Skip to main content

Tone Starts with the Legs

Something I've been working on with my students of late is "using the legs to create tone."  No, this doesn't mean holding the bow with the legs!

It's more along the lines of lifting a heavy object.  While it's easy to focus on just the arms, lifting something heavy is a full-body activity.  The same goes for an instrument.  It's easy to think of music as "just" an intellectual past time.  But that's the trap!

So if we approach the instrument with the same mentality as we would approach any other physical activity then focusing on the legs makes perfect sense.  Using the legs and core muscles promote good posture and breathing.  Good posture and breathing allows all muscles to function more efficiently and fatigue at a slower rate.

This increased efficiency allows us to create a more relaxed, powerful sound on our instrument.  Almost all of the weird sounds that happen on a string instrument (and, I'm sure, any instrument) are the result of unnecessary tension.

This concept is at the very core of most martial arts.  Practices such as kung fu or tai chi are all a study of body movement and learning to harness the energy coming from within yourself.  The classic example being the "little old man" able to redirect the energy of a much younger man and throw him simply by using his body efficiently.  A rooted stance that, essentially, uses physics to your advantage, is always preferable to "muscling" an action.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Like Brushing Your Teeth

One of my teacher trainers told me that practicing should be like brushing your teeth. There is never a day when your tooth brushing is affected by other events in your day. The process is completely emotionally detached. I mulled over her words of wisdom for quite some time after she said them to me. What struck me the most was the suggestion of emotionally detaching myself. All my life I have been told that music is supposed to express emotion. So it was almost like it would be wrong to try and strip that away. For me, the teeth brushing example was a very interesting concept. I realized that the level of habitual repetition of that daily routine is rarely achieved in any other life areas. Dishes get put off, vacuuming, shopping for groceries.... but I always make the time to brush my teeth. Always making the time for practice? A lofty ideal indeed.
10 comments
Read more

Interview with Michiko Yurko on Music Mind Games and Sight-Reading in the Suzuki Method

Welcome to Rethinking Genius, Michiko! Please introduce yourself and tell us about your company, Music Mind Games. Hi, Danielle! I am Michiko Yurko and I am the creator of Music Mind Games, a project I have been working on for 40 years. It’s been great! Music and education were important to my parents. Although they followed different professions, my father sang and my mother played the piano. I was always supported in my music and dance lessons and related activities so I have very positive memories of those years. My mom was an elementary classroom teacher and her extraordinary devotion to her students and her creativity taught me to be innovative in my own work. Music Mind Games, LLC was founded in 2005 after Warner Bros (my publisher for nearly 20 years) was sold to Alfred. Although they believed in my work and continue to publish the book Music Mind Games, Alfred said they could not afford to produce the Music Mind Games materials. My husband, Cris and I discussed all sor...
9 comments
Read more

Interview with Dorothy Jones on Suzuki Early Childhood Education

Welcome to Rethinking Genius, Dorothy! Please introduce yourself and give a us a little background on your history with the Suzuki Method. I am a Suzuki specialist in Early Childhood Education.  I founded a Suzuki School in London Ontario Canada. In 1993, the ISA approved my program in Early Childhood Education and designated my school as a world Teacher Training Centre. Past President of the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) past board member of the ISA, I was a founding member of the Board of the Suzuki Association of Ontario and served as President of that organization. I have been a Suzuki parent, Piano Teacher Trainer and keynote speaker at conferences and workshops around the world for over 41 years. I am recognized as a Suzuki Early Childhood Education (SECE) teacher trainer in the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA), the European Suzuki Association (ESA) and the Pan Pacific Suzuki Association (PPSA). Explain to us what Suzuki Early Childhood Education (...
5 comments
Read more