English Horn – Recovery from Pain and Strain (Musicians)(Psychology)(Injuries)(Posture)(Alexander Technique)(Albuquerque)

This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to English Horn 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 horn 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)
What is the most loving way to recover from pain and/or strain on the English horn? In writing this post, I’m assuming you’ve done nothing to your embouchure, hands, arms, or body that requires surgery. There is no actual physical damage, but your musculature is making comfortable playing difficult.
Because of this pain and strain, do you stop playing the English horn until you can return to the instrument pain-free? Or do you use the English horn to heal your body, as your own form of rehabilitative therapy? I vote for using the English horn to rehab your body.
IF YOU HAVE CAUSED PAIN AND STRAIN TO YOUR BODY ON THE ENGLISH HORN, THEN YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG IN YOUR TECHNIQUE AND/OR POSTURE AS YOU PLAY. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO EVENTUALLY HAVE PAIN AND STRAIN ON THE ENGLISH HORN, BECAUSE THIS IS A GIVEN GUARANTEED OCCURRENCE WHEN YOU PLAY THE MOST DIFFICULT LITERATURE WRITTEN FOR THE INSTRUMENT.
So, how do you use the English horn to heal your body? Before I answer this question, I want to say that using the English horn as the primary therapy to heal yourself is uniquely Alexandrian. It is a principle central to the Alexander Technique.
THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE TEACHER SEES MOST PAIN AND STRAIN ON THE ENGLISH HORN AS CAUSED BY MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT TECHNIQUE AND POSTURE. WHICH MEANS, OVER TIME YOU WILL EVENTUALLY CAUSE YOURSELF TO GET INTO PHYSICAL TROUBLE, IF YOU ARE SOLELY FOCUSED ON WHAT COMES OUT OF THE ENGLISH HORN, RATHER THAN HOW EFFICIENTLY AND EFFORTLESSLY YOU CAN PLAY.
Now, how do you use the English horn to heal your body? You do what I did when I got carpal tunnel syndrome on the classical guitar. I used the guitar as an activity to find the most mechanically advantageous posture and the most mechanically advantageous technique, as I sat and practiced for hours.
Everything I had ever been taught or learned from guitar teachers and acquired by default on posture and technique on the guitar was questioned. I tested everything I was doing on the guitar, and if it didn’t feel balanced and powerful in my whole body when I was doing it, then I replaced what I was doing.
Let’s apply this to English horn technique and posture. As you sit or stand with the English horn, could you sit or stand the way you’re sitting or standing and play for an hour without pain and strain and aches? If not, you’re doing something wrong. Can you play and breathe with effortless torso support in everything you play? If not, you’re doing something wrong. Can you play effortlessly and powerfully with your neck staying free? If not, you’re doing something wrong.
Let me explain this “you’re doing something wrong” statement. It isn’t a statement of blame, of saying you’ve chosen to consciously do bad things on the English horn. It is a statement that says because you are getting into trouble physically on the English horn, it is time to take control of everything you do on the English horn. Let the English horn be at least the one place in your life where you don’t feel off balance, don’t strain to play well, and don’t have aches and pains.
If you are incredibly perceptive, you can do much of what I suggest alone, but it is amazing gift to yourself to have the feedback of an Alexander Technique teacher, who can easily and objectively help you find a posture and English horn technique that is loyal to YOUR body.
THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE TEACHER NEVER LETS WHAT SHOULD WORK GET IN THE WAY OF WHAT WORKS.

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An Alexander Technique Approach to English Horn 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.