their creativity.

I transcribed and analyzed the interviews, seeking common threads on the one hand and unique explorations on the other.  The musicians created narratives where they shared their experiences learning and applying AT.  All of the musicians I interviewed started AT lessons looking for solutions to injuries or pain. Only a few were also explicitly seeking to improve their efficiency in their playing. As the musicians’ experience with AT grew, they articulated the explicit connections they saw between AT and music making.

For this blog, I spoke with Lorna McGhee who is the principal flute player at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon.  Lorna has had many years of lessons in Alexander Technique and was happy to speak with me about her experiences.  Lorna was one of the musicians who participated in the research that I described in the February blog post and more importantly, she has been applying AT concepts in her own practice and in teaching college students [2]. We spoke about how she has learned AT, how she applies AT concepts in her practice, performance and teaching, and finally what she thinks about the role of collaboration between musicians and AT teachers.

Inviting AT teachers and students to conduct research, calls them to identify a question that matters to them, sets them to choose the appropriate methods of investigation, discern what data to collect and how, and embark on a systematic process of analyzing the data.  The research question can be narrow and specific or broad, and that question will determine the kinds of data collected. The methods vary to best fit the question from a survey, to interviews, videotaping, journaling, questionnaires, experiments in controlled environments, to name a few.  That systematic process of inquiry provides insights into how AT works and how it may serve as the backdrop for a broad range of activities.

We see the role of an Alexander teacher as one that initiates and supports an inquiry, focusing on exploration, rather than a particular specific end result. The AT teacher encourages students to move beyond what they already know, to embrace mistakes as opportunities to move out of habitual patterns. This reciprocal teacher-student relationship is a nuanced process that calls on both teacher and learner to create bridges between theories and “real life” applications.  Alexander lessons offer a safe, non-judgmental environment for such explorations. FM Alexander saw his work as “re-education.” He offers a paradigm for learning that is psychophysical and engages the whole self of the learner in a lived experience. AT provides a language to discern the embodied experience of artists, performers and audience members alike who participate together in making and sharing art. AT encourages the development of new tools to observe and describe both internally and externally the process of learning and creating, and specifically moving beyond efficiency to creativity.  Conducting research entails framing a question, identifying appropriate methods to collect data and analyze it, providing thoughtful data-bases answers that often lead to new questions and inquiries. Alexander teachers hold a unique set of skills that allow them to work with performers to enhance their skill and art and at the same time be involved with researching their practice.

Footnotes

[1] The full article was published in The Congress Papers, the 11th International Congress of the F.M. Alexander Technique, (20 July-4 August, 2018, Chicago, USA), edited by Paul Marsh, published by STAT Books, London, pp. 192-198

[2] A detailed discussion of the project and the analysis was published: Brandes, G.M., Condie, J, Wielinga A., (2020 February). Using Alexander Technique principles with Beginning Piano Students: A Collaborative “duet” between an Alexander Technique teacher and a piano teacher. Music Teachers National Association eJournal

References

Alexander, F.M., (1995). Articles and lectures, Mouritz, UK, The Bedford Lecture (1934). pp. 163-184

Alexander, F.M., (1932, 1997). The use of the self, IREAT, NY, p. 425.

Barenboim, D., & Said, E. W. (2004). Parallels and paradoxes: Explorations in music and society. Vintage.

Brandes, G.M., (2019). “Alexander Technique gives me space to create musically”: Musicians explore the application of Alexander Technique principles, Congress Papers- Advancing Global Perspectives. STAT Books: London, pp. 192-198

Brandes, G.M., Condie, J, Wielinga A., (2020 February). Using Alexander Technique principles with Beginning Piano Students: A Collaborative “duet” between an Alexander Technique teacher and a piano teacher. Music Teachers National Association eJournal

McGhee, L., (2019, Fall) Flute and the Alexander Technique, The Flutist Quarterly, pp 39-41

Gabriella Minnes Brandes, Ph.D., has been teaching the Alexander Technique for over 30 years. She has maintained an active practice at the Alexander Technique Centre in Vancouver. She has been invited to run Alexander workshops for musicians, singers, and horseback riders, engineers (among others) as well as workshops for Alexander teachers. For over a decade she taught the Alexander Technique in the Theatre department at Capilano University. She was the founder and co-director of the Vancouver School of the Alexander Technique, a three-year CANSTAT recognized school that ran for close to twenty years. Her research interests focus on connections between creativity, music making, performance and the application of concepts of the Alexander Technique. She is currently collaborating with Alexander teachers from the US, UK and the Netherlands to study the Alexander Technique and Mindfulness-Based Approaches in Stress Management. Informed by her Ph.D. in education, Gaby is also interested in articulating how current theories of learning relate to concepts of Alexander Technique. Gaby works extensively in collaboration with musicians, voice, movement and acting instructors. She is continuing to hone her skills as a teacher and communicator. She is an active member of the Canadian Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique and served on the Board of Directors, also a member of the Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique (UK), the American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique, and Alexander Technique International, where she currently serves as a Board Director. For more information: https://sites.google.com/view/alexandertechniquecentre

Scottish-born Lorna McGhee, was appointed principal flute of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Known for her “exceptionally rich and vibrant tone” (Washington Post) Lorna has performed as guest principal with Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and has worked with conductors such as Haitink, Gergiev, Rattle, Solti, Harnoncourt, Muti and Honeck.  Before immigrating to North America in 1998, Lorna was co-principal flute of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, England. As a soloist, she has given concerto performances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the UK and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, and Victoria Symphony in Canada, Kyushu Symphony in Japan, Evergreen Symphony in Taipei, and the Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, San Luis Obispo Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony in the USA. A career highlight was performing Penderecki's flute concerto at the Oregon Bach Festival under the baton of the composer. As a chamber musician and recitalist, she has performed in Europe, North America, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and Australia, in venues such as the Wigmore Hall, Edinburgh International Festival, the Louvre, Paris, and the Schubertsaal of Vienna's Konzerthaus. She can be heard on many chamber music recordings and has two recital discs “The Hour of Dreaming” with pianist Piers Lane and “Songs without Words” with pianist, Naoko Ishibashi. Lorna is an honorary “Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music,” and is an Altus artist. She joined the flute faculty of Carnegie Mellon University in 2015. For more information please visit: www.lornamcghee.com

Member Contributions and Thanks

As always, we welcome your comments, suggestions and questions. Please use the Comment box below or email us at alexander.studies.online@gmail.com with any information, feedback, or questions. We will do our best to respond to you as soon as possible.

A special thanks to Dr. Gabriella Minnes Brandes, Lorna McGhee, and Erica Donnison for their contributions to this blog post. To all our community members who have contributed, thank-you! We are working hard to integrate all your thoughtful input and materials. Your written contributions, updates for our Research Collections, and words of support continue to be appreciated and inspire.

To sign-up for ASO Monthly click here and add your email at the bottom of the page to become a member. To further support our efforts please share this with your friends, colleagues, and students who may benefit.

To keep the conversation going: reach out to us online, or email Erica and the ASO team at alexander.studies.online@gmail.com