Klarinet Archive - Posting 000167.txt from 2002/10

From: Tom.Henson@-----.com
Subj: RE: [kl] What not to do
Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 10:56:37 -0400

Neil, well said.

I know we had a discussion on the list a little while back about this very
thing, mostly related to relaxation and tension.

I pointed out that I practiced relaxation along with breathing and by
combining these two things have indeed made much progress as you point out.

I quote from a thread on this subject.

I said: "It is amazing to me how much we get in the way of something so
simple."

Tony Pay said: "Yes. At least a part of that is that it's because we're
often *taught* to get in the way of it.

It's one reason why I want to attack the 'lots of practice' attitude when it
surfaces here. It's because 'practice' very often is assumed to
mean: time spent on playing 'the notes'."

Tom Henson

Neil Leupold commented:

< The more advanced a player becomes, the more apparent it becomes that so
much of becoming technically proficient is a matter of getting out of one's
own way. In so many cases, it turns out to be what we're doing...something
that needs to be conditioned *out* of our approach to the instrument, that
is inhibiting forward motion. Absorbing that idea and then examining the
"resistances" that exist in one's technique, i.e., what you're doing that is
causing the logjam in progress, can lead to quantum leaps in growth, much of
the issue stemming from physical tension and ineffective use of the air
stream. >

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