Julian Lage on avoiding injury & the Alexander Technique

[ruger9]

I found this very interesting... and I've known about the Alexander Technique (from Julian), I read the book a few years ago, but didn't get much from it at that time. In this video, Julian has a way of simply explaining the concepts, and I found it very easy to understand & absorb.

[Jimmy blue note]

Jules is a knowledgable source. When he was at Berklee, he studied with Mick and they discussed possible career choices of which music was only one. They were both very aware of just how much damage students/players cause themselves. Julian was actually considering becoming a full time Alexander practitioner or going into music.
I've sent students to him with music related injuries. His advice was a career saver for my students.

[bediles]

I'm definitely going to watch this. My partner studied with Peter Buckoke at RCM and it changed her life. Lots of playing one note or chord over and over for months.

[Cunamara]

Much food for thought. I am always impressed with the breadth of Julian's thinking. He is not just head down in music but much more broadly engaged in life than many musicians are. A very intelligent guy.

Thanks for the Peter Buckoke reference, bediles. I spent an interesting hour looking at his web site about the Alexander method. I am pondering my own injuries as a musician- which we tend to think about in terms of the body parts used to play our instruments, but I wonder how much of my lower back and neck problems (and maybe even my plantar fasciitis) stem from being hunched over a guitar a couple of hours or more a day for the past 45 years. My hands are pretty much fine, but I got problems elsewhere that are probably related if not causatively then at least complicated by playing guitar. A few years back I got into playing with a strap even when sitting so that I can put both feet flat on the ground, which has helped.

I had a conversation with a doc who works for a symphony orchestra part-time. He noted that every instrument has a characteristic set of injuries and problems- cellists have different issues than violinists or bassists or trumpeters, etc.

[ruger9]

The really cool thing is, this doesn't just apply to musicians...

I have chronic tension headaches. Have for years. I have learned that while normal stresses START these headaches, they can be made MUCH worse by my REACTION to their pain. Stress causes muscle tension. Muscle tension causes pain. Pain causes stress which causes more muscle tension. The same thinking that goes into the Alexander Method can be used for many things in life, if one simply pays attention to what's happening as it happens.... which is really just being aware of the present moment. Sounds easy, and it IS for children, but we seem to lose it as adults, and it takes much practice to get back to it...

[robocoptick]

we utilized alexander technique when i was teaching for robert fripp's league of crafty guitarists.

i found it extremely useful afa minimizing tension when learning and executing demanding music.

[pamosmusic]

One of my big regrets in college was not going to this monthly Alexander Technique workshop they did one semester.

In my defense, I was practicing.

But also I almost had to withdraw my senior recital because of carpal tunnel and tendinitis issues.

So yeah.

[bediles]

One of my big regrets in college was not going to this monthly Alexander Technique workshop they did one semester.

In my defense, I was practicing.

But also I almost had to withdraw my senior recital because of carpal tunnel and tendinitis issues.

So yeah.

My playing career was derailed by RSI which started near the end of my degree too, so I feel you. You're still making it happen though, which is great.

[pamosmusic]

My playing career was derailed by RSI which started near the end of my degree too, so I feel you. You're still making it happen though, which is great.

I was a double in classical and jazz and I’d done my jazz recital in the fall. A lot of my issues cleared up pretty quickly after my classical recital though, which tells me a couple things:

1. I wasn’t giving the classical stuff as much attention as it required. I was playing pretty tough music. Nothing crazy but hard enough that I should’ve been warming up for an hour before really getting to it and I wasn’t doing that.

2. Some of it was definitely “in my head.” Not in a dismissive way, but literally. The classical stuff was stressing me out and some of that was probably showing up as some physical symptoms, but also just all that mental tension makes your body tense up too. And playing with all that tension was the problem. So when I was able to rack the classical guitar for a few weeks, and make three or four visits for PT, it cleared up pretty quick.

[Cunamara]

The really cool thing is, this doesn't just apply to musicians...

I have chronic tension headaches. Have for years. I have learned that while normal stresses START these headaches, they can be made MUCH worse by my REACTION to their pain.

That is basically the foundation of cognitive behavioral therapy.

[RJVB]

That is basically the foundation of cognitive behavioral therapy.

Feedback isn't just a potential issue when playing amplified ...

[Jimmy blue note]

One of my big regrets in college was not going to this monthly Alexander Technique workshop they did one semester.

In my defense, I was practicing.

But also I almost had to withdraw my senior recital because of carpal tunnel and tendinitis issues.

So yeah.

Every semester at Berklee, I'd have a conversation with Mick as the year began: who's the most exciting and promising of the top tier players, how playing and learning trends are effecting new students just starting the jazz guitar road and how things are changing over time.
About mid semester, we'd have a different conversation. How many students did you lose? This could be from students with depression, drug problems and the big one: Practice related injuries.
No matter how much students were cautioned, warned, threatened or bullied (each missed lesson due to practice injury = half grade drop), there were ALWAYS injuries.

That's why Jules got it. And when he had a choice of playing as a career, or healing as a life occupation, it was a real toss up.
Still kind of amazing that one kid could have so much to offer.

Anybody listening?

[Cunamara]

Pondering pursuing Alexander Technique as a client. There is an occasional one-day workshop at the University of Minnesota music school, which might just suffice for my needs.

[Litterick]

"Let the neck be free, to let the head go forward and up, to let the back lengthen and widen"

[Flat]

Let the neck be free. I've been trying to convince my guitar to do that for decades. Stubborn thing.

/s

[Cunamara]

I attended a weeklong Alexander Technique workshop at the University of Minnesota this week- sort of an Alexander Technique summer camp. They also offer a once weekly class each semester which I am planning to enroll in (tuition is free for 62+).

So far I have found it pretty immediately helpful regarding my lower back and neck/right shoulder. I also found a hint of some benefit in my playing- better sound production, better projection, better contact with the audience. It was also interesting watching the other students make advances (classical guitar, harp, piano, vocals)- dramatically so with the vocalists. I also regained about an inch in height, although I have to keep up the practice to maintain it.