Finding Just Right
Quality of Contact
As you explored how you create sound yesterday, I hope you are beginning to see that creating sound is all physical movement. You can dig deeper by identifying and clarifying the “how” behind what you identified yesterday. For example, if you said air, how do you move the air? Rib movement is primary for moving air.
The quality of our playing movements equates to the quality of phrases and sounds as we play.
Today I want you to investigate how tension in an area effects movement quality. I am inviting you to introduce tension in the body and see if the sound and/or your technique is effected. What happens if you hold your instrument with extra effort by pressing harder than you need to on the keys/valves, the bow, a stick, or if you are a vocalist clench your fists. What changes?
What if you tighten your embouchure more than needed? Are elements beyond sound effected?
What if you scrunch your feet up so they don’t contact the ground well?
Excess tension in the body limits all movement, even as far away as the feet! We need to identify just the right amount of tension and effort for the music.
Now that you have seen what excess tension does to your sound, think about quality of contact with your instrument, the seat and the floor. Fine-tuning contact is a powerful way to improve all playing movement and coordination More on this tomorrow.
For today, enjoy your contact with the world around as you play and continue to identify specific movements in your playing! Enjoy