This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Conducting (Conductors’) 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 conducting 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)
This is an unusual article on the hands and fingers in a musical performance. I want to look at the hands of a performer or conductor, whether the performer or conductor uses the hands and fingers to perform or conduct or not. So, this article pertains to conductors, as well as singers, pianists, and drummers.
I’m going to look at hands in musical performance physically and psychologically. What do I mean? There is the pure Alexander Technique principle of good body use and how to use the hands to play an instrument without causing wear and tear, by using the hands with mechanical advantage.
And there is the psychological implication of what hands and fingers demonstrate in performance when you are a singer, conductor, drum set player, or guitar player.
Here is a definition of the Alexander Technique principle of “good use” applied to the hands. WHEN YOU MOVE THE HANDS AND ARMS TO CONDUCT, YOU WANT TO DO SO WITHOUT CREATING ANY COMPRESSION IN THE JOINTS OF THE FINGERS AND THE WRISTS AND ELBOWS, WHETHER YOU ARE CONDUCTING EXTREMELY SLOWLY OR EXTREMELY FAST. YOU DO NOT NEED TO TENSE AND COMPRESS YOUR FINGERS AND WRISTS WHEN YOU CONDUCT FASTER AND FASTER!
This means that you DO NOT tense your hands or use more muscle in anticipation of controlling your gestures to communicate the pulse and interpretation to the orchestra and/or choral group. This totally unnecessary tensing of your hands to control the pulse and interpretation at a high tempo is usually very unconscious to the conductor. What I mean is that tense hands are usually one of those UNCONSCIOUS things that a conductor does to conduct with precision.
DO NOT TENSE YOUR HANDS WHEN YOU CONDUCT AT ANY TEMPO. WITHDRAW ANY TENSING OF THE HANDS TO CONDUCT SLOWLY OR QUICKLY, AND USE LESS MUSCLE BACKING UP SOFT HANDS AND FINGERS, AND MOVE THE HANDS AND ARMS REFLEXIVELY.
MOVING THE HANDS AND ARMS REFLEXIVELY MEANS PLACING THE GESTURES QUICKLY AND EFFORTLESSLY. MOVING REFLEXIVELY WITH SOFT HANDS GIVES YOU EXTRAORDINARY CONTROL OF ACCURACY AND SPEED, WITHOUT USING TENSION TO CONDUCT PRECISELY TO COMMUNICATE YOUR INTENTIONS.
When you use tension to slow the hands and arms down to conduct at a slow tempo or use tense hands and fingers to conduct at a fast tempo, you are doing two negative things. Musically you are creating a gesture that isn’t clean and pure. A gesture produced with slowed and/or tensed fingers, hands, and arms is not as precise as a gesture produced with reflexive movements.
Physically you are forcing the bones of the fingers and of the wrist closer together, and years of this compression damages the cartilage in the joints. TRULY, YOU CAN CONDUCT AS SLOWLY OR AS FAST AS YOU WANT WITHOUT TENSING YOUR HANDS AND FINGERS AND ARMS BEFORE YOU CONDUCT, AND STILL HAVE ABSOLUTE CONTROL OVER YOUR CONDUCTING.
Here is the psychological component of hands. Hands don’t tense themselves independently of the conductor. They tense for two reasons that reinforce each other. Two truths: Almost all conductors experience the fear of wanting to conduct well. Almost all conductors could make changes to their conducting technique that would make their conducting more mechanically advantageous.
When a conductor conducts with fear, then the tension of fear in the hands and moving arms can compromise a conductor’s technique that could be more user friendly. This means the conductor tenses the hands and fingers and arms more and more to gain more control.
The conductor’s musical intentions then usually goes downhill, and the conductor tenses the hands and arms even more to try to regain control.
WHAT IF THE CONDUCTOR CHOSE TO WITHDRAW THE TENSION BUILDING IN THE HANDS AND FINGERS AND ARMS CAUSED BY FEAR, AND LEARNED TO TRUST THE HANDS AND ARMS TO CONDUCT BEAUTIFULLY AND EFFORTLESSLY. This would end the cycle of tension and fear and tension and fear etc. the conductor gets him or herself into.
It would bring to consciousness the unconscious technique habit of raising the tension level in the hands and arms the more difficult the piece, and give the conductor back “CONSCIOUS CONTROL” of his or her hands and fingers and arms.
NOW, the hands and fingers of the singer, drum set player, and trombone player: The singer doesn’t use the fingers and the hands, and the trombone player, like the drum set player, may utilize moving fingers minimally.
But in all of the above cases a clear sense of what is going on the hands and fingers has an effect on the performance.
Let me combine the Alexander Technique here with psychology. IF THE SINGER, CONDUCTOR, TROMBONE PLAYER, OR DRUM SET PLAYER EXPRESS THEMSELVES WITH EASY SOFT HANDS, THEN THE HANDS AND FINGERS ARE NOT REINFORCING FEAR BY EXPRESSING FEAR WITH TENSION. THIS ENABLES THE PERFORMER OR CONDUCTOR TO PERFORM OR CONDUCT MUCH MORE FEARLESSLY.
WHEN THE LEVEL OF FEAR OF THE PERFORMER OR CONDUCTOR DROPS LOWER AND LOWER, THEN THE PERFORMER OR CONDUCTOR IS ABLE TO OFFER A PERFORMANCE OF GREATER AND GREATER LOVE.
LOVE IS LETTING GO OF FEAR.
