The quality of the tone

 

No matter, what instrument you play - or if you sing - as a Musician you are aware of the quality of your tone. Of course, there are many factors that influence this quality. One of them is a very basic one: Your body. The more ease you have in the use of your body, the fuller and richer your tone becomes.

 

 

Injuries: yes indeed!

 

As performing artist you use parts of your body repetitively over long periods. That makes it very important to know HOW to use your body in the most natural and coordinated way. You need to know how to play with (and not against) your body!

 

Unfortunately there is an extremly high percentage of performing artists that injure themselves as they are not educated in how to play without putting too much strain on their bodies. Let me give you a quote of an atricle called "Cumulative Trauma Disorders In Musicians" by Kee Fedak, DC:

"Until recently very few studies or surveys were performed to elucidate the widespread nature of injuries associated with musicians... 

 

...This wellknown study tells us that a survey of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians showed that 76% had at least one problem sufficiently severe to interfere with their ability to play and 36% had four such problems. What is even more surprising than the fact that these injuries are so prevalent is that there is an incredible imbalance between what is known about the problem versus what is being done for musicians.

 

At the university and college level the statistics are just shocking:

8.5 new cases of disability occurred per 100 musicians per year in a university music school setting.

Manchester RA, Med Probl Perform Art. 1988; 3:15-18"

 

You can find the complete article under:

 

 

Please find below an article from the violinist Paul Stein (member of Los Angeles Philharmonic) which describes very precisely the Alexander Technique and its benefits for musicians.