Embodied Music Teaching & Learning Judy Palac
Music is, by its very nature, an embodied human practice. Without the body, there is no feeling or movement; without feeling and movement, there is no music. In western culture, however, mind/body dualism has resulted in the neglect of the role of the body in music making (Bow- man, 2004). According to Bresler (2004), in the struggle for music education to attain a legitimate place in the curriculum, the discipline has become even more intellectualized, and this exacerbates the problem. Music making, music teaching, and music learning have become disembodied (Palac & Grimshaw, 2007).
We ignore the embodiment of our musical selves at our own risk, and unfortunately, at that of our students. Consequences include physical injury- -research shows that anywhere from 49 to 87% of music students struggle with pain and discom- fort (Zaza, 1998). Other results may be perfor- mance that lacks feeling or emotional connection to either the performer or the listener, lack of joy and fulfillment in the act of music making, and attrition of both students and music teachers.
Philosopher John Dewey saw curriculum as ex- perience, and deemed experience to be of the body/mind (Shusterman, 2008). He was heav- ily influenced in his thinking by his own heal- ing experience with F. M. Alexander, one of the earliest somatic (or body/mind) educators (Bre- sler, 2004). Postmodern proponents of embod- ied teaching and learning include Leora Bresler (2004), philosopher Richard Shusterman (2008), and in music, Wayne Bowman (Bowman & Pow- ell, 2007).
Embodied teaching methodologies do exist in music education. The approaches of Orff, Gor- don, and Dalcroze all attend to the whole body in growing the musicianship of young students, congruent with child development theory. How- ever, beyond the level of early childhood, con- cern for the body as a whole begins to disappear. While children who participate in sports may have trainers who educate them about the care of their bodies, it would be a rare occurrence in a music classroom or rehearsal!
Emergent research shows that methods of somatic (body) education, such as Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method, and Body Mapping, may
be effective in alleviating musical discomfort, preventing injuries, and even enhancing musical performance through connecting (or reconnect- ing) the musical body to the musical mind (e.g., Paparo, 2011; Buchanan, 2011. This article ex- plores Body Mapping as one such tool that music teachers can use in their classes and rehearsals.
Body Mapping Body Mapping was developed by William Con- able, a cello professor, and Barbara Conable, an Alexander Technique teacher, specifically for musicians. They observed that music students often had misconceptions about (mismappings of) their bodies that caused them to move in ways that were incompatible with their actual anato- my. For example, a violinist who tries to twist the left wrist to get fingers over the fingerboard may wind up in pain and out of tune because she is unaware that the actual sites of rotation are the elbow and, to some extent, the upper arm joint with the shoulder blade (Johnson, 2009). The Conables discovered that correcting the miscon- ception can correct the movement. Neurosci- ence supports what they intuited: our bodies are actually mapped neurologically in our brains, primarily in our sensorimotor cortex, but coor- dinated with many other areas. Body parts are represented as neurons in specific locations along the sensorimotor strip.
Studies have shown that,
when something goes wrong in movement, the corresponding representations of the body parts used become distorted, although causality has not been established; when retraining occurs, the representations begin to return to normal (Schab- run, et al., 2009).
Body Mapping is designed to put musicians on a secure somatic foundation through the training of the senses, attention, and of movement (Conable, 2000). Licensed Body Mapping teachers (Ando- ver Educators), all of whom are themselves prac- ticing musicians and music educators, typically do this in a six-hour course that they have been trained to deliver. Body Mapping can also be done in private lessons.
Body Mapping is based on the premise that hu- mans always move according to their maps, and that incorrect maps can be brought to conscious- ness and corrected. It is the study of the struc- ture, size, and function of the whole body and its
12
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40