Cello – Inhibition in the Alexander Technique (Musicians)(Psychology)(Pain)(Strain)(Injuries)(Posture)(Albuquerque)

This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Cello Technique, is published on this website in a PDF format. It is very detailed and practical, and it will give you the physical tools you need to take the limits off of your ability to create the accurate cello technique you want without sacrificing your body.
This ebook is also for sale on all AMAZON websites in a KINDLE format.
Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.A. (MOVEMENT THERAPY)

INHIBITION is one of the most powerful tools in the Alexander Technique. It gives the cellist a tool to change any aspect of his cello technique and posture that doesn’t work with what works. Inhibition helps the cellist identify what is interfering with the cellist creating the most user friendly cello technique and posture possible, and then to be able to change what isn’t working.

INHIBITION ALLOWS THE CELLIST TO LET GO OF WHAT ISN’T WORKING, AND TO REPLACE IT WITH WHAT DOES WORK ON THE CELLO.

Inhibition is what you do after you’ve identified what is not working in your cello technique. Let me explain. By the time a cellist has discovered, after years of playing, that there are aspects of the cellist’s technique and posture that are interfering with the cellist’s ability to play all of the music that the cello player would like to play, these destructive habits are as central to the cellist’s technique as the productive ones are.

So, how do you throw out the bath water, without throwing out the baby? You identify and list what is compromising your cello playing, and you also make a second list of what it is that works in your cello technique, and you only keep the good list.

There are the typical big postural problems – slumped or over-arched posture, obvious tension throughout the body, from hands to legs. Then there are the much more subtle problems, which may be a matter of degree. What I mean, is there may be postural and technique things that you do that are not obvious to anyone but an Alexander Technique teacher.

Ex: If right before the cellist plays, he locks his neck, then this can be pretty invisible to most people. If right before the cello player plays, he slightly tilts the head backwards, this can be almost undetectable. If every time there is a difficult passage, the cellist holds his breath, this can be pretty invisible. If every time, in a very rhythmic piece, the cello player pulls slightly downward, shortening his spine to feel the beat, this can be a very subtle habit that interferes with coordination. This rhythmic hunkering down can compress the nerves that originate at the spinal cord.

So, what is the act of inhibition or inhibiting? If right before you do what you have always done on the cello, just before you play, you stop and choose to do something new, then you have just inhibited what isn’t serving you.

Ex: Just as the cellist is about to play, he notices he is tilting the head backward and pulling down. The cellist stops – doesn’t play. He now chooses not to tilt the head backward, and right after that new choice, he then plays.
What I have just described is inhibition or inhibiting a habit. It very subtle and very powerful, because for the first time, the cello player has chosen not to initiate playing with a bad habit.

He has chosen to play without unconscious tension and compression of the neck/spine. Bringing this into the cellist’s awareness is moving cello playing away from being something you fix, to being something where you are truly experiencing all of your subtle habits, good and bad, you have played the cello with. Now you have the tool, INHIBITION, that will allow you to perceive and choose which habits you want to keep or release.

THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE DOES TWO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS. IT TRULY RAISES YOUR AWARENESS OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING ON THE CELLO TO A LEVEL THAT SHOWS YOU HOW YOU COMPROMISE YOUR TALENT, AND IT GIVES YOU THE TOOLS TO STOP DOING THIS.

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An Alexander Technique Approach to Cello Technique

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Ethan Kind

AUTHOR, TRAINER "When you change old habitual movement patterns with the Alexander Technique, whether in playing a musical instrument, running, weightlifting, walking, or typing at a computer, you create an ease of body use that moves you consistently into the zone." - Ethan Kind Ethan Kind writes and is published extensively on all of the above activities. He teaches musicians, athletes, and computer operators how to stop hurting themselves, by showing them how to use their bodies with ease and coordination. He brings a unique perspective to his work, having been a musician and athlete all of his life. After training for three years at the American Center for the Alexander Technique (New York, NY), Ethan received Professional Certification credentials.