JAVS Spring 2011

S TUDENT L IFE H EALTHY H ABITS :A P RESCRIPTION FOR C OMPREHENSIVE M USICIANSHIP

by Lana Avis

awareness into comfortable, delib erate actions. Productive and enjoyable practice focuses on this transformation to facilitate the transmission of musical ideas. What to Practice? Musical advancement consists of the improvement of technical facil ity and physical awareness. While we are frequently aware of the technical areas needing the most attention, such as intonation, dex terity, tone production, articula tion, etc., we often forget to prac tice the kinesthetic awareness vital to both technical execution and muscular flexibility and stamina. We can practice physical awareness by practicing through the follow ing process: 1. Establish concentration by focusing on breathing and how this affects tension release. 2. Transfer and synthesize this awareness into physical response. 3. Maintain awareness of comfort able and precise execution of each technique. Practicing comprehensive musi cianship also includes psychologi cal and emotional control. The musician must use self-talk that

will build confidence and trust, not only seeking to build confi dence from praise, but also identi fying the positive outcome of each practice behavior. Practice skills that we can adopt to accomplish these tasks are the following:

The Diagnosis: Poor Practice Habits

In our effort to succeed, we often learn new technique and repertoire at too great a cost. Practice time becomes a boring and tedious experience as opposed to a healthy and enjoyable one. Thoughtless repetition and exercise is unpro ductive and unmusical, stripping away personality and musicianship. Practicing for comprehensive musi cianship is more than notes and rhythms! We must establish healthy habits that encourage the creative process and maximize progress. The solution for compre hensive musicianship is to develop healthy practice skills. The goal of your practice should be the development of communi cation skills with and through your instrument. Healthy practice enhances the art of listening to your instrument and responding appropriately. Effective communi cation can be achieved only through a sense of oneness with the instrument; a sense acquired by transforming aural and kinesthetic TheTreatment: Healthy Practice Habits

1. Visualization: imagine yourself accomplishing the task at hand.

2. Act: define the character, identi fy the technical process to create this character, and execute the process. An important thing to remember is that musicianship is successful once it has been internalized. Imagery, emotional control, and physical awareness are just some of the tools that will enable you to relinquish conscious effort during a practice session or a perform ance, allowing your technique to serve the ultimate goal of musical expressivity. How to Practice? In other words, STRETCH! I became acquainted with this con cept while practicing Yoga. Yogis always begin practice with a rou tine of stretches designed to release muscle tension and create internal heat. This lengthens muscles, Begin with Systematic Tension Release Exercises To Create Heat.

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