More Than Our Own Habits

When I recently played an opera concert with excerpts I had performed years ago, I expected to encounter some old muscle memory. But what I discovered while working through it surprised me.

We've all had the experience of revisiting a piece and finding old habits waiting for us — maybe we learned it when our technique wasn't quite as developed, or under stressful circumstances. Either way, we can feel those habits baked into the piece.

While preparing for this concert, my Alexander teacher pointed out some downward pull* in my playing. I was surprised, because I couldn't feel it at all. It took some time, but eventually I began to notice what I was doing. It was so embedded in my playing that I had been completely unaware of it.

I realized that my muscle memory wasn't just about my playing — it also involved my response to the conducting I had seen years ago as a rehearsal pianist.

In one particular opera, the conductor moved in an upright way, and I played that opera with some old habits, but not too much downward pull.

In another opera, the conductor had more downward pull, and that showed up in my playing. My shifts weren’t just side to side — they went down, too. In other words, I was weighed down at the very moments when I needed to move quickly.

Preparing for that concert kept me and my AT teacher very busy! But the experience left me thinking about something beyond my own playing.

If there was ever an argument to study Alexander Technique, it’s this: our use affects not only our playing, but also the musicians we collaborate with.

Those of us who play in ensembles of any kind know that we affect those around us with our playing. But as musicians we’re very focused on musical aspects — making sure our tone is intentional, our rhythm is clear, and our rubato is proportioned so we can pass the baton to our colleagues.

But how often do we think about whether our slouching at the piano might affect the person we’re sitting next to in our ensemble? Or how our breathing might affect the singer we’re working with?

After my experience resurrecting these operas, I’m convinced that our use** is important not only for us, but for those around us. We’re social beings, and we’re not performing in a vacuum. How we sit, breathe, and move directly affects our collaborators.

Are you ready to explore how you move when you play? Download this free pdf to get started with some Alexander Technique ideas to help you play with more ease.

*”Downward pull” is an Alexander Technique term that means we’re collapsing in on ourselves and weighing ourselves down.

** “Use” is what we say in Alexander Technique when we talk about movement. We might say someone has good use if they’re moving without unnecessary tension.