Vocal Pedagogy and the Alexander Technique: a reflection

This article is a reflection about the role of the Alexander Technique and its application and influence in vocal pedagogy. It is based on more than seventeen years of active teaching as a qualified Alexander Technique Teacher and as a professional singer, working alongside vocal pedagogues, teachers, students and professionals. Its objective is to reflect upon the role of body awareness, psychophysical and emotional consciousness, and wellbeing in the realms of vocal pedagogy and singing.

Alexander Technique as an auto-ethological mode of differing inquiry

In practice, the work of F.M Alexander can sometimes facilitate, enliven or accentuate embodied experience and awareness (Dimon, 2015; Jones, 1976). It can also provide a means whereby the ‘psycho-physical instrument of self’ becomes more readily co-ordinated within its own system of organisation and simultaneously, in relation to whatever it encounters in the world. McCormack’s (2013) reading of Dewey’s “ethology of experience” is salient here, where experience is conceptualised as open-ended, affective, and ‘radically experimental’. Our interest lies in the subtle, barely-perceptible difference/s that sometimes emerge/s when we contemplate/engage a thought, an object, a connection, or an encounter with a freshly-attuned, embodied instrument. Experiencing these differences might also point to some unexplored ways of being in, and coming-to-know, the worlds we inhabit and inquire into.

Teknik Alexander terhadap Tingkat Kenyamanan pada Ibu Hamil Trimester III

This study aims to determine the effect of the Alexander technique on the comfort level of pregnant women in the third trimester. This research uses a quasi-experimental design approach with a pretest-posttest design with a control group design. The paired sample t-test analysis results showed that there was a difference in the average level of comfort in the intervention group before and after being given the intervention with a p-value of 0.000. In the control group, a p-value of 0.282 was obtained. This indicates that there is no difference in the level of comfort before and after. The results of the GLM-RM test showed that the greenhouse-geisser (Sig) value was 0.000 < 0.005, and the most significant partial eta square value was in the 7th measurement (0.454). In conclusion, the alexander technique can increase comfort in third-trimester pregnant women. Keywords: Third-Trimester Pregnant Women, Comfort, Alexander Technique

Protecting the Body

This chapter introduces injury preventive practices for the music student. These include key activities such as warming up, cooling down, exercising, and participating in mind–body practices. The differences between static and dynamic stretching, as well as when to practice each methodology, are discussed. Ideas for cultivating healthful habits, both within students’ musical practice and in their daily life, are provided. The chapter includes descriptions of mind–body practices common among musicians, such as the Alexander technique and Feldenkrais. An injury-prevention toolkit at the end of the chapter provides several practical worksheets and exercises (available on the companion website) for music instructors to use with their students.

Embodiment, Relationality and Epistemics: Observations from Alexander Technique Training in Music Master Classes

Following Shilling’s arguments on body pedagogics in sociology, we show how the negotiation of epistemic concerns is central to our understanding of practices of embodied interaction. Using conversation analytic methods, we examine audio and visual data from recordings of tuition in the Alexander Technique to accomplished amateur musicians. Our analysis builds on previous research on the body in pedagogic contexts, and focuses on embodied and discourse practices through which imperceptible changes to the body are warranted, the management of recruitment and agreement to embodied change, and the use of embodied mimicry. We position our approach as a rapprochement between the concerns of the sociology of the body and interactional studies of embodied action.

Alexander Technique vs. Targeted Exercise for Neck Pain—A Preliminary Comparison

Background: Alexander technique private lessons have been shown to reduce chronic neck pain and are thought to work by different mechanisms than exercise. Group classes may also be effective and would be cost-effective. Design: A two-group pre-test/post-test design. Participants were assigned to either a general Alexander technique class or an exercise class designed to target neck pain. Both groups met over 5 weeks for two 60 min sessions/week. Participants: A total of 16 participants with chronic neck pain (aged 50+/−16 years) completed this study. Interventions: The Alexander class used awareness-building methods to teach participants to reduce habitual tension during everyday activities. The exercise class was based on physical therapy standard of care to strengthen neck and back muscles thought to be important for posture. Measures: We assessed neck pain/disability, pain self-efficacy, activation of the sternocleidomastoid muscles during the cranio-cervical flexion test, and posture while participants played a video game. Results: Both groups reported decreased neck pain/disability after the interventions. Sternocleidomastoid activation decreased only in the Alexander group. Conclusion: In this small preliminary study, Alexander classes were at least as effective as exercise classes in reducing neck pain and seemed to work via a different mechanism. Larger, multi-site studies are justified.

Developing Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Yoga and Mindfulness for the Well-Being of Student Musicians in Spain

Here, we report on a quasi-experimental study to explore the applicability and perceived benefits of the CRAFT program, which is based on mindfulness, yoga, positive psychology, and emotional intelligence, to improve higher education student musicians’ health and well-being during the lockdown. A subset of student musicians at a Higher Conservatory of Music in Spain followed the CRAFT program during the academic year 2019/2020, 1 h per week as part of their curriculum. Students enrolled in CRAFT-based elective subjects formed the CRAFT program group (n = 40), while other students represented the control group (n = 53). The onset of the national lockdown elicited by the COVID-19 pandemic occurred halfway through the program, which was subsequently delivered in an online format. We administered an online survey to explore the effect that the exposure to the CRAFT program had in terms of how participants dealt with various health and well-being concerns arising from the COVID-19 lockdown. There was a significantly higher proportion of proactive participants in the CRAFT program group, 92%, than in the control group, 58%, in terms of implementing practices to improve their health and well-being during the lockdown. Additionally, significantly more participants acknowledged perceived benefits from their practices in the CRAFT program group, 78%, than in the control group, 52%. Among proactive participants, yoga/meditation was the most implemented in the CRAFT program group, followed by exercise, and other yoga/meditation practices, whereas in the control group, exercise and Alexander technique-based practices were the most applied. In the CRAFT program group, the highest rate of perceived benefits was from yoga/meditation CRAFT-based practices, 51%, followed by exercise, 32%, and other yoga/meditation practices, 27%, whereas in the control group, benefits were reported by 29% of exercising participants and 16% for those having practiced the Alexander technique. A similar pattern was observed when excluding participants with previous yoga/meditation experience. This study revealed how participants can independently apply learned skills from the CRAFT program in response to a naturally occurring life event of unprecedented global impact, suggesting that previous exposure to mindfulness and yoga is likely to have a beneficial effect on how young adults react towards exceptionally stressful conditions.