Double Bass Arcoism

[Bruce Calin]

My daughter is a professional actor and singer who swears by the Alexander Technique and has given me some guidance with it. If there were a teacher anywhere near here I would take some lessons. Even thinking about the principals of it and applying them without formal training seems to help.

 

[LouisF]

Bruce - where are you? I have access to all sorts of teacher lists.
TooLoud - the commedia is great training. I've worked with several people from that program.

The Technique was literally "discovered" by Alexander's years of self-observation and study. He seemed to "lose his voice" a lot when acting, and tried all the old techniques of "breathing from the diaphram" etc to help. Nothing worked. He realized that he would tense his neck and shoulders, lock his jaw and knees etc before and while performing and this tension - unrelated to the actual mechanics of vocal chord production, was stopping him. He realized that if could he self-cue, interrupt, and be aware he could "control" (a word Alex teachers hate) the tension.

 

[TroyK]

@LouisF

I would love to see a list for Seattle. I spent some time with it more than a decade ago it was a game changer.

 

[LouisF]

Bruce/Troy

Contact Frances Marsden here: Art of Movement | Francess Marsden | Alexander Technique | Recover Childhood Mobility

Tell her you are Louis Fantasia's fellow bass players and could she recommend a teacher in your area. She's trained hundreds

 

[CaseyVancouver]

My "day job" for 50 years has been as a stage director and chair/dean of several theatre programs. The Alexander technique has been an essential part of actor training in all my programs (and many others). We use also in teacher training workshops, because of the strain classroom teachers put of their voices.

Fantastic Louis, thank you for the Alexander technique pdf!

Murray Grodner devotes an entire chapter ‘Preventative Exercises for Physical Abuses Related to Playing Double Bass’ in his awesome book ‘A Double Bassist’s Guide to Refining Performance Practices’.
Grodner knows his stuff.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

My "day job" for 50 years has been as a stage director and chair/dean of several theatre programs. The Alexander technique has been an essential part of actor training in all my programs (and many others). We use also in teacher training workshops, because of the strain classroom teachers put of their voices.

There's another thread here where people talk about a "Viennese" bass hold, which I have vaguely adopted. I should add that I made that adjustment with the help of my Alexander teacher - I am centered, neck and head loose, chest open, arms flowing freely from the back; and the bass - despite the odd angle is actually centered in relation to my chest, with more or less equal weight distribution -- and legs open, feet planted (left one on a yoga block).

Definitely recommend it (and --- just a small correction above - Alexander was, I think, an Australian actor)



https://www.amazon.com/Indirect-Pro...p-0195388593/dp/0195388593/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

This pdf is really great.

 

[Bruce Calin]

Bruce/Troy

Contact Frances Marsden here: Art of Movement | Francess Marsden | Alexander Technique | Recover Childhood Mobility

Tell her you are Louis Fantasia's fellow bass players and could she recommend a teacher in your area. She's trained hundreds

Thanks, Louis. I will make contact. Thanks for the info.