What can one do to be ready to play right from the start? Today there is so much competition in the music world and the selection is often made from the first measures! It often takes us a few lines of music – or pages! – before having the impression of really finding one’s marks. Sometimes, if we are given a second chance to play the same piece we play much better the second time. Why? Is it a muscular question, because we’re warmed up? Is it possible to prepare the mind and the brain to play to our potential the first time around, from the first measures? What are our habitual bodily reactions set off by nerves or by being in a new situation (short breath, inappropriate muscle tension, unpleasant feeling of being too heavy or too light)? If we can already start by becoming more aware of our habitual reactions, we can also begin to find ways of responding which are more in harmony with our playing. If we can start by becoming conscious of our “strong points” and our “weak points” we can use one to strengthen the other. In the end, if we accept that it’s about being on a journey of learning and that there are no ready-made recipes, we can start to advance more and more along the way. Through movement and through organizing our movement differently in our body, we can also sometimes begin to organize our thinking differently too. After having explored the theme “Being ready on the important day”, let us now look together at the question of how to be ready right from the start.
Feldenkrais for Musicians 