Alexander Technique Articles:

'The Personal Account':

A personal account of a three year Alexander Technique teacher training course.

Part 10 - Applying the Technique to the Cello:

In many ways, applying the Technique to the cello is the strangest lesson of all. As a musician I felt under pressure not just to get it right but to get it perfect.
Once I stopped persisting in trying to find “the correct position” position for playing, I got on a lot better.

The real root of the problem, as I eventually discovered, is that I want to end gain every note. No one ever said to me “it’s a really good idea to throw your head back, arch your back, brace stiffly and hold your breath when you play the cello. By the way, try doing this even more when shifting, string crossing, playing a chord, playing expressively or playing loudly.” That was what I was doing. This habit is no different to my end gaining habit as highlighted in chair work, because it is my automatic response to anything in life. This is how I had been subconsciously organizing and managing myself at the cello, and the harder I tried, the more pronounced the effect of the habit. Inevitably I felt very out of control of the unreliable noises I produced. Worse still, I was so wrapped up in this muddled process that I was fairly oblivious to the real extent of these noises. My remedy throughout was to try harder, isolating specifics that detracted ever more from being co-ordinated. How disillusioned had I been?

Most of my time nowadays with the cello is spent learning to play without reacting like this to every note. I notice much more quickly when I start end gaining again, my back aches and I feel anxious. I am amazed at how frequently and how strongly the habits are there, tempting me to do it my old way.

Playing is no longer such a hit and miss affair, or as painful. I have to be much more “present”, meaning I need to know what I am really doing. I often say to my students, ‘I wish you would listen to yourself as much as you are paying me to listen to you.’
Practice is much more effective than ever before, when I often felt my sight reading was as good as it got. Instead of directly working to play in tune, or legato etc, I remind myself that if I concentrate on getting these isolated aspects right my habit will be back. The habit guarantees I’ll screw up.

Playing an instrument used to be very arid, trying to develop mechanical skills and techniques, trying hard to move freely and fluently. Yet again, I was barking up the wrong tree.

When I started the training, music was not the only area of my life I wanted to take a look at, but I didn’t know where to begin.
If I had never suffered with physical pain playing the cello, I would not have discovered and addressed the end gaining way I was living my life. Not only has playing the cello stopped causing me pain, the Technique has also touched my life in so many other ways.