Alexander Technique: End Gaining
Do your students desperately want to “get it right” when they’re learning a new piece? When we have that attitude, it usually appears physically in the form of tension. We might hold our breath, crane our neck forward, arch the lower back, or cut off the support of the arms to the fingers, among other things.
Alexander Technique has a name for this attitude–it’s called “end gaining”. Strange term, I know. But it basically means that we’re too focused on the outcome and not aware enough of the process. It gets us into all kinds of trouble, whether we’re rushing because we’re late for an appointment, or we’re learning a new piece of music.
Whenever we start a new piece, we create new muscle memory. And when our students begin learning new music with the tension that arises from trying to get things right, they’ll create muscle memory with that tension. It will be with them for the rest of their time playing that particular piece, and it will permeate other pieces as well, until you and your student do the hard work of removing it.
So how can we help our students with this? First, we have to cultivate a process-oriented attitude in our own playing so we can teach our students to do the same. We can begin by developing awareness of our physicality at the piano, and studying Alexander Technique is a great way to do that. Working with an Alexander Technique teacher will give us more compassion for the end gaining we see in our students, because we’ll see it in ourselves, too.
One of the most powerful ways to help our students with end gaining is to set up a deliberate process for learning new music. Too often, we’re concerned with learning music quickly so we or our students can be ready for a performance. When we do that, we usually focus on learning the notes and not much else. That means old habits will take over and we won’t have much control over the muscle memory we create.
Rather than rush to learn the notes, we can begin new music differently. When we introduce a new piece, we can help our students see it as a whole and cultivate curiosity about it, rather than see it as a challenge they need to overcome with force. Depending on the level of the student, we can do this by looking at the form of the piece, and discussing the composer and historical context. We can also use theory, especially harmony, to assist with learning the notes and understanding the style.
Once we’ve set the stage for the piece, we can approach note learning slowly, so that the eagerness to “get it right” doesn’t show up in their body quite as much. This allows for a more thorough understanding of the music, and ultimately is more efficient, in my opinion. This slower method also offers us time to cultivate the appropriate physical gestures, so that we’re creating muscle memory that will be helpful, rather than something we’ll eventually need to remove.
Of course, end gaining won’t just disappear. It will probably always be with us to some degree, so engaging with it is a practice to continue. When we do see end gaining in our students, despite our slow and thorough approach to the music, what can we do?
First, we can address the thinking that is causing the end gaining. Maybe your student needs to be reminded that the thorough approach to learning is actually very efficient, so there isn’t a pressing need to move quickly.
Secondly, when mistakes come up, we can help our students cultivate curiosity about why certain passages are more difficult than others. We can shift the discussion to why the composer chose a particular harmony or phrase, and uncover the challenges of a passage. This often helps students approach their playing with less judgement, and in turn, actually improve it.
There are other Alexander Technique practices that you might try which will address the physical effects of end gaining. You can learn about those by downloading this PDF.
If you’d like to explore more Alexander Technique ideas to help your students, head to the Workshops page, where you can sign up for an Intro to Alexander Technique class for piano teachers. In this class, we learn simple practices that we can apply to our own playing and our students’ playing right away–in fact, I’ve heard back from teachers who have used ideas from the class in their lessons that same day!
Alexander Technique is a lifelong practice for me. It may not be that for everyone, but there are simple strategies that you can learn and apply to the piano. The benefits for your own playing and your students’ playing can be far reaching, and it might turn out to be something that you’ll really enjoy as well.