Musicians and the Alexander Technique
"Some fingers (no doubt because of too much writing and playing in earlier years) have become
quite weak, so that I can hardly use them"
- from the 1839 biographical notes of Robert Schumann, pianist and composer.
In 1988, the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians surveyed orchestral
musicians and found from the 2,212 respondents that 76 percent had a significant medical
problem that affected their ability to play.
The Alexander Technique has a long history of helping instrumentalists and singers to perform
with less stress and likelihood of injury. Musicians do some of the most complex and demanding
physical movements of any profession. In recent years, the term Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) has
come into popular use, but musicians have always had to face the challenge of performing the
same complex muscular actions over and over again.
By helping musicians improve the quality of the physical movements involved in playing an
instrument or singing, the Alexander Technique also helps improve the quality of the music itself.
A violinist's stiff shoulders and arms will get in the way of a pleasing sound; a singer's tight neck
or jaw will cause the voice to become less resonant. By helping musicians release undue tension
in their bodies, the Alexander Technique makes possible a performance which is more fluid and
lively, less tense and rigid.
Over the years, a number of prominent musicians have publicly endorsed the Alexander
Technique: Yehudi Menuhin, Paul McCartney, Sting, Julian Bream, James Galway and the
conductors Sir Colin Davis, Sir Adrian Boult, to name but a few.
The Technique is taught at all the music colleges in the UK, and many more around the world,
plus many other schools and institutions. It is also part of the curriculum at RADA, Trinity College
of Music, and the drama department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
