Elizabeth L. Blades

Every musician is an athlete. Athletes hone their bodies, coordinate their reflexes, and train their minds seeking to perfect a balance of strength, skills, and agility. Complicated, demanding, and repetitious movements often result in unnatural and difficult positions which put the instrumentalist at risk of injury. However, when movement and task are coordinated well and freely, the athlete-instrumentalist finds themselves in “the zone” or “the flow,” a magical place where art and athleticism meet.The Feldenkrais Method is a movement-based self-discovery process: its aim is an individual organized to perform with minimum effort and maximum efficiency, thus reducing the chance of injury and even helping speed up recovery time from an injury. The movements used in this method are simple, gentle, pleasant, exploratory, and fun and are usually repeated a number of times to clarify and enhance performance. The focus is always on the “how to” of the movement, not the “how much, how fast, or how hard.” Samuel H. Nelson and Elizabeth Blades provide a guide to the Feldenkrais Method tailored specifically for instrumentalists. The book includes many Awareness Through Movement activities and case studies / examples specific to different instrument types.

Every musician is an athlete. Athletes hone their bodies, coordinate their reflexes, and train their minds seeking to perfect a balance of strength, skills, and agility. Complicated, demanding, and repetitious movements often result in unnatural and difficult positions which put the instrumentalist at risk of injury. However, when movement and task are coordinated well and freely, the athlete-instrumentalist finds themselves in “the zone” or “the flow,” a magical place where art and athleticism meet.The Feldenkrais Method is a movement-based self-discovery process: its aim is an individual organized to perform with minimum effort and maximum efficiency, thus reducing the chance of injury and even helping speed up recovery time from an injury. The movements used in this method are simple, gentle, pleasant, exploratory, and fun and are usually repeated a number of times to clarify and enhance performance. The focus is always on the “how to” of the movement, not the “how much, how fast, or how hard.” Samuel H. Nelson and Elizabeth Blades provide a guide to the Feldenkrais Method tailored specifically for instrumentalists. The book includes many Awareness Through Movement activities and case studies / examples specific to different instrument types.

This book teaches performers to use the Feldenkrais Method of neuromuscular activities to ameliorate problems of tension, muscle strain, and illness in order to obtain optimal vocal performance. Singing with Your Whole Self, Second Edition contains an important and unique modularized Feldenkrais “Awareness Through Movement” lessons specifically designed for liberating function in all musicians, and singers in particular. Modularized lessons allow the user to choose between functionally useful short segments or entire lessons. The first part of the book presents the theory behind why this approach works in an easily understood and concrete fashion. The remaining chapters explore our anatomy by area and explain usage, problems, and how these relate to singing. These chapters include lessons that revolve around improving performance. Includes an index both by lesson and by problem, referring performers to the lessons most effective for a specific problem.

This book teaches performers to use the Feldenkrais Method of neuromuscular activities to ameliorate problems of tension, muscle strain, and illness in order to obtain optimal vocal performance. Singing with Your Whole Self, Second Edition contains an important and unique modularized Feldenkrais “Awareness Through Movement” lessons specifically designed for liberating function in all musicians, and singers in particular. Modularized lessons allow the user to choose between functionally useful short segments or entire lessons. The first part of the book presents the theory behind why this approach works in an easily understood and concrete fashion. The remaining chapters explore our anatomy by area and explain usage, problems, and how these relate to singing. These chapters include lessons that revolve around improving performance. Includes an index both by lesson and by problem, referring performers to the lessons most effective for a specific problem.

Since the publication of the first edition of A Spectrum of Voices there have been significant advances in voice studies. Prominent members of the new generation of voice teachers join their voices with now-canonized teachings. Asking questions about technology, pedagogy, and stylistic changes within the field, Elizabeth L. Blades brings the wisdom from the past and present to voice students at all levels. A Spectrum of Voices draws from the brilliance and combined experience of an elite group of exemplary voice teachers, presenting interviews from more than twenty-five notable teachers, six of them new to this second edition. Voice teachers offer valuable insight into their teaching philosophies, the types of auxiliary training they recommend to their students, and how they structure their lessons. This second edition also addresses significant technological advances of the past twenty years, especially the impact on vocal performance and pedagogy. A quick-and-handy reference for the studio teacher, this book also serves as a text for vocal pedagogy courses and as an essential supplement for physiology and vocal mechanics, teachers and students of singing, music educators, and musical theater performers.

Since the publication of the first edition of A Spectrum of Voices there have been significant advances in voice studies. Prominent members of the new generation of voice teachers join their voices with now-canonized teachings. Asking questions about technology, pedagogy, and stylistic changes within the field, Elizabeth L. Blades brings the wisdom from the past and present to voice students at all levels. A Spectrum of Voices draws from the brilliance and combined experience of an elite group of exemplary voice teachers, presenting interviews from more than twenty-five notable teachers, six of them new to this second edition. Voice teachers offer valuable insight into their teaching philosophies, the types of auxiliary training they recommend to their students, and how they structure their lessons. This second edition also addresses significant technological advances of the past twenty years, especially the impact on vocal performance and pedagogy. A quick-and-handy reference for the studio teacher, this book also serves as a text for vocal pedagogy courses and as an essential supplement for physiology and vocal mechanics, teachers and students of singing, music educators, and musical theater performers.