Klarinet Archive - Posting 000107.txt from 2002/08

From: Neil Leupold <leupold_1@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Are you a mover & a shaker?
Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002 18:42:51 -0400

IMO, all players should learn to play in a relaxed and motionless posture,
whether seated or standing up. After developing comfortability with this
approach to playing, it is more likely assured that motion which *does* oc-
cur while playing is (a) intentional/purposeful, and (b) not a reflection
of nerves or tension, which is otherwise detrimental to ease of technical
control and, consequently, to musical expression.

I find that most players are not fully aware of the tension that often
lingers in every muscle in their bodies. When such a player is instruct-
ed to play without motion of the instrument, without motion of the arms,
of the torso, or anywhere else, it is consistently an uncomfortable exper-
ience for them at first. (S)he is so accustomed to his/her tension-mask-
ing movements that, when compelled to be still while playing, the true ex-
tent of tension in the body is made evident by exactly how unsettling it
feels to play without moving around. There's an initial uneasiness about
it, because the tension provided something to "grab", to "push against",
and when it's not there, it's as if one is floating in space with nothing
to anchor them. Suspending the excessive use of muscles which have only
an indirect role, if any, in playing the clarinet calls into more focused
service those muscles which *are* directly involved. Suddenly you're com-
pelled -- and enabled -- to develop finer motor control of the fingers and
the embouchure and the tongue, almost spontaneously, as a result of greater
awareness, when more distant muscles groups (shoulders, quads, calves, bi-
ceps, glutes, etc.) are relaxed and released.

Like any other aspect of technique and performance, relaxation itself
must be practiced and refined until it becomes programmed into the
foundation of one's technique. Having accomplished that, the express-
ive motions and movements that one incorporates into a given perform-
ance, while enhancing the audience's experience, are also not a detri-
ment or inhibiting influence upon the player's full use and freedom of
their own technique.

Neil

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