At Rock Camp and later in our afternoon Jazz Workshop in Bridgehampton, Long Island, we talk learn music from many angles. In today’s Grapevine post, let’s look at warming up. This is applicable for artists, musicians, actors, dancers, and artists. Click here to see all of our camps and classes this summer in Long Island.
Relaxing. I normally start out with major scales, playing around the circle of 5ths with one scale flowing into the next, up and down the piano. While I am doing this I am thinking of one thing - relaxing. I pay attention to my hands, fingers, shoulders, my chest, my breathing, my face, my feet, and legs. If I feel tension, I let the tension go. It’s a kind of meditation and just being aware of your body.
I also think about letting go of tension in my fingers and hands. Years ago, I injured my left hand after a long day in the practice room working playing 10th with my left hand, so playing C with my left hand pinky and my thumb play E just above the octave, all at the same time). I saw how the great pianist Hank Jones and others made this a part of their playing. Anyway, at the time the adrenaline was pumping and I felt great, I was straining, but so what…I played through it, as if I was at the gym. Bad idea. I ended up injuring my left hand and not being able to play from 3 or 4 months.
Stay Nimble. It’s like baseball or soccer…In baseball when you hold the bat and the ball is coming to you, your muscles are ready as you are about to swing. When you hit the ball though, you drop the bat and run to first base. All that muscle tension is released after you strike the ball, or if you are a soccer player after you kick the ball. When I play a note and when I get to the bottom of the note, the bed so to speak, I try to relax my finger and hand. This way I can stay nimble and ready to go in any direction at any moment.
I have to say that when I see videos of myself performing, sometimes I will see certain body movements and there may be some tension. I am still working on this concept myself! Nonetheless, this is a concept I try to work on every day so it stays top of mind. There is a whole technique, called the Alexander Technique, which takes this idea of letting go of tension to another level. It is also specific to your art form.