COMPANION

Piano

Articles

  • ‘A pianist’s thoughts on the Alexander Technique’ by Nelly Ben-Or; on the importance of the Technique for piano playing, of first absorbing all the details of the music and learning to see it in relation to its constantly flowing placement on the keyboard.[1]
  • ‘The Alexander Technique in the preparation and performance of music’ by Nelly Ben-Or; on the need to continue inhibition and direction while learning a piece of music and to re-examine old learning and procedures so as to allow to gain a clearer and simpler way of absorbing and playing.[2]
  • ‘A pianist’s adventure with the Alexander Technique’ by Nelly Ben-Or; on the Technique as a process, questioning and observing, and continuing to apply the Technique according to one’s changing experience and understanding of it.[3]
  • ‘A pianist’s view’ by Nelly Ben-Or; on common difficulties, e.g. the demands of velocity or the need to produce large volumes of sound.[4]
  • ‘A pianist’s reflections after the 4th International Conference’ by Nelly Ben-Or considers the special kind of attention which has to be developed with the help of the Technique.[5]
  • ‘The application of the Alexander technique to piano teaching’ by Rudolf Kratzert; observations on teaching the piano from many years as an Alexander teacher (qualified in 1987) and a piano teacher.[6]
  • ‘Teaching music students – A new orientation’ by Nelly Ben-Or with an additional report by Joe Sanders; on her workshop where she worked with two RNCM piano students.[7]
  • ‘Fifty-five years with the Alexander Technique in a musician’s life’ by Nelly Ben-Or.[8]
  • ‘Hands last’ by Debi Adams considers the preparation work needed – balance, support, attitude – before playing.[9]

Case histories

  • The chapter ‘Anxiety and performance’ in How You Stand by Missy Vineyard discusses the case history of how the Alexander Technique is helping a pianist dealing with performance anxiety.[10]
  • ‘Constructive practice’ by Cassie Yukawa; reflections by a 3rd year piano student at RCM.[11]
References
[1] ‘A pianist’s thoughts on the Alexander Technique’ by Nelly Ben-Or in The Alexander Journal no. 8 edited by Wilfred Barlow (STAT, 1978), p. 5–8.
[2] ‘The Alexander Technique in the preparation and performance of music’ by Nelly Ben-Or (author, 1988), booklet.
[3] ‘A pianist’s adventure with the Alexander Technique’ by Nelly Ben-Or in The Alexander Journal No. 11 edited by Adam Nott (STAT, 1991), p. 9–13.
[4] ‘A pianist’s view’ by Nelly Ben-Or in Performing Arts Medicine News vol. 3 no. 2 (BAPAM, September 1995), pp. 29–30.
[5] ‘A pianist’s reflextions after the 4th International Conference’ by Nelly Ben-Or in Papers from the 4th International Music Conference 2000 edited by Peter Buckoke (Peter Buckoke, 2000), pp. 33–34.
[6] ‘The application of the Alexander technique to piano teaching’ by Rudolf Kratzert in The Alexander Journal no. 19 edited by Francesca Greenoak (STAT, 2003), pp. 11-17.
[7] ‘Teaching music students – A new orientation’ by Nelly Ben-Or with additional report by Joe Sanders in Conference Papers – 6th International Conference for Alexander teachers working in Music Institutions edited by Malcolm Williamson (Malcolm Williamson, 2006), pp. 38–40.
[8] ‘Fifty-five years with the Alexander Technique in a musician’s life’ by Nelly Ben-Or in AmSAT Journal Journal no. 8, Fall 2015, pp. 34–39.
[9] ‘Hands last’ by Debi Adams in Galvanizing Performance by Cathy Madden, Kathleen Juhl (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2017), pp. 25–51.
[10] How you Stand, How you Move, How you Live by Missy Vineyard (Marlowe & Co, 2007), pp. 91-94.
[11] ‘Constructive practice’ by Cassie Yukawa in Papers from the 4th International Music Conference 2000 edited by Peter Buckoke (Peter Buckoke, 2000), pp. 16–19.
Taxonomy: 
Music

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