The Feldenkrais Method for Musicians

Saturday April 25
1 pm– 4:30 pm
$50

Call The Feldenkrais Centre at 416-928-3505
to register or for more information!

Musicians create music through movement. Ideally, these movements are gentle, precise and well calculated, involving the entire body and the breathing. Playing an instrument however requires considerable physical effort, which if not well organized, can lead to stiffness and pain. Some playing positions determined by the instrument, are contrary to the natural balance of the human body; the asymmetrical position in flute, violin and guitar; the forward body-bend in contrabass and wind instruments and the straight-line motion of both arms in string or piano playing. Practicing and playing an instrument demands the specific use of muscles, tendons and joints repetitiously, for several hours a day over many years, frequently in situations of mental stress.

In this situation the Feldenkrais Method can be of real help as it relates to the habits of movement that we have acquired over the years, offering alternative patterns and new forms of motion. It is a direct, simple and perceptible way of improving coordination, observing how we utilize our energy and allows us to become better acquainted with our real potential. We learn to recognize unhelpful effort and to reorganize our movements in the manner that is most convenient for the desired purpose. Instrumental playing, by enhancing our inner awareness of body movement as it does, can challenge us to find the easiest, most efficient and pleasurable way to perform any composition.  Here is your chance to eliminate the pain caused by playing or, better still, to avoid it altogether!

As the Feldenkrais Method helps us discover more options for initiating or refining a gesture, new ways of directing a phrase or producing dynamics, we become less locked in to habitual musical concepts; as our body opens, so does our creative imagination.