Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar Subject: Re: Towards a definition of tension Here are some more questions regarding tension: Must tension anywhere in the body (e.g. the toes) negatively affect the guitarist's performance? Can a tense technique produce excellent or perfect music? Is the source of all performance anxiety habitual error and tension during practice or can tension be produced from means other than habitual action, such as a predisposition towards adrenal overload in psychologically charged environments? Is it possible to do a slur action on string 2 to 6 with Uniform Joint Motion? If not, this must be a principal for the right hand only. Does this mean that some techniques require conflicting negative tension? Is the "mid-range of motion" advantage equal for all kinds of joints use in guitar playing? Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar Subject: Re: Towards a definition of tension Date: 29 Sep 1998 16:13:51 GMT > Here are some more questions regarding tension: > Must tension anywhere in the body (e.g. the toes) negatively affect the > guitarist's performance? i don't know that one has to be as relaxed as a tree sloth in every part of the body to prevent negative effects on performance. I know I've noticed I may bite my lip or tongue when attempting a really challenging passage, and I bet I've got other things tightened up too. I don't know if this is "Bad". Which leads to . . . > Can a tense technique produce excellent or perfect music? I'm wondering how one could effectively research this. All I know are anecdotal descriptions and personal stories of how individuals have found greater expressive ability when they've been able to relax. I tend to think tension is generally an impediment but I'm not sure one could be dogmatic about saying tension *never* helps instead of hinders. I wonder too, if it depends upon the particular work you are playing. On the other hand, since I've begun trying to minimize tension so I could regain my playing ability, I've been surprised at how even rambunctious or aggressive material can be executed with low tension. > Is the source of all performance anxiety habitual error and tension during > practice or can tension be produced from means other than habitual action, > such as a predisposition towards adrenal overload in psychologically charged > environments? Performance Anxiety is a big topic and the subject of research, little of which I am familiar with. My seat of the pants guess, based on my own experience, is that MOST of my performance anxiety has been a result of things other than error or practice technique, such as facing an audience, uncertainty about my mastery of the music, etc. > Is it possible to do a slur action on string 2 to 6 with Uniform Joint Motion? > If not, this must be a principal for the right hand only. Does this mean that > some techniques require conflicting negative tension? > Is the "mid-range of motion" advantage equal for all kinds of joints use in > guitar playing? I think things like the principals you mention, and stuff like Aaron Shearer's principals of efficient movement, are not universal rules that must always apply in every situation and body part. *Generally speaking*, we have more effective muscle use in mid-range-of-motion. Where it is consistent with practical technique, uniform joint motion is a good idea in that it reduces stress. But sure, the kind of conniptions required in a classic guitarist's fretting hand are going to require a lot of co-contraction and contrary joint motion just to execute the music. I think that *all things being equal*, which they seldom are, if you can find an approach to fingering a passage which minimizes such tension, you are simply going to make things easier on your hands, and extend your endurance. My approach to playing used to maximize tension, and I ended up hurt. Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar Subject: Re: Towards a definition of tension Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 10:07:38 -0700 I see many discussions on performance/playing tension and the anxiety that is a result from this. Many of you guitarists out there express the mental challenges of a perfect performance. In fact, many of these mental challenges are a result of poor physical diciplin. When you can separate the mental aspects of your guitar playing from the physical aspects, then you can coordinate these 2 facets in unisen to a higher level of performance. "Guitar Zen." What do I mean? Mental aspects: This is the visualization of a piece. What is you interpretaion of this piece? How do you express this piece? If you were to re-live the piece or era, how would you feel? Excited, Sad, Mad, Joyful, Dancing, tragedy? Only you can visualize and answer this question... Physical aspects: Do you have proficient guitar basics? Can you read music well? Do you play guitar with un-necessary body tension? Are you using the correct body muscles? Etc... You can not perfect the mental aspects of performance/playing unless the physical aspect are perfected. This does not mean to not explore the mental aspects. No, it means that you will not fully understand the mental aspects until you have perfected the physical aspects. When you can understand these 2 entities, separate them, work on them separately, then, your mind will express your music and your body will react appropriately to your expressiveness without excessive body tension or anxiety. In summary, this concept is one of the major causes of physical injuries. This is a result of incorrect body and breathing timing. When you have excessive (excessive being inappropriate tension) tension, this generally and naturally produces tension or contraction of the shoulder and neck area. This cuts off blood flow to the brain and oxigen to your body. Therefore, you do not think clearly (this is why your forget pieces and make mistakes when performing - nerviousness creates tension in the upper body). As a result, you try move your finger(s) and your body says that your are apposing other muscles and don't have enough oxigen to carry out that action. This is how many long term injuries start. Moving a single finger is not the action of the finger by itself. It is actually the action of the entire body. There is always a center focus or action of all body actions. This comes from the center of the body through breathing. Exhaling contracts all of the body muscles, inhaling relaxes all of the body muscles (allowing oxigen into the blood flow). To rephrase this, your mental aspects of your performance/playing are naturally overidden by your physical aspects in a panic or emergency situations. This means playing in front of a large audience, an important performance, audience noise or distractions, poor performance enviornment. At this time your physical aspects are dominant - if you make a mistake at home, it will be ten fold during a performance. If your physical aspects are perfected, you will perform well under all situations by natural body reaction (repetitive practice). If your mental and physical aspects are perfected in unisen, then you have Pepe Romero, Segovia, Williams, Bream, etc... Am I an expert at guitar performance? No. I acquired this concept from Karate.... I trained with top teams and instructors of the world for a good part of my life. It is one of the most valuable concepts I have learned in my entire life. As I have not yet perfected the physical basics of playing guitar and the history of classical music, I well understand the correlation of physical and mental aspects of playing/performing as well as anyone. It is no different that Karate training and tourneyments. Additionally, beleive it or not, the upper body physics of playing guitar are identical karate! Have fun with this concept feel welcome to comment on it. Yours truly. - Jack - As we say in Karate, Osu...... Newsgroups: rec.music.classical.guitar Subject: Re: Towards a definition of tension Well said, while I was reading your posting I was thinking Tai-Chi ? Karate ? However one word of warning, speaking as a 1st Dan who tries to play Guitar. There is a HUGE difference between mastering your performance of Kata, and that of playing a complex piece of Bach. It is quite possible to train your body to perform a long Kata like Kanku or Empi etc. If I forget the kata in my head, I just let my body remember it by doing it. Playing the guitar is NOT the same, but, I would have difficulty in explaining why, maybe Im not good enough at either, but it is my experience to date. Ive been playing more than 3 years now, and doing Karate for 10. Finger memory is a very fragile thing, but your reflex to an attack is a very strong technique. Why ? Julian