Pianist or Athlete?
It’s a somewhat well-kept secret that I used to be a pretty serious athlete. I played basketball and tennis competitively in high school, and had thoughts about continuing along those lines even in my career. But circumstances changed and I felt called in a very different direction.
You can imagine that my piano instruction was a bit irregular, as I found it difficult to be the athlete I wanted to be and also devote time to practicing piano. As I played “catch up” pianistically as an undergraduate, I thought I had wasted my time as an athlete. In fact, I kept my athletic background somewhat hidden, as I felt it somehow made me less of a musician.
Now that I look back, I gained skills from my athletic experience that helped me in my musical studies without even realizing it. Things like:
Discipline
Routine
Seeing things as a whole
Mindful movement
Focus
Performance ability
Some of those can work against us--discipline can turn into force, routine can become mindlessness, and focusing too much on one thing can cause us to miss seeing things as a whole. I had to learn those nuances during my development as a pianist.
But the discipline it took to get into shape for basketball and tennis season felt similar to the discipline it took to choose the practice room over other activities. I’ll admit I took that too far during my music school days, and I’m thankful that my friends knew when it was time to drag me away from the piano! We all need a break so that we can come back to our tasks refreshed.
The healthy routines that athletes need are similar to those of a musician. We need a good sleep schedule to perform, whether it’s on the court or onstage. Sometimes that means we have to decline social engagements that would have us burning the candle at both ends. A healthy diet and lifestyle can be challenging when we have late performances or if we’re on the road, but it helps if we can keep our routines going as much as possible.
As a point guard on the basketball team, I had to see the court as a whole so that I could set up a play on offense. Similarly, I had to learn to determine the form of a piece of music, so that I could see it as a whole and make decisions about how to perform it.
I was taught to pay attention to how I was moving on the basketball and tennis court, particularly at the foul line or when serving. As my undergraduate piano teacher helped me technically, my athletic background was coming to my aid. I was able to integrate new ideas about technique efficiently since I was taught to be aware of my form as an athlete.
Being on the foul line toward the end of a game when the score is close requires focus and the ability to perform under pressure. I found myself in that position several times, so I learned to cope with performance anxiety. Translating that to the concert stage took a lot of time and experience, but I used some of the same tools that helped me as an athlete.
I’ve started to change my views about focus since I’ve become a student of the Alexander Technique. I’m learning to open my awareness to how my body is moving in space rather than focus my attention on one aspect of movement. But I think that might be another article. 🙂
It seems that Alexander Technique has given me permission to combine my athletic and musical selves in far more ways than I mentioned. Once I started to study Alexander Technique and become even more mindful of how I was moving, I realized that piano playing is an athletic activity. Somehow it connected the dots for me. I’ll admit, it would have been useful for those game winning foul shots, but I’m still grateful that I found it when I did!
Do you think of yourself as an athlete at the piano? I’m pretty sure that you are! If that’s something you want to explore a bit more, Alexander Technique is a great way to do it. Please spend some time on the blog and get to know how it can help you in the practice room. If you’re a piano teacher, download our free PDF, “5 Ways to Incorporate Alexander Technique into your Piano Teaching” to start learning how to help your students right away!