Indirect Procedures: A Musician's Guide to the Alexander Technique

The problems of a musician may have many causes and many possible solutions. While working conditions, stress, and instrument and furniture design are all significant factors, the most important aspect of a musician's life remains not what is done to them, but what they do to themselves. F.M. Alexander (1869-1955) saw the individual as a whole, and talked not of 'the body' but of 'the self'; not of 'posture', but of 'use'. The aim of his technique is not to teach you to do what is right, but to help you stop doing what is wrong, through a series of practical procedures which awaken your awareness and allow you to develop your innate potential. The Alexander Technique applies to all areas of musical activity, from technique, sound production, and interpretation, to daily practice, rehearsal routines, and the mitigating of stage fright and health problems. This book, by an experienced professional musician and Alexander teacher, is the first to deal specifically with the applications of the Technique to music making.…