Sending Presents

December 22, 2011

By Stella Weigel

Having eaten cake which caused her to grow to a tremendous height, Alice exclaims:

‘I shall be a great deal too far off to trouble myself about you: you must manage the best way you can; —but I must be kind to them,’ thought Alice, ‘or perhaps they won’t walk the way I want to go!  Let me see: I’ll give them a new pair of boots every Christmas.’  And she went on planning to herself how she would manage it.  ’They must go by the carrier,’ she thought; ‘and how funny it’ll seem, sending presents to one’s own feet!  And how odd the directions will look!

(Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll)

I recently learned at an anatomy lecture that during embryological development the skin which sits underneath the first vertebrae (atlas) redistributes to form the skin of the soles of the feet.  This helps to explain why the receptors in the soles of the feet, provide such a good feedback to orient us in space and alert us to when we are going off balance.  Raymond Dart, anatomist and anthropologist, wrote, “In the human squatting or standing (or orthograde) positions, the dominant segmental skin information concerned in human head balance is probably that coming from the sacral or hind most body segments to supplying the soles of the feet, especially the pads of the toes and heels” (An Anatomist’s Tribute to F. Matthias Alexander, 20 March 1970, reprinted in Skill and Poise).  Alexander lessons encourage us to think of our feet being in touch with the planet, the pads behind the toes and the heels going back and down.

Due to a fear of falling, our common immediate response when we feel off balance is to stiffen; if this stiffening becomes habitual, then our fear response will become more or less a constant.  The possibility of any movement will lead to a perception that we are going off balance, and the fear response is therefore heightened.  This is a vicious circle.

No small wonder then that having developed a habitual fear reflex, I also developed a fear of heights; due to habitual stiffening, my feet were, quite literally, never on the ground.  I also sat in chairs that were too big for me, which caused me to stiffen as much I could.  As an undergraduate I avoided the paternoster lift at all costs, preferring to walk up twelve flights of stairs in order to reach the teaching rooms.

Dart continues, “Man is the creature of fear!  In other words, he is the most fearful (in every sense of that word) just as he can and has become the most fearless of all animals.  This is because he has become the most nearly tip-toed of all the two-footed, or bipedal creatures.  His walking is a constant precarious process of saving himself from falling.  So the primary fear to overcome is his fear of falling.”

The Alexander Technique teaches us to release and soften rather than to stiffen when being taken off balance, to experiment rather than to control, and to be aware that we do indeed possess a choice, either to topple over in a stiffening response
to gravity or to stand in dynamic equilibrium and stability, with gravity as our friend.

Alice sent presents to her feet.  But F.M. Alexander sent presents to us all.  He handed down the directions that help us experience standing on our feet as a pleasure, moving with them as a joy. Take a moment to think of your feet softening, spreading and enjoy being on the ground.  It is a kindness to yourself.

Merry Christmas!

Guest Blogger Stella Weigel lives in London and is an Alexander Technique teacher trainee at The Constructive Teaching Centre, the world’s oldest and largest Alexander Technique training school.

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How a Thought Translates Into an Activity, Part III: Realizing One’s Full Potential

September 17, 2011

In the last post, we looked at different examples of singing, in order to gain a clear idea of Ease in singing.  Here I will continue to outline how I work on singing, using the work of both FM Alexander and Manual Garcia, bringing the idea of Ease into the practice of Ease.

First off, what I do not do: I do not teach by imitation.  Telling a student to copy the teacher, or an accomplished performer is classic End-Gaining, and not a process of discovery whereby the student finds his true voice and ultimately becomes independent of the teacher.  This approach also presumes that the student is able to copy the teacher with freedom and ease.  Now if this were so, why is the pupil there taking a lesson in the first place?  The pupil could just get a record of say, Ivogun, listen and copy it.  Also, this approach does not ask the pupil to stop and think.  It treats the pupil like a trained seal and is insulting to even a limited intelligence.  What is learning if it tries to bypass thinking?

When I work with a singer, I must give him an actual, visceral feeling and the experience of Ease in singing by bombarding him with sensation until insight appears.  I see to it that the breath is not hurried, noisy or shallow, or that the face, hands, throat, entire spine, shoulders do
not betray any strain or tension whatsoever.  There is to be no forcing allowed into the process. We go very slowly in all of this. The rush and hurry in the study of everything is a big part of why we fail.

I use 4 mirrors and sometimes a DAT recorder and headphones so the pupil hears himself as we work.  Yes, it is very confrontational.

At this point I will ask the singer simply to intone of a series of legato vowels on one note (AH AE EE OH OO).  The note is one that the singer first chooses to hum, somewhere in the low to medium range; something he thinks is easy.  If I hear strain because the pitch is too low or a bit too high, then I will suggest another pitch.

The new coordination will feel very strange and unreliable to the pupil.  It will feel quite unusual and odd because it will feel like there is too small an effort for “singing as he knew it.”  It will be lighter and easier.  He may hear it and feel this sound is not “important” or “rich” enough. I help him STOP this thinking.  Meanwhile with my hands on, I constantly reinforce the directions for the new and more logical (FM says “reasoned out”) means whereby the breath, voice and thinking of the pupil can come together in a new and more efficient manner of use.  We may hear damage due to past “lessons” he has in his voice, for example, a wobble.  The student may have to accept this for awhile as the repair work is being done on his coordination.  Remember, the muscles have to learn a new way to interact as they stretch and contract.  It takes time.

Using a metronome to keep a nice, slow and steady tempo, I give very simple scales, ones that the pupil has not likely sung before.  I take great care to help the pupil set up positions of mechanical advantage from which to vocalize.  I will frequently bring him into “monkey” or have him put “hands on back of the chair.”  All of this helps direct the intention towards setting up the conditions for a new and improved way of singing.

We work in this slow, methodical way without singing any music more complicated than these simple, very slow short scales on easy vowels, until the pupil is able to stop any undue vocal efforts and of egoism, of wanting to be right and impressive.  This is where all of our strained efforts in life actually come from: ego and fear of failure.

Keep in mind, we get what we practice.  If we are not well directed in our thinking we will probably get a mess.  If we are lucid and clear headed as we work toward a goal, we have a great chance of success.

As a teacher, I am being paid to direct my pupil’s thinking and his studies towards efficiency, ease, and pleasure in achievement.  This leads him to experience greater satisfaction, self worth, and happiness.  It is amazing how quickly the progress is made, even though we are going slowly.  One will hear the notes improve within minutes as the vocal faults melt away.  One might think scales are boring.  They are not.  They help us make great progress almost immediately.  That is very, very exciting.

Part I

Part II

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How a Thought Translates Into Activity, Part II: The Thought of Ease

September 15, 2011

In the last post, I outlined the 4 steps that F.M. Alexander developed and documented in Man’s Supreme Inheritance for applying conscious control to the learning or re-learning of a skill (in our example, the skill of singing).  Here I would like to example the first step as it relates to
singing.  The first step, you recall, is to get a “detailed and accurate idea (a concept in mind) of what movements we have to make.”  It means we must have a clear idea of what is not needed.  The idea is Ease in singing.

When I work with someone on singing, I am clear about what Ease in singing is and I seek to communicate that sense.  I give examples that compare the sound of strain to a free sound.  Listen for yourself.

Here are recordings of Cecilia Bartoli and Von Stade, two mezzo-sopranos singing the same aria.

Ease is what Cecilia Bartoli does not have, and Ease is what Frederica Von Stade does have.

And here, compare two sopranos, a modern singer Beverly Sills, trained in a forced way of singing, with Maria Ivogun, who used a very “old” approach.  They sing the same aria.

Again, Ease is what Beverly Sills does not have, and Ease is what Maria Ivogun does have.

These examples give you the idea, the concept of ease.

Cecilia Bartoli, Beverly Sills, and so many other modern singers produce a horrible, choppy, pushed, wobbly, ugly, and out of tune sound.  This is the model that most people have for what classical singing should sound like.  We need a different model!  For you cannot sing what you cannot imagine.

Ivogun and Von Stade studied the method of Manuel Garcia (1804 -1906).  Garcia discovered the laryngoscope and wrote his Complete Treatise on the Art of Singing in 1846.  He was the foremost voice teacher of his time and taught at the Royal Academy in London until his death in 1906.  His teaching method was the study of the means whereby the voice would become free of all extra efforts.

What you hear when you listen to a singer who studied his method are the 3 basic elements of great singing: steadiness of sound, beauty of timbre (tone), and irreproachable intonation.  Ivogun studied with Mathilde Marchesi, who herself was a pupil of Garcia.  Von Stade studied Garcia before she became well known.

Garcia’s approach, like Alexander’s, encourages the freedom of Use that leads to mastery.  I use the Garcia method when working with singers, and in the next post I will take you through the remaining steps outlined in Man’s Supreme Inheritance, moving from idea into practice, utilizing Garcia’s work.

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How a Thought Translates Into Activity, Part I

September 14, 2011

How do we go about becoming more consciously directed, not only in terms of general living, but in the acquisition of skill?  Let us select a skill as an example: singing.  We want to learn to sing or improve our singing and we have gone to a teacher for help.

In Part II of his first book, Man’s Supreme Inheritance, F.M. Alexander sets out a process very clearly and in great detail.  (If you have not read this book I urge you to do so. But go slowly and take much time.)  He gives us 4 steps to follow consecutively.

1.  We must have a detailed and accurate idea (a concept in mind) of what movements we have to make.

In singing this means that we have to know the simplicity and ease of singing as an idea.  This is a very tall order because if we had a clear and accurate idea of singing with ease and simplicity we would be already miles ahead of beginner status, which presumably we are not.  The teacher must know what ease in singing is and is not.  The teacher must know that ease in singing is singing with no unnecessary muscular movements.

2.  We must put a stop to any old subconscious habits we have built up that do not serve us.

This means we have to tell ourselves that we don’t know how to sing with total ease and simplicity.  If we knew we would do it.  So any ideas we have about singing and what is needed we must put entirely aside.  This means any idea we have of “taking a full breath” for example, or making a “beautiful sound” we must disregard.  We inhibit that thinking and we inhibit acting out on the idea of “make a beautiful sound” and “taking in the air.”  This step is even more important because if we are to get the right idea about singing, and make that idea whole and real for others to hear, we have to stop (inhibit) any wrong headedness we have held dearly in mind.

3.  We must continue inhibiting those old ideas while at the same time setting up improved conditions for new means-whereby.

These new and improved conditions will allow the breath to enter the body freely and provide space from the old clumsy forced habits that we
believed were absolutely necessary.  Improved conditions and means-whereby will let the muscles coordinate spontaneously for a new (and to us, novel) way of singing wherein the voice unites with the breath in a free manner.

4.  In the last step, under the skillful guidance of the teacher we must give consent to allow their muscles to contract and expand in this newly directed way.

This process must be repeated over and over again until new habits and new ideas have been formed.  It is only with repetition and time that we learn to trust these new sensations of freedom and ease.

This, my friends, is how FM first taught himself and then us “how thought becomes an activity.”  His genius was that he changed his frame of reference from one of “I know” to one of “I do not know.”  Nothing new happens if we keep on going about it in the same old (habitual) way!

Read the book.  He wrote if for you.

In the next entry we will explore in greater detail how these steps apply to the study of singing.

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An Education

August 5, 2011

by Stella Weigel

Alexander could not have been clearer: “In those cases where the psycho-physical mechanism is imperfect and functioning more or less inadequately, we cannot expect the best results in the conveyance or the acquisition of knowledge.” (CCCI)

My own education paid full testament to this in providing me with all the necessary tools of a confirmed end-gainer; I developed poor psycho-physical use in a most expert fashion.

My late father struggled to obtain his education. He grew up in war-time Germany and was called to military service on the Eastern front while still just a boy. He eventually studied chemistry and became a chemist and academic lecturer. 

The overriding memory I have of my own education is one of struggle, but of an entirely different nature than my father’s.  My education was designed to improve my intellect, but there was never any attention paid to my condition of use, or the reasons for my reactions, or any observation of the link between use and reactions.

All the groundwork for what was to continue throughout my entire education was laid as early as my primary school years; “worried” and “anxious” are words used frequently in my school reports.

Further, it occurs to very few [parents] to consider whether, in this process of “education” (i.e., in certain specific directions), the child’s fear reflexes will not be unduly and harmfully excited by the injunction that it must always try to “be right”, indeed, that it is almost a disgrace to be wrong.  (CCCI).

I attempted to obey instructions, achieve results, and meet the ever increasing demands “made by people who (were) guiding themselves by an unreliable and delusive sensory appreciation.” (CCCI).  This all took its toll.  The evaluation, “could do better,” became all too familiar and seemed to constantly announce my unfulfilled potential.  I dreaded sitting any tests or examinations, convinced that in spite of all my hard work I could only fail, that I had already failed.

There was little hope of taking my time to think.  Just the idea of taking an exam was the panic button inside of me which, once triggered, led me to rush and think all too quickly.  I was no different than Alexander’s golfer who failed at every attempt to keep his eye on the ball.  Time and again I would try to do my best, be left disappointed at the outcome, and lacking in self-confidence.

…every attempt on the part of the child to do something new or to acquire knowledge makes a psycho-physical demand, and (…) the child’s efforts, when judged on a general and not specific basis, will always be in accordance with the standard of psycho-physical functioning of its organism.  (CCI).  

I also remember a loving father who helped me with my schoolwork as much as possible, especially when he saw me struggling.  He educated me during our summer holidays, when we would travel to more remote corners of Western Europeand to marvel at its beauty: the landscape, culture and history.  My father taught me respect, curiosity, an enduring appreciation of the arts, and the importance of human relationships and communication.  He encouraged me to discover a desire for learning and questioning.  He taught me the importance of determination for when the going got tough.  Above all, he wanted me to live my life to its full potential.

My fear of failure was a subconsciously self-imposed response to expectations of achievement.  The awareness of my father’s educational and academic achievements, no doubt, provided me with a strong stimulus.   But I was not taught to STOP and question whether in fact this fear-response was based on reason, until I studied the Alexander Technique.

The Alexander Technique offers a unique opportunity to begin to observe, question and learn to consciously control one’s physical and mental reactions in relation to stimuli; to attend to the “means whereby.”   Lessons provide a non-judgemental, non-end-gaining environment in which to develop this practice.

My father’s specialization, chemistry, is the physical science of matter and the changes that matter undergoes during chemical reactions.   I believe my father would have been absolutely delighted to see how much my physical matter has changed as a result of changes in my own reactions and vice versa. John Dewey states in the introduction to CCCI,

Mr Alexander has found a method for detecting precisely the correlations between these two members, physical-mental, of the same whole, and for creating a new sensory consciousness of new attitudes and habits.  It is a discovery which makes whole all scientific discoveries, and renders them available, not for our undoing, but for human use in promoting our constructive growth and happiness.

Guest Blogger Stella Weigel lives in London and is an Alexander Technique teacher trainee at The Constructive Teaching Centre, the world’s oldest and largest Alexander Technique training school.

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