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I was also curious… both in Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais there are teachings about the very impulse to “get it right” creating physical strain and effort. Their emphasis is on noticing and awareness, and it’s very different from the high intensity or highly competitive learning environments I’ve personally been in where there is almost an overemphasis on critical feedback, what the student is doing wrong or what could be improved. I’ve witnessed people actually quit music completely or feel so disturbed by the critical listener in their head, they can’t enjoy music unless it is played at a highly proficient level.
And I was curious if this course address that? I really resonate with the clear intention before each practice pass, as well as the value of feedback and having awareness around choices. I introduced the idea of Problem-Cause-Solution to a few of my students and it actually really stressed them out, bringing out shame and physical tension and efforting. We had better experiences when I celebrated and emphasized everything they were doing right and then directed them towards new choices in the places they could grow, utilizing deliberate (as in the intention part), random and variable practice. Picking three things we wanted to practice, specific goals for each thing, and then played them as a game as if we had “gold fish” brain. Play it, let it go, play the next piece with intention, let it go, etc. Feldenkrais does a similar thing with the body asking the student to make the movement, notice how it feels, and then let the movement go, rest for a little bit, notice how the body feels in resting, and then trying the movement again. So I really liked that part of the practice section! I personally implemented it in my own practice this week and felt very present throughout the sessions and am very grateful!
I am still very curious about the balance of feedback and helping students cope with receiving feedback, when perhaps it touches a personal trauma or parental pressure or whatever – those instances where they receive at as shame rather than as something very valuable that can help them grow.
Thank you so much!