A Class in the Alexander Technique
Saturday January 16, 2010 • Filed in: Alexander Technique
I did a class in the Alexander Technique with the members of Tuning The Air , a guitar performance team, and was later asked by email to summarize. What follows is a quick take, but I’ve decided to post it without too much revision. I’ve left out all of the details of the activities of the class. Perhaps I will go into that another time if it seems useful. The term, “critical moment,” is one that F. M. Alexander used, and I have certainly not exhausted the depths of it meaning in what I have written below.
cases emptied in preparation for a performance last year. iphone photo: frank m sheldon
As to summing up myself, again, the heart of the matter is the "critical moment" that occurs just before we do something. In some ways, this means even before we get ready to do something, as it is at this moment that the power of our habits tend to take over. Many times, perhaps, this may not seem as immediately significant as, say, the first note a musician plays before an audience. However, even the way we pick up a kitchen implement, although it might not have an obvious effect on how the carrot in the stew finally tastes (and some would dispute that!) does in some way effect our state, our field of awareness, and our sense of our life in that moment. This can have repercussion that can extend into every aspect of our life. So, in some way, everything is important.
The critical moment is where we have the chance to shift from our habit to a new way of doing something but not as simply a change in technique, but because the act comes from a completely different place from within ourselves. This new way may be unsteady at first, but the aim is to arrive at a better choice for the outcome of the act we are attempting. The aim is to come from a better place within ourselves. For instance, less unnecessary effort in playing a musical instrument almost always seems to result in a better quality of tone. I've heard this myself many times. It may also effect the musician’s sense of time, their sense of play with other musicians, perhaps even smooth the way for the creative force to enter. All of that is possible when we shift to another place in ourselves, a place of responsiveness that is possible when we are truly in the present, where we begin to become free from our past conditioning and worries of the future. Today we began to look at that. What better day.
As I mentioned in the class, Alexander was willing to try things out, and even make mistakes, because he had the hope of directly experiencing what happened before, during and after the critical moment. After gathering enough experience, he would then take another step. Sometimes he even had to back step. I suspect that some version of this willingness to step outside the world we know is present with anyone who has become excellent at whatever they have applied themselves to, be it music, sports, writing, cooking, science, teaching…anything really. What Alexander brings to this is a way that any person can go about this: a map as it were. We do this by starting not directly with whatever action or skill we wish to improve, but with ourselves, that is to say, how we are when we attempt to act as that will influence not only the quality of that act, but the quality of our life. With commitment, this can become a true virtuous circle.
cases emptied in preparation for a performance last year. iphone photo: frank m sheldon
As to summing up myself, again, the heart of the matter is the "critical moment" that occurs just before we do something. In some ways, this means even before we get ready to do something, as it is at this moment that the power of our habits tend to take over. Many times, perhaps, this may not seem as immediately significant as, say, the first note a musician plays before an audience. However, even the way we pick up a kitchen implement, although it might not have an obvious effect on how the carrot in the stew finally tastes (and some would dispute that!) does in some way effect our state, our field of awareness, and our sense of our life in that moment. This can have repercussion that can extend into every aspect of our life. So, in some way, everything is important.
The critical moment is where we have the chance to shift from our habit to a new way of doing something but not as simply a change in technique, but because the act comes from a completely different place from within ourselves. This new way may be unsteady at first, but the aim is to arrive at a better choice for the outcome of the act we are attempting. The aim is to come from a better place within ourselves. For instance, less unnecessary effort in playing a musical instrument almost always seems to result in a better quality of tone. I've heard this myself many times. It may also effect the musician’s sense of time, their sense of play with other musicians, perhaps even smooth the way for the creative force to enter. All of that is possible when we shift to another place in ourselves, a place of responsiveness that is possible when we are truly in the present, where we begin to become free from our past conditioning and worries of the future. Today we began to look at that. What better day.
As I mentioned in the class, Alexander was willing to try things out, and even make mistakes, because he had the hope of directly experiencing what happened before, during and after the critical moment. After gathering enough experience, he would then take another step. Sometimes he even had to back step. I suspect that some version of this willingness to step outside the world we know is present with anyone who has become excellent at whatever they have applied themselves to, be it music, sports, writing, cooking, science, teaching…anything really. What Alexander brings to this is a way that any person can go about this: a map as it were. We do this by starting not directly with whatever action or skill we wish to improve, but with ourselves, that is to say, how we are when we attempt to act as that will influence not only the quality of that act, but the quality of our life. With commitment, this can become a true virtuous circle.