Alexander Technique with Tuning The Air
Monday January 11, 2010 • Filed in: Alexander Technique
I'll be working as an Alexander Teacher again with Tuning The Air , a project that I helped begin in 2004. Their new season starts this spring, this Saturday is their first rehearsal, and I will be there.
preparing for a special performance of the orchestra of crafty guitarist. iphone photo: frank m sheldon
Last October, I also worked on a one-week special Guitar Craft course on Raft Island where most of the TTA team was present. Part of that course was a performance before a live audience in Seattle at the facility where Tuning The Air does their weekly show. Along with another Alexander teacher, Sandra Bain Cushman visiting from Virginia, I was asked to work on the musicians while they played before the audience! I can only remember one other time during my twenty-four years with Guitar Craft that this has happened to me, and I found it highly satisfying to be “on stage” and part of the performance in my own small way. The players were sitting in a large circle much as they do during Guitar Craft courses. Many years ago, as well as individual sessions and AT focused classes, I discovered I could be useful on these course by going around during the guitar classes and using my hands carefully on the students as they practiced. Practically speaking, this usually meant working on the players while standing behind them. I always aimed for just one moment where something useful might occur: a little release of the neck, shoulders, or elbows, for instance, although sometimes it amounted to simply bringing awareness of unnecessary tension that was not yet ready to leave.
I have to say that during that performance in Seattle, I was especially moved to look across the circle of guitar players and see Sandra on the other side. She had been the first student in the Alexander Teacher training course I use to run in Virginia back in the 80s, and she has turned out so well! Sandra has become very much a part of Guitar Craft, and I have a feeling we will work together again.
If you are in the Seattle area, Tuning The Air is a unique group performance that is well worth your time.
preparing for a special performance of the orchestra of crafty guitarist. iphone photo: frank m sheldon
Last October, I also worked on a one-week special Guitar Craft course on Raft Island where most of the TTA team was present. Part of that course was a performance before a live audience in Seattle at the facility where Tuning The Air does their weekly show. Along with another Alexander teacher, Sandra Bain Cushman visiting from Virginia, I was asked to work on the musicians while they played before the audience! I can only remember one other time during my twenty-four years with Guitar Craft that this has happened to me, and I found it highly satisfying to be “on stage” and part of the performance in my own small way. The players were sitting in a large circle much as they do during Guitar Craft courses. Many years ago, as well as individual sessions and AT focused classes, I discovered I could be useful on these course by going around during the guitar classes and using my hands carefully on the students as they practiced. Practically speaking, this usually meant working on the players while standing behind them. I always aimed for just one moment where something useful might occur: a little release of the neck, shoulders, or elbows, for instance, although sometimes it amounted to simply bringing awareness of unnecessary tension that was not yet ready to leave.
I have to say that during that performance in Seattle, I was especially moved to look across the circle of guitar players and see Sandra on the other side. She had been the first student in the Alexander Teacher training course I use to run in Virginia back in the 80s, and she has turned out so well! Sandra has become very much a part of Guitar Craft, and I have a feeling we will work together again.
If you are in the Seattle area, Tuning The Air is a unique group performance that is well worth your time.