Habits as the cause of technical difficulty

@ I was not exactly criticizing the Alexander Technique; I just had the impression that the thread was more about something negative and complicated, than about something positive and simple. I wanted to correct this image a little bit by stressing some of the underlying hidden assumptions, because there may be unregistered board readers who have not been through any of this, and who may get very false impressions from what you are talking about. As a matter of fact, I have found a link that explains what I mean: In addition, something about the maestro/prodigy attitude one should cultivate in oneself while practising, which is directly related to the state of mind needed for success. Please have a look at . Of course, there will be cynics who think that she is just a trained monkey, but look at how she is HAPPILY and POSITIVELY moving generally. She does anything necessary to draw the sounds out of the piano, even if it goes against the general rules of piano methodology. Everything in this "difficult" etude is as simple as playing the central C on the piano, something anyone can do without missing it. From 2:15 on, she even throws her hips into the game! She seems like a HAPPY prodigy to me that is concentrated positively on what she is doing: the intention is COMPLETELY CLEAR and there is COMPLETE TRUST. I suspect, though, that if you ask her how she does it, you will get an answer like "I don't know; I just do it". Is she so much more talented than you are? I'm sure she isn't. This child is who YOU were before adults trained you, conditioned you to be someone else. I wish anyone to recover that happy child in him/herself. I believe it is possible, but we have to decide it right now, and not wait in the hopes that it will happen by itself if we do enough Alexander/Feldenkrais exercises. As soon as you can recover the child (= simple positive intention and complete trust) in yourself, then the Craft-of-Piano-Playing exercises will get their true meaning on an entirely different level and will render the needed results because, hey, we do have certain advantages compared to that prodigy. P.S.: Actually, I think one should not strive to get rid of bad habits. On the contrary, one should REPLACE bad habits with good ones (very often opposite ones as Andrew said), which is more of a positive idea. As soon as the body knows that the new movement is actually a lot better than the old one, it will prefer the good one IF WE LET IT HAPPEN. I'm sorry to say so, and without offense, but the mindset highlighted in bold is exactly why you don't get the results you want. What you are actually saying is: until I can trust myself and my body, I have to prove to myself that it is safe to do so. Old habits have no power over you. Concentrate on something new and positive and the old habits will be replaced with new ones without you even noticing. Of course, this is the Internet and I cannot ask you to trust me. You will have to trust nature, though, if you really want to make your wildest dreams come true... Paul

Thanks for a thought provoking post. I had not previously considered intentions as positives and negatives in the way that you have described, though now you've brought it to my attention I'm wondering why I hadn't thought of it like that before. You are right about positive intentions being cultivated in the Technique. One gives the directions, "Let my neck be free, let my head go forward and up, let my back lengthen and widen". Previously I had thought that these directions were too vague, but now I am thinking that perhaps in attempting to interpret them specifically I have in fact been interfering with any benefits that may be achieved. Thanks for the links. The article about detachment was one that I've missed on that website. And thank you for the Umi Garrett link, I have a lot to learn from it. Although my previous post looks like a disagreement with you, but I think this is down to the limitations of words. Looking back, I did not express myself particularly clearly. On a few occasions over the last few months I have experienced a true state of detachment, and when in this state I do trust myself fully. In the part of my post that you quoted I expressed myself particularly badly, I hope my previous sentence makes my thoughts on the matter more clear. Whenever I have sat at the piano recently to practise I have been cultivating much better intentions, and I can sense the benefits. I still find it difficult sometimes to detach myself, but that is part of my journey, and a hurdle I will overcome. Thanks again to both of you for your posts. Nick

Don't you dare copy her fingering! P.S.1: I picked a prodigy especially because any maestro I would bring up as an example has lots of negatives around him/her, especially the idea that they are necessarily any better, more talented, more experienced, etc. than we are. I think that on your few occasions during the past months you were like her. Continue to find/cultivate that emotion/state, and train yourself to call it whenever you need it. Without it, piano playing will always stay a craft, and never become art. P.S.2: I have always been obsessed with the idea of what a prodigy actually is since I'm one myself (I'm completely self-taught, so nobody had a chance to spoil me), and now I cure the sick and train/coach the healthy for exams, competitions, and teach them how to cope with performance anxiety, etc. These sessions mainly include the kind of peptalk I have been giving in this thread + several unorthodox tricks of the trade, which I will share later on. Paul

In addition, something about the maestro/prodigy attitude one should cultivate in oneself while practising, which is directly related to the state of mind needed for success. Please have a look at . Of course, there will be cynics who think that she is just a trained monkey, but look at how she is HAPPILY and POSITIVELY moving generally. She does anything necessary to draw the sounds out of the piano, even if it goes against the general rules of piano methodology. Everything in this "difficult" etude is as simple as playing the central C on the piano, something anyone can do without missing it. From 2:15 on, she even throws her hips into the game! She seems like a HAPPY prodigy to me that is concentrated positively on what she is doing: the intention is COMPLETELY CLEAR and there is COMPLETE TRUST. I suspect, though, that if you ask her how she does it, you will get an answer like "I don't know; I just do it". Is she so much more talented than you are? I'm sure she isn't. This child is who YOU were before adults trained you, conditioned you to be someone else. I wish anyone to recover that happy child in him/herself. I believe it is possible, but we have to decide it right now, and not wait in the hopes that it will happen by itself if we do enough Alexander/Feldenkrais exercises. As soon as you can recover the child (= simple positive intention and complete trust) in yourself, then the Craft-of-Piano-Playing exercises will get their true meaning on an entirely different level and will render the needed results because, hey, we do have certain advantages compared to that prodigy. I don't want the sound like I'm disagreeing altogether, but you have to ask whether that trust is there BECAUSE of what might be deemed talent. Personally, I was about as far from a prodigy as can be. I wasn't held back by bad advice or by the wrong mindset. I just didn't have a natural affinity for music or technique. Later I became more interested in music but continued to be held back by a lack of natural aptitude for technical issues- that had to be developed not out of trust but out of a complete change to my physical conceptions. I'd say trust has come from learning something that works, 1000x more so than vice versa. Trust in something quickly falters if the results do not come. When trust can be maintained its because something has been effective. If you do not have access to an effective movement trust will necessarily falter- not out of psychology but out of realisation that it simply isn't proving worthy of trust, in terms of what it produces. As I say, I'm not looking to write off your point, but not everyone is in a position to naturally flourish early on. Brains are wired differently and it's simply easier for some to create the right right neural pathways than others. Also, some may be capable of learning the right qualities of movement, yet have absolutely no aptitude for finding it for themself unless they are shown the right specific pieces of information to help them get it. Even with that prodigy, I feel there are certain pieces of guidance she ought to be given as a soon as possible. Of course, it's remarkable for her age-but dependence on arm shoves is limiting her dynamic control in the chords. Some of her movements also raise the shoulders up in a rather uncomfortable looking way. This is the kind of thing where a very talented kid can get by regardless of such habits- but I'd far sooner someone worked on getting her hands working to their potential in order to stop those bad habits, before they have a chance to become potentially harmful in later life. Her body is young and supple enough to get away with certain things now, but could she base a life-long career on that foundation without making a number of important improvements? Her intelligence is great enough for her to find a way of doing enough- but has she found the best way possible? For me, this is more of a sign that a child of talent can do well despite some counterproductive inclinations- rather than a sign that people will find their own best route if they place enough trust in themselves. You see similar movements in kissin at a young age. Sadly, although he has yet to injure himself, he still depends on way too much brute arm force. He never got out of those young habits. I can't see him playing into his 80s unless he starts finding the way to cut down on those hard impacts.

That's what usually happens; let's call it "talent". I am convinced it's a mindset, and it is present in ALL children before some adult comes along to destroy it in the name of traditional "education" and for their "well-being". Talent as I see it is LOVE for or more than average GENUINE INTEREST in a certain subject (this may be chess, music, sports, etc.). This is a that is definitely NOT present in all children with regards to one and the same subject, let's say musical performance. Unfortunately, over-ambitious parents often determine for the "less talented" that they should become professionals in the things they don't like, something they as a parent could never reach as a goal, and want to see fulfilled in their children. This is a crime towards such an unfortunate child. I have had many "patients" (usually girls and young women) who kept "performing" to please their fathers, and until they realized what they had been programmed to do, they would block their playing mechanism at crucial moments, as if there was a subconscious wish to be punished for being bad girls. It is possible, though, to gradually instill love and/or genuine interest (=talent) for the subject in such a child/person, but it takes a super-teacher to do so. Besides, if you, as a teacher, can call upon the in-born mindset (simplicity of intention and trust) in such "patients", then they may even become VERY good pianists. I think Emil Gilels and Lazar Berman are such examples of people who certainly were no prodigies and got very far through very hard work and against all odds. I was talking about the girl's mindset. I never said her technique is perfect. Give such a girl the right movement and she will practise it without asking questions, without doubts, with deep positive concentration and unlimited trust, never questioning whether the one who gave her the movement is right or wrong, or whether she will become a successful pianist or not. That is never the focus in such children. They just do what they do. Of course, guidance (if possible every day by a parent who doesn't force the process) is very positive. I would hesitate to put such a child in a traditional environment of music school programs, exams, competitions, etc. This may kill her because it is inherently unhealthy. No objections, as long as we don't change her basic mindset of 1) clearness of objective and 2) complete trust in the teacher, in herself and in her body. P.S.: It speaks for itself that we should never kill the love and/or interest for music or piano playing, something which seems to be a specialty among far too many music school and conservatory "teachers". Paul

Interesting and intelligent discussion...

I'd just like to thank Paul and Andrew again for their recent input into this thread - it has been very interesting and fruitful working with their ideas and I feel like I'm overcoming the problems that I've been experiencing.

It has been quite a while since I last posted in this thread. Over the last month I have stepped back from the piano and really begun to explore my concept of myself - habits, thought processes and so on. I've been doing a lot of Feldenkrais work away from the piano and am reaping the rewards. My process at the moment is entirely exploratory, only about the learning and with no set goals. I have actually played several times recently without any problems. In these situations my playing has usually been superior to anything I've done previously. I still have a long way to go, but I feel positive about the progress I've been making (I've had to re-think my definition of progress, too, which has been rather beneficial). Soon I'll be ready to approach the piano all guns blazing, which will be refreshing. In retrospect my approach before I started having problems was very static and lacklustre. Thanks to all who offered advice and contributed to this discussion.