Klarinet Archive - Posting 000606.txt from 1997/07

From: "C Henderson" <chenderson@-----.au>
Subj: Re: Relaxation
Date: Sun, 20 Jul 1997 19:45:30 -0400

On Saturday, Neil wrote:
<snip>
it behooves us to develop a talent for consciously
> invoking relaxation. That's what I began to practice...
> Every single exercise I practiced, every
> single day, every minute, was guided by the principle of effortless
> physical relaxation. The
> whole thing revolved around the most important area of any wind
> musician's repertoire of technique: the use and manipulation of the
> air stream... I
> diverted my attention to other muscles which we normally don't
> consider relevant to the act of playing the clarinet, like the
> calves, the hamstrings, the muscles in the forehead, the toes.
> It was while observing these remote areas of the body that I
> realized I was a total tension-monger, and that this peripheral
> tension was having a sympathetic effect on the muscles which
> *are* intimately involved in the act of playing the clarinet,
> like the diaphragm, the upper and lower arms, shoulders, tongue,
> facial muscles, etc.
<end snip>

This rang a real bell with me, Neil. When I was having singing lessons =

(is the voice a "skinwind" instrument? ;-) ), my teacher accused me of =

being tense one day, and the only slight tension I could identify was in
my knees. I said that, with the comment that it couldn't *possibly* be
that, since it wouldn't make any difference to my singing. He disagreed,
and sang a long note while alternately tensing and relaxing his knees. =

Would you believe it? There *was* a difference! I've never forgotten =
it,
though stupidly, I've also never thought to apply it to clarinet playing!=
!
Many thanks for the application.

Clare Henderson <chenderson@-----.au>