Understanding the Complexity of Musicians’ Health and Movement can lead to Greater Freedom and Artistic Expression

by Tina Margareta Nilssen. May 15th, 2021.

Photographer: Lars Bryngelsson

When it comes to singing or playing an instrument, what does it physically take to master the movements we need to perform? This is one of the most complex questions you can encounter as a musician, and there are no simple answers. There are endless methods, techniques, and ideas about what to relax, support, and move when you play or sing. Some are founded more in science and anatomy than others. Some will be more beneficial at certain stages of your musical journey than others. In the end, we’re all different and must find our own unique way to move to perform and express music. Yet, despite our wonderful and necessary uniqueness, we do have similarities. We have the same set of muscles and bones; we’re subject to the same gravitational forces; we use an instrument or voice to project sound, and our intention to transmit these sounds arises from our imagination. Ultimately, we’re creating musical sounds through the movements of our body – fingers pressing the keys or a bow moving across the string. If your body doesn’t respond to the musical idea, there will be no sound. And if your body responds inefficiently, there might be discomfort and pain, or maybe the sound won’t reflect your true musical potential. So, then the question becomes: How do you practice in the most effective way to master the physical aspects of making music?

Music education is a lineage, a passing down of instructions. We tend to propagate certain messages, with the best intentions possible. But different bodies might experience the same instructions differently, which may cause frustrations and even pain. It can lead us and our students to spend hours and hours of dedicated time in the practice room searching for the relaxed arm, flexible wrist, deep breathing, or good supported sound we’ve heard so much about. We search and practice with mixed success, only to hear again and again about our same flaws: “Your sound doesn’t have enough core;” “You need to support better;” “Relax your arm;” “You need better airflow;” “Don’t press or push.” You get the picture… 

Knowledge is key

We know it takes years to master most instruments – thousands of hours of concentrated work, discipline, and relentless passion. I don’t have all the answers for each individual on their own unique path, but, after decades of educating myself, playing, teaching, and gaining experience, I do have some thoughts, ideas, and knowledge about what it takes – anatomically – to achieve effortless playing. I sincerely wish for every musician to learn what I know, simply because I think it would make life easier for many. Coming home from another week of intensive teaching, which was my first time at this particular European university, I’ve seen the same thing in those students as in most musicians I’ve taught over the years. As musicians, we’re very aware of the complexity of skills we develop through those thousands of hours of practice. Yet we’re too often unaware of the potential benefits of bringing a deep anatomical understanding to our craft, and the importance of knowing more about the movements we’re repeating day in and day out. 

So, how do we get out of this spiral? How do we change the metaphors into concrete, universally understandable tasks that are based in science and anatomy? How can we figure out what it really takes to master playing or singing? 

I definitely believe knowledge is a key factor. And I believe that each and every one of us needs to take responsibility for our own journey to gain that knowledge. We also need to be critical of what we pass on to our students. I know I certainly did my best with the choirs I conducted 20 years ago and all the piano lessons I’ve taught since the age of 16, but I know more now, so I can do better now – we all can. Our limitations might very well not be a lack of talent or effort after investing all these hours, still seeking our potential. There are answers out there; keep looking until you find what works for you. I believe we need a common language, methods that are anatomically informed, and solutions that are both energy-efficient and understandable – all while keeping the music in focus. My own journey with investigating better ways to teach led to the development of Timani. It’s a movement system aimed at the physical mastery of playing and singing by breaking it down into concrete, trainable parts. Whether you choose this method or another, it starts with the realization that there’s a better way to do this work. From there, continue with the intention to learn, and see where it takes you.

Photographer: Oda Hveem

A simple exploration

As a small start to the practical side of this two-part series, I want to provide you with an experience of exploring muscular engagement. Consider this: Can you play expressively, with excellent sound, without tension? My true belief and experience after teaching thousands of musicians is you can’t. You need tension – not just relaxation – to play effortlessly yet expressively. But you need the tension in the right places! This might sound contradictory but stick with me. When I say tension, I simply mean muscular engagement – some muscles have to work in order to play. The following is an exercise that lets you explore how to find alignment and access healthy muscular engagement in a simple way. It allows you to quickly get ready to play powerfully but effortlessly, training the communication and organization of your body, and assisting with activation of the deep muscles needed to play and sing. When this activation is evenly distributed, your whole body is contributing to your musical expression, not just the parts closest to your instrument. If you distribute subtle activation throughout your body, you don’t need to overly tense up particular areas (such as shoulders, wrists, or fingers, or by holding your breath) to create musical expression or support your technique.

The Bouncy exercise is an easy one to do for all ages and stages. The exercise is helpful to everyone for finding a good starting position with a well-distributed, whole-body activation to play from. If you’re playing seated, simply do the exercise and keep the muscular engagement as you sit down. I hope you’ll enjoy the exercise, and feel free to check out what’s available below if you’re ready today to dive deeper into anatomy and movement for musicians!

The Bouncy exercise

Step by step:

●      Stand straight and start jumping up and down at a comfortable tempo and height.

●      Try to land with a soft impact when your feet hit the floor and sense how the activation is evenly distributed throughout your whole body to make the jump coordinated and “elegant” - like an antelope running across the savannah. Can you feel how this distribution of tension can give you strength and effortlessness at the same time?

●      Jump in the natural way four or five times and then stop, but maintain your aligned hip position and distribution of activation. Lift your instrument and start playing without shifting the hips forward.

●      Notice the effect in your arms and in your sound. Try to feel how an even distribution of tension throughout the body can help relax your shoulders and arms. 

 Using the Bouncy exercise to check the importance of alignment and distribution of tension:

●      Jump with your hips shifted forward and notice the uncomfortable impact in your back/hips.

●      Jump with your head forward and sense how your feet – and the jumping itself – are negatively affected. Your neck position affects your feet and ankles, and vice versa.

●      Jump with your arms and hands completely relaxed (limp) and sense the difference. Isn’t it funny how the hands and too much relaxation affects how you jump?

When you perform this exercise before practicing your instrument, you don’t need to do these different experiments – they’re meant to illustrate the impact of alignment and muscular engagement. Simply jump four or five times before lifting your instrument or sitting down, and sense that you can utilize some of the tension that the exercise encourages – for example, the lift in your belly or the natural position of your hips.

Have fun with it! I’ll be back next month, and we’ll dive into some anatomy.

BIO 

Photographer: Lars Bryngelsson

Tina Margareta Nilssen is a pianist, founder of the Musicians’ Health and Movement Institute, creator of Timani, and author of, Unleashing the potential of the musician’s body – Timani, anatomy and exercises for healthy playing and singing. BUY THE BOOK NOW

JOIN THE TIMANI CERTIFICATION COURSE – dive in deep with Timani, part-time over three years

The essentials of Timani
Singing or playing an instrument requires complex, coordinated, and refined use of the 600+ muscles in your body. Timani is a movement system that helps you understand your own anatomy and the relationship between your brain, body, and instrument or voice. It’s designed to improve the way you stand, sit, breathe, and move using individually customized exercises that benefit:

Coordination – understanding the coordination needed to sing or play your instrument and how to fine-tune this to bring the nuances of your musical intentions to life.

Health – changing how you use your body to minimize the risk of performance-related injury or pain caused by compensatory muscular patterns or misalignment.

Musicality – enhancing technique and sound, better timing, and more natural phrasing.

Confidence – understanding the relationship between body and mind to enhance positive psychological effects and improve focus in the practice room and on stage.

Potential – reaching your full potential as a musician by gaining tools that will enable you to express yourself without unnecessary physical limitations.

SOURCES 

www.timanicommunity.com – for a soft start with short weekly lessons in your inbox

www.timani.no – check out the course calendar, teacher finder, and read more about Timani

www.tinanilssen.no – the author’s page