Peppered with tips, helpful hints, and personal anecdotes to illustrate real-life application, this performance guide is essential for any wind player interested in taking his or her virtuosity to the next level. Internationally renowned bassoonist Kim Walker has compiled into one book the teachings and exercises that have made her known as an expert on bassoon performance, practice, and instruction. From basics like posture, breathing techniques, and articulation to a survey of the performance practices of key woodwind and brass masters, Walker includes an analysis of each technique along with images and exercises that present the mechanics of each method.
Peppered with tips, helpful hints, and personal anecdotes to illustrate real-life application, this performance guide is essential for any wind player interested in taking his or her virtuosity to the next level. Internationally renowned bassoonist Kim Walker has compiled into one book the teachings and exercises that have made her known as an expert on bassoon performance, practice, and instruction. From basics like posture, breathing techniques, and articulation to a survey of the performance practices of key woodwind and brass masters, Walker includes an analysis of each technique along with images and exercises that present the mechanics of each method.
eBook
Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
Related collections and offers
Overview
Peppered with tips, helpful hints, and personal anecdotes to illustrate real-life application, this performance guide is essential for any wind player interested in taking his or her virtuosity to the next level. Internationally renowned bassoonist Kim Walker has compiled into one book the teachings and exercises that have made her known as an expert on bassoon performance, practice, and instruction. From basics like posture, breathing techniques, and articulation to a survey of the performance practices of key woodwind and brass masters, Walker includes an analysis of each technique along with images and exercises that present the mechanics of each method.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780253024992 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Indiana University Press |
| Publication date: | 12/22/2021 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 345 |
| File size: | 12 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Kim Walker is an internationally distinguished performer and teacher. She is currently based in Australia and serves as a Guest Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She has toured worldwide as a soloist, recorded with many leading orchestras in Europe and the United States, and has more than 30 solo CDs to her name. In 2012, after decades of teaching and performing as Professor of Music at Indiana University and, later, Dean and Principal Professor of Music at the University of Sydney, she returned to performing, conducting, speaking, coaching and consulting.
Read an Excerpt
Spirited Wind Playing
The Performance Dimension
By Kim Walker
Indiana University Press
Copyright © 2017 Kim WalkerAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-253-02499-2
CHAPTER 1
Stand Tall: Posture and Balance
Have you noticed how great performers breathe life through every inch of their body?
The many hours spent standing or sitting down, often performing repetitive physical and mental patterns, eventually challenge everyone's anatomy. Gravity, repetition, or being busy and/or nervous generally takes its toll at some point. Mastery of these challenges becomes a core essential.
The ideal is for you to be fully charged, breathing through your body, grounded, and in tune with your instrument. Even when playing a slow, somber adagio, your gentle mastery of the air and your posture cooperate to deliver a full, rich resonance.
To excel as a musician, we dedicate thousands of hours perfecting instrumental exercises. In our natural state, our bodies are designed for a variety of movements, rather than repeating one exercise or movement for hours each day without deviation or respite. It is unlikely that any of us can maintain an ideal posture when we hold our instrument for practice and rehearsal or in an ensemble for hours at a time, as is the norm. The important thing is to recover! This chapter is a focused compilation of my favorite techniques, exercises, and images that help musicians establish and maintain an ideal posture in just about every situation.
Standing to play lengthy recitals and concertos, traveling, and performing forty-plus programs by memory for decades is invigorating to the soul and mind. The music always brings a profound excitement, and, whether playing a concert or recording, we tap into an emotional repository that brings us boundless amounts of energy. The next day, however, we may feel like our batteries are empty, unless we learn to balance the physical, mental, and emotional currents. I became aware of the Alexander Technique in my early teens while I was lodging with William and Elizabeth Waterhouse. They were living examples of the Alexander Technique just as it was beginning to be taught in music conservatories around Europe. When I accepted a full-time orchestral position, I chose to work privately with an Alexander teacher. Eventually, I enrolled in a three-year Alexander Technique training course in Geneva, Switzerland, so I could share the benefits with my students. Learning more about the postural anatomy and structure of the body, I began to realize just how much physical and mental demand we put on our bodies. It is miraculous how the body can accommodate and recover from the many challenges of our enthusiastic mismanagement!
As a young teenager I regularly rode my bike to the summertime Ravinia Music Festival, crawling through the fence to listen to the Chicago Symphony rehearse. I was mesmerized. At those hot summer open-air rehearsals, the posture and composure of these musicians impressed me with a sense of challenge, inspiration, and energy, present and alive at all times.
What a great shock it was when I entered the profession and came across musicians reading newspapers, watching small televisions, slouching, playing with crossed legs, almost daring themselves to look indifferent as they revved up to play! Looking back over my time in various orchestras, I am struck by the fact that the more successful and accomplished performers consistently demonstrated their care and thoughtfulness through their attention to musical expression and a natural performance style. How performers hold their posture, breathe, and play is testament to their passion, innate musical inspiration, and achievement.
Posture: Rise Up from the Ground
When standing, the goal is to balance the weight of the instrument on your skeleton, rather than using muscular tension to hold the instrument. If you hold or block any area of your body in order to support the instrument, you will reduce the length of your breath, limit your resonance, and potentially restrain free-flowing technique.
Interestingly, it was when factory production lines were introduced during the industrial revolution that researchers started studying the impact of boredom on workers. Rudolph von Laban (1879 — 1958), a pioneer in dance and movement, studied the efficiency of factory workers and applied his study to modern dance. He observed how human beings move and devised Labanotation, a set of complementary methods notating the shape and quality of movement, with recommendations as to how the human body can move and remain pain free.
Postural challenges vary depending on each situation: ensemble, orchestra, recital practice or performance. Using your best possible posture is vital to delivering ideal breath support, longevity, and pleasure when performing, and it requires conscious effort and continuous adjustments. As part of an ensemble, your natural impulses should be tamed to adhere to the group pattern (no tapping of feet, no bobbing or moving around dramatically, etc.). The larger the ensemble, the less tolerance there will be for spirited movement by individual players. Having to remain in one position for extended periods of time is a postural challenge in and of itself.
The Foundation of Your Roots: Feet and Legs
When holding a musical instrument, your stance (and your body) balance and move subtly in harmony with your breathing, rather like trees in a breeze.
The feet, ankles, knees, and legs are your tree roots, the foundation of your postural balance. When walking, our body generally uses a heel-toe stride; yet when running, our body balances on the balls of our feet, using a toe-heel stride for movement and pain-free sprightliness. When you are standing, your weight is centered on two supports: your feet. When sitting, you distribute your weight on four supports: two feet and the "sit" bones of your pelvis.
• Where is your weight right now?
• Where is your weight balanced?
• What part of your body is bearing the most weight?
Your feet
It is important that your feet and legs are comfortable yet alert in order to provide support for your torso (your trunk and upper branches). When playing, your legs may not be needed, but if they are asleep, the energy is heavy. Legs and spine should be active, as if you are ready to move. Play with your body poised as if you are just about to lift yourself out of the chair, stand up, and walk around the room.
PLACEMENT of THE FEET
Generally, you will find three natural stances for your feet: parallel, turned out, or pigeon-toed. For some people, the "ballet turnout" is their natural stance and offers greatest comfort. In ballet turnout position, your toes are positioned farther apart than your heels, so both feet together form a V shape. Other people stand slightly pigeon-toed: their toes are closer together than their heels, the reverse of turnout. The optimal position is when the feet are parallel, rather than turned out or pigeon-toed.
• Are your toes and heels parallel, with your feet flat on the floor?
• Are your toes facing inward or outward?
I have witnessed exceptional musicians develop this parallel foot position later in life. They had been unaware of the impact that something as simple as foot placement could have on their playing. Corrected, they were amazed to find that tonguing was easier, and in some cases, rhythm was stabilized. Standing or sitting, you want to take a deep breath into your lower abdomen, and this is easiest with your feet in parallel position. Younger players often respond dramatically well to this one simple exercise.
RELEASING TENSION FROM YOUR FEET
Whether sitting or standing, you need to be fully aware of the position of your feet. The joints of the ankles, knees, and hips should remain supple and ready to move.
Standing
When performing, we use our leg muscles for more than just holding the body. Often, music demands large, long breaths and a rich tapestry of colors. Watching any violinist, you can see how she engages her legs as part of the musical energy, and it is not surprising that as a wind player, you also engage the full body to produce your resonance and sound. The legs support your torso to allow deep breathing and to hold your instrument.
You want your ankles, knees, and hips to be active yet relaxed; your foundation must be open and flexible to hold the weight of the upper body and transfer it into the floor. By open, I mean that you imagine the ankle joint to be full of air and space to rotate; there is no sense of compressing a joint or locking it into a fixed position.
BALANCE AND WEIGHT SHIFTING
To move subtly while playing music, you need to be balanced on both legs, rather than locked into support on one leg or holding yourself in any fixed posture or position. Freedom of movement allows for freedom of breath.
Sitting
Postural support for sitting is balanced through four points: your feet and the two "sit" bones of your pelvis. These sit bones, which function like rockers, allow the weight of the pelvis and upper body to shift back and forth.
For active support your weight needs to be forward, into the front of the pelvis (toward the pubic bone) and into the legs and feet. The weight of the upper body "leans" slightly forward from the hip joint, not from the lumbar area (small of the back).
The spine lengthens upward toward your head. Sitting is an act of balancing the upper body on the base of the pelvis and legs. A small footrest can help you support your foot and leg position to maintain a supple, upright posture so that you don't slump in your chair with fatigue through long hours of practice or rehearsal. Legs and arms should remain active yet relaxed. Your feet push into the floor, sending energy and support up the front side of your spine to support your body core. When shoulders and hips are balanced on the joints, they are free to move and allow breathing the full length of your body.
Do you ever start with good-seated posture and find at the end of the session or performance that it may no longer be "ideal"?
WHAT IDEAL SITTING POSITION SUPPORTS YOUR POSTURE?
Do not be in a hurry to do what others do or adopt another person's sitting position.
• Sit with your weight forward.
• Have both feet touching the ground (or supported).
• Have your legs poised, almost ready to push the chair backward or stand up.
• Optionally, sit diagonally, across the corner of the chair, in order to allow your legs to be freer. (This is particularly helpful for shorter individuals.)
• Reproduce parallel feet when seated.
• Keep your legs uncrossed.
• Optionally, set one foot slightly forward.
• Don't tilt your head or twist your torso.
• Keep your arms and legs light and alive, neither tense, rigid, nor hanging passively.
USING THE CHAIR TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
It is important to find out what is best for you, your body, and your instrument.
You can:
• Reposition the chair at an angle and sit diagonally across the chair, leaving legs freer; or,
• Sit across the chair rather than squarely into the chair, so your feet have contact with the ground and your spine balances itself in an optimal position for breathing, rather than sliding all the way back in the chair (this is good for flutists).
• If you are tall, you may need to stack two chairs together or find another way to increase the height of the chair.
• If you can adjust the tilt of the chair, you may want to do so.
• Ensure that your heels and toes are on the ground or supported.
Your Tree Trunk: Spine, Pelvic and Shoulder Girdles, Arms, Hands, and Fingers
Good posture works with your core strength and natural anatomy to uplift your energy. The "tree trunk" (your spine) is manipulated at either end by the pelvic girdle at its base and the shoulder girdle at its top. Once you have properly set your feet and legs to your optimal posture, the next step is to align your core body. This alignment starts when you think about your spine.
Retaining the natural freedom and upward spring in your spine is a huge factor in defining how long and how well you enjoy a lifetime of performance health, fitness, and positive focus. When your spine lacks this spring and balance, your posture collapses your spine. A chain reaction affects your internal organs, breathing process, and mental focus either positively or negatively.
Embedding proper, conscious postural practices into your daily routines will help ensure a long career that is pain free and energizing.
The spine
The front side of your spine (in the center of your body) is what personal trainers refer to as your body core. Energy flows up from the arches of the feet, up the inside of the legs, into the thigh sockets, up the front side of the spine, and out the top of the head. The spine lengthens in two directions, releasing the head to float upward and the tail to hang downward.
Imagine dropping a plumb line from the top of your head. It hangs straight naturally, just like those beautiful Italian palazzos and their towers that were built using a plumb line to ensure erect, straight lines.
Ideally, you have a perpendicular angle at your hips and your shoulders, and the plumb line would fall straight between your legs to the center of your balance on the floor; or, when viewed sideways, the plumb line would fall through your ears, kidneys, and ankles.
ANATOMY OF THE SPINE
Achieving the freedom, scope, and efficiency of the body's breathing mechanisms requires good body posture. By good posture, I mean normal conditions as intended by nature.
Your spine is a column of small bones, called vertebrae, that rises up the center of your back from the pelvis and has several forward and backward curves. The vertebrae support your trunk and upper body. It is important that the spinal curves are neither too extreme nor too straight in order to balance each other. The vertebrae are hugely important, as they protect the nerves that connect the brain to the rest of your body.
An erect backbone/spine has several curves:
• The forward and upward curve of your neck, supporting your head. Cervical vertebrae support your neck and head.
• A backward curve, curving away from your navel, supporting your rib cage, lungs, and shoulders.
• A forward curve (in the same direction your nose points when standing straight) at the base of your spine, supporting your diaphragm. Lumbar vertebrae, those closest to the base of your spine, are the largest and thickest.
• The coccyx and sacrum provide yet another curve. The sacrum is a shield-shaped bone that connects your back to your pelvis. The coccyx, or tailbone, is at the end. It consists of tiny vertebrae fused together at the base of your spine.
The brilliant design of your spine allows for upward and downward spring and creates a lengthening in both directions — when given the chance. It curves with natural flexibility around your organs. In the Alexander Technique, we would view these four curves together:
• Your coccyx and sacrum arch out, then
• the lumbar curve supports your lower spine, upon which
• the thoracic curve arches out to support your lungs, and
• the cervical curve returns to balance and lengthen your back.
• The top two vertebrae of the spine balance and support your skull.
Do you remember the jack-in-the-box toy? Jack is simply a metal spring (with clothes on) compressed through a series of coils into the box. When the lid is lifted, Jack springs upward, lengthening enough to jump completely out of the box. In fact, the more coils in the spring, the higher he can spring.
Your spinal anatomy is designed to promote an upward release, restoring lightness and strength, rather than being compressed by hunching or leaning. When your pelvis is correctly balanced, your spine is relatively long and fluid, and it lifts upward: strong back.
If you take the same spring, or spine, and position it with one large curve, rather like the letter C, what happens? When released, it falls downward, collapsing. If your back is rounded, one of two things results: either your pelvis tucks under (rolls backward), causing a weak, rounded back and shoulders, or it causes a collapsed chest and protruding head. The lumbar spine lengthens when you tuck in your pelvis. Unfortunately, these actions also shorten the front of your torso, making it difficult to breathe and perform.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Spirited Wind Playing by Kim Walker. Copyright © 2017 Kim Walker. Excerpted by permission of Indiana University Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Foreword, by Peter J. Schoenbach
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Seven Core Essentials
Section 1: On the Air
1. Stand Tall: Posture and Balance
2. The Centered Performance
3. Breathing On The Air
4. Magnetic Tone Production: Head and Body Resonance
Section 2: Spirited Wind Playing
5. Embouchure and Powerful Projection
6. Get On With It! Warm-Up and Practice Routine
7. Deft Articulation: An Integral Art of Wind Playing
8. Vibrato: The Great Debate
9. Virtuosity: Dancing Fingers Lead the Way
Section 3: The Performance Dimension
10. Memory Made Simple
11. Winning Auditions
12. The Performance Dimension
Conclusion: Why is it So Easy to Put All This Together?
Key Resources