92 RHYTHM AUGUST

“The Alexander Technique has long been helping classical musicians to cope with problems such as RSI, tendonitis and backache”

Devised by Frederick Matthias Alexander, an Australian actor who suffered from voice and breathing problems, the

Alexander Technique operates on the principle of re-educating the body to achieve postural harmony and well-being. Essentially a self-help programme, the Alexander Technique teaches us how to become more aware of bad postural habits – often

the cause of restrictive physical tension – and helps us to use our body in a more balanced, efficient and co-ordinated way.

Although the Alexander Technique has long been helping classical musicians to cope with problems such as RSI, tendonitis, backache, tennis elbow, incorrect breathing, tension and even stage fright, it’s likely that the majority of non- classical musicians are unfamiliar with the method. Well, time to remedy that right now, by beginning with the important relationship between the head, the neck and the back.

Heads you winDo you know how much your head weighs? Go on, hazard a guess… Well, it weighs a whopping 10 pounds (10 bags of sugar! Or, to be more ‘metrically correct’, approximately five kilos). It’s hard to believe but true! So, that means if your head isn’t balanced correctly on the top of your spine, it’s putting 10 pounds of unwanted pressure (or sugar) on your neck muscles! This helps us to understand why

the relationship between the head, neck and back is so important.

First off, let’s talk about the muscles of the neck. It’s the big muscles at the back of the neck that hold your head up on your spine. If you hold too much tension in these muscles, they will shorten and pull your head backwards and off balance, as you can see in Pic 1. Apart from an obvious extreme pulling back of the head, it may be difficult to

know whether you’re holding excess tension in your neck, because the difference between the anatomically correct and incorrect position is subtle. Try the following exercise to check the position of your head: sit in front

of a mirror and check if you’re looking straight ahead, and that your eyes are level. Does this feel like where your head normally is? Now try this: allow the muscles at the back of the neck to release very slowly, until your chin is resting on your chest. Now slowly bring the head back up, using the minimum amount of neck muscle tension, and until you can see that you’re looking straight ahead in the mirror.

This may feel quite strange to begin with, because chances are that you probably normally hold your head too far back, and it may now feel as though you’re looking down, but check the mirror – it never lies! Pic 2 shows the correct alignment of the head, balanced on the spine, with Pic 3 showing the front view. Alexander Technique practitioners place great emphasis on this, referring to it as ‘freeing’ of the neck (more on this subject next month).

Of course, during the throes of musical passion, it may seem difficult to maintain such a balance of the head, given the physical nature of the instrument. However, as usual,

Improve yourposture and techniqueClassical musicians have been enjoying its benefits for years. Paul Elliott shows you how the Alexander Technique could help improve your playing…

awareness is the key consideration. With due care and attention, you can still play with passion and emotion, while allowing your head to rest in the most balanced and physically efficient position. You know it makes sense.

Bottoms upAs drummers, we can appreciate the physical and mechanical (ergonomic) benefits of adopting a physically efficient sitting position. In respect of this, it’s time to introduce you to some very important anatomical friends – the sitting bones! The sitting bones are the two round bones underneath you when you sit (surprise, surprise!). Pic 4 (as modelled by our small but perfectly formed skeleton), shows the position of the sitting bones, from behind. Try sitting on your hands, on your drum stool (See Pic 5, as modelled by our large but perfectly formed drummer!), then move around a bit, and you’ll feel your sitting bones. Basically, you should be sitting on these bones at all times – that’s what they’re designed for!

With this in mind, it’s a good time to mention the relationship between the body and gravity – a key Alexander Technique principle. This is best described by Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion, which tells us that “for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction”. In plain English, this means that the ground is coming back up to you and supporting you with a force equal to that of gravity. So, in plain drumming terms, by thinking about your sitting bones getting all that support from your drum stool, you can really let yourself use that upward support to give you a feeling of lightness, all the way up the spine. Basically, the freer your spine is, the more stable your torso will be, allowing for more freedom and balance in your limbs, and providing unrestricted, tension-free movement for the purpose of technical execution.

RHYTHM

How to…

FURTHERINFORMATIONThere are teachers of the Alexander Technique across the UK. For details of a teacher near you, contact The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Techniquewww.stat.org.uk0845 230 7828

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The really important thing to know about your arms is that they’re an extension of your back, and this is a key consideration in Alexander Technique. Physiologically, we have stabilising muscles and mobilising muscles. The stabilising muscles (core muscles) lie deep within, and effectively support, the trunk of the body. They generally attach to the spine, pelvis, and other muscles that support the scapulas (shoulder blades), thereby stabilising these areas to create a firm foundation for co-ordinated movement of the mobilising muscles, which move the arms and legs.

Lats wordsWithout getting into too much physiological detail, it’s important to look at the Latissimus Dorsi muscles (commonly referred to as the ‘Lats’), which effectively play a crucial role in the mobilisation of the upper limbs. Have a look at Pic 6 (please note that no tour t-shirts were harmed in the making of this photograph!) and you’ll see the position of the Latissimus Dorsi muscle, which covers a large area of the back, along both sides of the spine, out and up, to where it inserts into the upper arms. In general, paying attention to the large and powerful muscles of the back can provide more physical efficiency, comfort and endurance when playing drums – take care of the stabilisers with correct postural habits and the mobilisers will take care of themselves. Now that you are aware of this connection, stop thinking about the arms finishing at the shoulder, and instead allow your mental image of your arms to extend around to your back.

Another important consideration regarding the arms is that they don’t end at the shoulder in the front of the body either; they actually carry on right up to the collarbone, as you can see in Pic 7. This alone is not as important as harnessing your back power, but an awareness of this will immediately give you a little more freedom of movement in the arms and shoulders. Check it out for yourself: put your left hand firmly into the ‘soap dish’ shape of your right collarbone. Now raise your right arm upwards, as in Pic 8. You will feel the movement in your collarbone. Any rigidity in the collarbone will restrict movement and, again, it pays to be aware of this physical connection when playing drums.

CHIN UP, TENSE DRUMMERHead pulled back, anatomically incorrect, pressure on spine.

01RE-BALANCING THE HEADSide view of head being balanced on spine – correct posture imminent!

02

CHIN DOWN, RELAXED DRUMMERFront view of head, correctly aligned, a position that relieves neck muscles of unwanted pressure.

03X-RAY VISIONSThe sitting bones! Cunningly evolved to take your weight while you sit.

04

TAKE YOUR SEATSo sit on those sitting bones and prepare to bash away on the drums!

05WE DRAW YOUR ATTENTION…The position of the right Latissimus Dorsi muscle, as sketched by teacher Jane Gregory.

06

JANE’S MINIATURE MATEThe extent of the arm – note how it extends all the way up to the collarbone.

07PLEASE SIR!Hand in the ‘soap dish’ of the collarbone, raising arm – feel the movement.

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Explained The Alexander Technique

Next monthJoin Paul and Alexander Technique teacher Jane Gregory for more advice and helpful tips for improving your posture and performance.

Make sure you don’t miss the next issue by subscribing – turn to page 65.

072 RHYTHM SEPTEMBER 2005

Changing your thinking is a key factor. By thinking about how we carry out activities, we can reduce unecessary tension in the body.

Last month, we discovered that changing your thinking will change your body. By thinking about how we carry out any

activity, including playing the drums, we can reduce unnecessary tension held in the body – most often it’s tension we’re not even aware of.

What you think is what you getHere’s a little thinking exercise, which you can try with the help of a friend (non-drummers will be fine!). Hold your arm out straight at shoulder level. Now think of your arm as a bar of steel, but don’t tense the muscles. Now ask your friend to try to push the arm down, as in Pic 1. Repeat this exercise, but this time, think

of your arm as being soft, and light as a feather. It’ll be much easier to push down as you feel powerless to resist, and your friend may think that he or she has suddenly acquired a Kryptonian kind of strength! However, fear not, this happens all because you changed your thinking! This is a key factor in Alexander Technique and should always be in mind throughout this article. Keep thinking!

Stuck in the middle with youMany people think of the waist as being the middle part of the body. However, if you paid attention during biology lessons, you’ll know that the middle of the body is, in fact, at the hip joints, which form part of the pelvis, as shown in Pic 2. In other words, you should think of the pelvis as part of the upper body,

not just as a unit with the legs. Thinking in this way can help stabilise the whole upper body which, in turn, allows for more physical freedom, independence, and control, of the arms and legs. So, when you’re playing drums, think about really letting your arms and legs move freely and easily out of the torso, and you’ll notice the physical benefits. Have another look at Pic 2, to familiarise yourself with the position of the pelvis as part of the upper body.

A swinging hip jointIn the recent Rhythm series on ergonomics and technique, we stressed the need to maintain an upright but relaxed position when playing drums. If we need to move forward slightly, it’s

best to do this by allowing rotation of the hip joints rather than collapsing or folding the body into what is known as a ‘crabbing’ position. If you do notice yourself collapsing forward while playing, think about creating space across the

upper chest, from shoulder to shoulder, and think about lengthening the body upwards from your hip joints, all the way up the chest to the throat. Compare Pics 3 and 4. Pic 3 shows the body collapsed forward, while Pic 4 shows the body hinging from the hips, allowing the body to stay upright. This will also allow for more freedom of the legs when playing.

Every breathe you takeWe all know that breathing is a natural activity and something that we may not consciously think about. However, it’s possible that we may be interfering with our natural breathing pattern, perhaps through holding our breath when concentrating, or through holding tension and rigidity in the ribs, which stops the lungs from doing their job properly. The best advice that Alexander

Improve yourposture and techniqueIn the concluding part of his feature, Paul Elliott shows you how can enjoy the benefits of the Alexander Technique and improve your playing…

Technique practitioners can give about breathing is to just let it happen – don’t interfere with it. If you were to fall unconscious (don’t try this at home!), you would continue to breathe – so why interfere with something the body can do perfectly well without your help?!

Here’s an exercise you can try out while in a semi-supine position (more on semi-supine later in this article). First, become aware of the rhythm of your breathing. Then, when your next exhalation is ready, breathe out through the mouth as though you are blowing out a candle. When there is no breath left, close your lips and wait for the in breath to happen through the nose. Don’t hold your breath by closing off the air passages. It may take quite a long time for the in breath to happen, but just keep waiting and your body will breathe you! Repeat this a few times. This exercise shows that if you get out of the way, your body will do the breathing for you – one less thing to worry about so you can get on with playing the drums!

Semi-suprineLying on the ground for just 15 minutes a day is one of the most beneficial things you can do for the human body. In Alexander Technique this is known as ‘semi-supine’ or ‘active rest’. Pic 5 shows the body in a semi-supine position. Warning: the following information could seriously improve your drumming…

Benefits of Semi-Supine✔ Allows complete rest of the body.✔ Reinforces a good relationship between head, neck and back .✔ Plumps up the cushioning discs of the spine.✔ You can practise releasing muscle tension through thinking. ✔ Brings mind and body together. ✔ By lying in semi-supine just before practising, you will be more aware of tension in your body while playing.

RHYTHM

How to…

FURTHERINFORMATIONThere are teachers of the Alexander Technique across the UK. For details of a teacher near you, contact The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Techniquewww.stat.org.uk0845 230 7828

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How to do it ✔ Lie on a carpeted surface .✔ Place a small stack of books under the head – one or two inches (so that your chin isn’t at your chest but your head isn’t arching backwards either).✔ Bend your knees and bring your feet comfortably close to body (legs should feel balanced and be hip width apart).✔ Rest your hands on your abdomen.

What should I think about?✔ Allow your whole body to release onto the floor and feel supported by the floor.✔ Tell yourself that your head is supported by the books so your neck has nothing to do – it can really release✔ Imagine what your back looks like and let it widen and lengthen onto the floor.✔ Think about your knees pointing up to the ceiling and allow your hip joints to be free – this will help your lower back to release.✔ Let your hands mould to the shape of your abdomen by releasing them and think about your elbows sinking into the carpet – this will release the arms.✔ Allow your shoulders to drift slowly apart from each other and your shoulder blades to sink into the floor.✔ Become aware of the natural rhythm of your breathing and just let it happen.✔ Remember, don’t ‘do’ anything, just use your thinking to achieve results.

If you do semi-supine and realise you haven’t done any constructive thinking, take heart; The spine is a hydraulic system that compresses throughout the day and just lying down for 15 minutes allows all the fluid to go back into the discs and ‘plump up’ the spine again. So, you haven’t wasted your time!

Shoes off, hands onTo really benefit from the Alexander Technique is to have some one-to-one lessons with a qualified teacher. During a lesson, the Alexander teacher will guide you towards better physical co-ordination, and help you release tension in the body. By looking at everyday movements like sitting, standing and bending, you become aware of inefficient patterns and habits. With the teacher’s help, you’ll explore ways to carry out these activities without imbalance and excess effort. The teacher will probably also work with you lying in the semi-supine position, because not having to worry about gravity helps you let go of maximum tension throughout the body. After the lesson you are likely to feel more relaxed and have a sense of lightness when you move. Pics 6 and 7 show teacher Jane Gregory in action. Notice that our eager recipient looks relaxed, content and, not to mention, fully clothed! Indeed, the only thing you have to cast off is your shoes, and your doubts. Try it and see.

ARMS OF STEELThinking about the weight of the arm. A great party piece!

01THE MIDDLE OF THE BODYThe position of the hip joints and pelvis area.

02

COLLAPSED CRABThe torso collapsed forward into folding, or ‘crabbing’ position.

03HINGING FROM THE HIPSThe torso relaxed and upright, showing a slight movement forward from the hips

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RELAX, THINK, AND BREATHEThe semi-supine position.

05ONE-TO-ONE INSTRUCTIONIn safe hands. Alexander Technique guru Jane Gregory, at work.

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HANDS-ON GUIDANCEThe teacher works with the student in the semi-supine to allow maximum tension release.

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Explained The Alexander Technique

Next monthJoin Paul next month for useful hints on foot techniques. Until then, don’t forget to do semi-supine as regularly as you can and remember to breath easy now…

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