Harp – The Tools to Be the Master (Musicians)(Psychology)(Pain)(Strain)(Injuries)(Posture)(Alexander Technique)(Albuquerque)

This ebook, An Alexander Technique Approach to Harp 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 harp 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)
IF YOU HAVE NOT ALLOWED YOURSELF TO PERSONALIZE YOUR POSTURE, TECHNIQUE, AND INTERPRETATION ON THE HARP, THEN YOU ARE STILL THE STUDENT, WHETHER YOU’RE FIFTEEN OR FIFTY.
You have a choice here. I believe that some harp teachers and some Alexander Technique teachers do not fully consciously teach harpists to be their own arbiter of what they do technically, posturally, and musically. THIS DOESN’T MATTER, IF YOU RECOGNIZE IT.
What do I mean? If you are working with a wonderful harp teacher and/or a wonderful Alexander Technique teacher, it is up to you to take what they teach you and be able to be your own teacher and solve your own postural, technique, and musical problems. In other words, be your own teacher away from these mentors and even with these mentors.
This means that as you work with these teachers, you want to start making your own decisions as to what works, once you’re able to generalize the wisdom of your harp and Alexander Technique teachers onto the harp. This will allow you to leave them and not feel lost, continuing to only mimic your teachers.
It isn’t that you shouldn’t use these teachers as resources once you’re on your own. But once you’re on your own, if you can’t troubleshoot solutions to technique, posture, and interpretation, then you are still the student of the master, even if you aren’t working regularly with your masters anymore.
I had a pianist as an Alexander Technique student, who said that whenever she ran into a problem on the piano, she would ask herself what would I say, if she was in an Alexander Technique session with me. I asked her what she meant.
She said that the solution she was seeking was a combination of using the Alexander Technique principles of good technique and body use I taught her, moving me out of the way, and then finding her personal solution that was 100% loyal to what she wanted from the instrument.
This is how you become the master. YOU GO TO THE HARP TEACHER AND/OR ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE TEACHER TRUSTING YOURSELF. So many music students go to harp teachers or Alexander Technique teachers feeling that they don’t have the ability to discern what is best for themselves.
What I mean is that the harp student has always had a harp teacher tell them what to do, so he or she may have never considered what they would rather do in technique or interpretation radically different than the teacher.
There is a fine line between trust and rebellion. SIMPLY, IF YOU CHOOSE A TECHNIQUE, POSTURE, AND INTERPRETATION ON THE HARP THAT PHYSICALLY MAKES THE HARP EASY TO PLAY AND OPENS YOUR HEART AND OTHERS’ HEARTS IN PERFORMANCE, THEN YOU ARE MAKING LOVING DECISIONS, AND YOU ARE YOUR OWN MASTER.
If what you choose is either constant dismissing of what you were taught, and/or gets you in trouble in your technique, posture, and lowers your life energy, then you are in rebellion. Rebellion is NOT being your own master. It is you still being only the student, because all you are doing on the harp is in reaction to teachers who aren’t even in your life anymore.

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An Alexander Technique Approach to Harp 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.