The musician’s body:

a maintenance manual for peak performance

Jaume Rosset i Llobet and George Odam
Illustrated by Àxel Oliveres i Gili

New York London

First published 2016 by Ashgate Publishing

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

First issued in hardback 2017

Copyrighte Jaume Rosset i Llobet and George Odam2016

Jaume Rosset i Llobet and George Odam have asserted their moral right under the Copyright , Designs and Patents Act, the PTA,
to be identified as the authors of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.

British library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Roset i Llobet, Jaume
The musician's body : a maintenance manual for peak
performance
1. Music - Performance - Physiological aspects Acknowledgements
2. Practicing (Music) - Physiological aspects 3. Mu.sic - Due to the wide range of topics included, this manual would
Performance - Psychological aspects 4. Practicing (Music) - not be possible without the contribution of many people.
Psychological aspects
I. Title II. Odam, George We wish specially to thank the following people for their
781.4'3 contributions and revisions: Dr Victor Candia, Dr Alvaro
ISBN-13:9780754662105 Pascual-Leone, Dr Silvia Nogareda, Dr Pilar Murtr6, Silvia
Libnry of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fabregas and Dr Eduard Perez in the areas of memorisation/
learning/psychology, brain functionalism, ergonomics, voice
Rosset i Llobet, Jaume.
The mu.sician's body: a maintenance manual for peak performance I by care, posture and dietetics, respectively.
Jaume Rosset i Llobet ; edited by George Odam. We also want to acknowledge the work of our advisory
p.cm. team of Alice Hughes, Drusilla Redman, Dr Penny Wright,
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-7546-6210-5 (alk. paper)
Professor Brian Hurwitz, Dr Christopher Wynn Parry,
1. Music--Ferformance--Physiological aspects. 2. Practicing (Music)-- students of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (with
Physiological aspects. 3. Music--Ferformance--Psychological aspects. 4. special thanks to Scott Wilson), staff of ESMUC and Josep
Practicing (Music)--Psychological aspects. I. Odam, George. II. Title.
Maria Vtlar, and staff of the Queensland Conservatorium,
ML3820.R67 2007 Griffiths University, all of whom have read through the first
781.4'3--dc22
2007002032
drafts and commented upon each chapter as it has been
ISBN: 978-0-7546-6210-5 (pbk) written.
ISBN: 978-0-7546-6210-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-7546-6210-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-1384-5324-1 (hbk)

II
 Contents

Acknowledgements................................................................................................................................................... iv
Foreword ..................................................................................................................................................................... v
Preface: Being well, playing better.......................................................................................................................... vii
Safety instructions .................................................................................................................................................... ix
1 Basic functions ...................................................................................................................................................... 1
2 Situations that place the musician at risk.........................................................................................................24
3 Posture. Your body in harmony with your instrument ....................................................................................33
4 Musicians, instruments and the workplace. Adjusting the task to suit your body .......................................45
5 The musician’s body explained..........................................................................................................................62
6 Mind and music. Further psychological aspects ..............................................................................................79
7 Troubleshooting for musicians. Basic body maintenance and solving problems .........................................90
About this book ......................................................................................................................................................110
Sources of further information .............................................................................................................................112
Recommended bibliography .................................................................................................................................114
Index ........................................................................................................................................................................115
In memory of
Àxel Oliveres i Gili

The human body is a miracle of engineering but, like any

other machine, it needs careful ownership and regular
maintenance. We each of us inhabit our bodies for so long
that we can easily take them for granted.
Musicians put enormous strain on various parts of their
bodies and this book will help you be alert to things which
may go wrong and to how to put them right. Musicians and
music students of all ages will find in this book a mine of
information about how to get in shape and stay in shape. I
hope that you will find the guidance useful and that it will
help you to achieve peak performance in your studies and
your future career.

Professor Barry Ife CBE FKC HonFRAM

Principal
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
 Foreword

Across the world, young musicians apply themselves to The Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya has worked
developing and perfecting their skills in performance. This since its foundation to offer musical training that adapts to
requires enormous concentration and dedication of the the professional and social needs of musicians.
mind, but also demands much from the body, whether the Musical activity is not possible without the musician’s
instrument is physically located inside, as with voice, or body being healthy and at an optimum level of response, so
outside, as with most instruments. we have already included some training in preventive
We are becoming increasingly aware that balanced and aspects and body work in our curriculum. However, we are
sustainable musicianship depends on a synergy between aware that it is impossible for such advice to cover the
body, mind and soul. While there is a wealth of publications entire range of significantly relevant information for the
on technique, repertoire and interpretation for voice and musician. It is for this reason that we did not hesitate to
most instruments, there is relatively no literature on healthy become active participants in this international project of
modes of playing from a physical perspective. creation and evaluation of materials that, undoubtedly, will
It is for that reason that I applaud this publication, which contribute to this training.
we are proud to have contributed to. I express the hope that Now the manual is a reality. We believe that the rigour with
students all over the globe will gain increased awareness and which it has been created and the intense process of
find concrete benefit from this book. comparison and meticulous revision of the material are
guarantees of its suitability. That is why, even though were are
aware that the process of evaluation and revision of this
material must still continue, we feel happy at having
contributed to being able to place it in the hands of our
students and of all those in the music schools that so desire
Professor Peter Roennfeldt it as a work tool. We are sure it will have a positive effect on
Director the teaching of music, on the interpretative quality of our
Queensland Conservatorium musicians and finally, but equally importantly, on their
Griffith University quality of life.

Salvador Mas Conde

Director
Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya

v
C\ Taylor & Francis
~ Taylor & Francis Group
http://taylorandfra ncis.com
 Preface
M usic has the capacity to move us, lift us, inspire
us, challenge us, energise us or relax us. People
feel to music, think to music, work to music,
worship to music, dance to music and even make love to
Being well,
music. It has the power to communicate aspects of the
human essence that are intangible, subtle and complex, and
it greatly enriches human life.
playing better
Making music is an intricate, skilled and demanding
activity, way beyond the scope of current scientific analysis.
Huib Schippers
It brings together a baffling array of the best the human Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre,
mind and body can offer, demanding a well-balanced
Griffiths University, Brisbane, Australia
combination of mental, expressive and physical excellence.
This is especially true at the level of professional musicians,
who demand peak performance from their minds, hearts professionals and many amateurs consult physiotherapists
and bodies on a daily basis. Although most musicians have for advice on how to avoid injury, carefully consider and
been trained well in learning to understand and interpret control their diet, and always use warming-up and cooling-
their chosen repertoire, the physical preparation can often down regimes. Sportsmen and – women take the systematic
be limited to contact with the instrument. Most teachers daily training of their bodies very seriously. Musicians, on
insist that their students must practise for many hours a day, the other hand, often ignore any such practices and work for
and those musicians who teach themselves also impose a long hours in poor conditions without ever considering the
similar regime of self-disciplined practice. It is known that if long-term damage this may be causing, even though, just as
damage is done, it is most likely to happen during extended in sport, their body is an essential part of their professional
periods of practice. equipment.
Music teachers generally have great passion for and Recent research reinforces this fact alarmingly and
insight into their art, but often they have not been trained to confirms the number of playing-related injuries and medical
give specific instruction on how exactly to practise in order conditions is vast in all forms of adult music-making.
to get the best results from a physical point of view. The Even more worrying, perhaps, is how young musicians are
best teachers do try to give general advice to their students, affected from the first years of intense learning, sometimes
but sometimes without considering sufficiently the precise undertaken in early childhood, and recent surveys have
physiological differences between the musicians in their care. confirmed this. In addition, there is a good deal of evidence
This book can help teachers, their students and practising from conservatoires and music schools across the globe
musicians to understand these problems a little better. that many students who play instruments that challenge
Musicians will generally agree that awareness of one’s body the body – such as piano, flute and strings – disappear
and its needs is essential for achieving peak performance, from professional training without a trace after reporting
without really doing much about it. But in other fields of playing-related problems. It is also known that a very high
performance where the body is also expected to achieve at a proportion of musicians become teachers, often starting
high level, such as in sport, things are very different. All sports their practice at an early age, so the risk of perpetuating

vii
physical problems and of long-term damage in their pupils undertake successful maintenance. All new machines that
is very high. we use every day in our homes and at work now come with
Young musicians, their teachers, or music institutions some kind of an instruction manual and we are increasingly
generally do not advertise playing-related injuries as a serious aware of the need to read and take notice of the guidance
concern. In many people’s minds, they are inextricably provided in order to use machines effectively and safely. As
linked to failure. The idea seems to be that if you are having in such manuals, each chapter in this book provides basic
trouble, you are probably not good enough, so you’d better information under sub-headings with copious illustrations.
keep silent about it. There is an unspoken misperception You will find sections in different colours, with frequently
that it is necessary to suffer for the cause of art, to believe asked questions and their answers (headed ‘musicians often
in no pain, no gain, and also that it is unprofessional not ask’) in blue and warnings in red.
to work to the limits of endurance. All those who deal with At the end of each chapter is a quiz. This can be used in
musical health agree that ‘no pain, no gain equals no brain’! several different ways. Obviously it is designed to test your
Physical conditions and injuries have little or nothing to absorption of the information in the preceding chapter. If
do with musical talent and the chance of making it in the you get answers wrong, it is advisable to re-read the passages
music industry; that is, if they are addressed in a timely and concerned and then try again. The quiz can also be used as
professional manner. If they are not addressed, they will a quick refreshment or aide mémoire once you have read
be an insurmountable impediment to musical success: an though the book and answered all the questions correctly.
embarrassment to the institution, a disappointment to the Teachers may find them useful for pinpointing problems
teacher, and a potential tragedy for the young player. for their students or testing their students’ knowledge and
awareness informally or even formally.
As you work with this book – and that is what we hope Most musicians will first search through the book looking
that you will do, rather than just read it – notice the way for references to their own instrument and picking out
in which it is constructed. We have attempted to analyse essential bits of information. This is how we all use books,
things from the musician’s point of view. The book is but it will be very important for all musicians, whatever their
written for all musicians, whether amateur or professional, instrument, to make every effort to read all the way through
popular, rock, folk or classical, self-taught, or studying in the book at least once. Knowing about other instruments
conservatoires and music schools, and, although we expect will not necessarily be redundant knowledge and should
that musicians of student age will be our main readers, we at the very least be of general interest to all performers.
hope that the information and advice will also be of benefit Knowing about the musician’s body and how it works, even
to all professional musicians. Most of all we hope that if you do not make your music with that particular part,
those instrumentalists who teach will read and absorb this is essential information for all professionally motivated
information, considering carefully what their role should be musician body-owners. The manual has been designed to be
in training, helping and advising their students. read through systematically and sequentially, with the most
This musician’s body manual is inspired by the very relevant sections being reread when necessary.
well-known and respected manuals written for motor-car We hope that this book can make a serious contribution
enthusiasts that are constant and helpful companions to to a healthier playing climate for all musicians and that it will
many of those who wish to make their own repairs and encourage and enable them to play in the best sense of the

viii
word rather than merely to work. Although it is best used in
Safety instructions
combination with a proactive course or training programme,
even by itself it should create sufficient awareness to begin 1. Read this instruction manual carefully and in its entirety before
working towards healthier practice and playing habits, and using your body as a musician. If you don’t do this, it could lead to
to be able to react adequately to early signs of playing- something going wrong or to less than peak performance.
related injuries. When these arise, it is of the greatest 2. There is no single model for a musician’s body. This manual
importance to seek professional help immediately. In the therefore describes the basic parts and functions of a general model
present realities, this help is usually only available outside and every musician must bear in mind all the possible differences
the institutional walls. Organising this is inconvenient, that there may be between their body and the descriptions in the
sometimes embarrassing, but worth the investment. text.
We live in a world with a wealth of beautiful, profound 3. The complexity of a musician’s body makes it impossible to
and challenging music to play, and tens of thousands of describe all of its components and all the things it can do in a
talented musicians. It should be a priority of young and basic manual. For this same reason the diagrams and sketches
mature musicians, teachers and institutions to treasure do not show all of its parts but only those essential components
this rich resource of human excellence, for without live that help you to understand your body’s basic operations. If you
musicians music cannot live. require further information please refer to more specific medical
textbooks or a health professional.
Brisbane, 2006 4. You must remember that, currently, spare parts for a musician’s
body are not being manufactured and that, in the immediate
future, there are no plans for any company to manufacture
replacements of similar quality and performance as the original
parts. So we wholeheartedly recommend that you try to keep the
originals in good order.
5. Not observing the precautionary measures described in this manual
leads to more than 75% of musicians’ bodies malfunctioning. A
third of these breakdowns have a temporary or permanent effect
on musicians’ ability to perform.
6. Although professional musicians and instrumental teachers have
already finished their music education, it is a well-known fact that
they have a significant incidence of musculoskeletal problems.
The review of the basic functioning of their body given by this
manual will be an invaluable addition to their knowledge and a
reinforcement of the good practice that is, at last, beginning to
take place in the music industry.

ix
 Musician’s body warranty terms
The manufacturer of your body will not guarantee good
functioning, and will not organise replacements or refund what
you have paid for your body if you:
● failto use your body for its normal purpose or fail to follow
the function instructions included in this manual (see Chapter
1 – Basic functions, pages 1–23);
● place your body at risk as described in this manual (see Chapter
2 – Situations that place the musician at risk, pages 24–32);
● expose your body to repetitive work in postures for which it
was not designed (see Chapter 3 – Posture, pages 33–44);
● use your body with accessories, peripheral equipment and
other products of a type, condition and standard other than
prescribed by the manufacturer (see Chapter 4 – Musicians,
instruments and the workplace, pages 45–61);
● expose your body to excessive volume of sound, incorrect
lighting or temperature, or use it in an inadequate workplace Warning
(see Chapter 4 – Musicians, instruments and the workplace,
pages 45–61); ● The instructions in this manual are believed to be not harmful to
your body components. However, as not all musicians are exactly
● failto take into account its limits and mechanisms for
alike, you need, as owner of your body, to adapt the instructions
compensating for workloads (see Chapter 5 – The musician’s
in this manual bearing in mind your particular characteristics.
body explained, pages 62–78 and Chapter 6 – Mind and This is especially important if you have already detected a defect
music, pages 79–89); or if you suspect that you have a problem.
● failto maintain your body in accordance with this manual’s ● This manual is not intended as a substitute for the advice from
instructions on proper maintenance (see Chapter 7 – your music teacher or from health professionals, but in addition
Troubleshooting for musicians, pages 90–109). to it.
● This manual does not have all the information on your body
components and functions. For this reason, it is dangerous to try
to repair your body by yourself, by following only the instructions
from this manual.
● If you experience pain, malfunction or damage that lasts for more
than a week, you must seek help from a professional.
 Chapter 1
M Basic
usicians are very much like athletes because
they use their bodies intensively, expressing
themselves and communicating through skilled
and highly trained movement. Just like a tennis or football
player or long-distance runner, as a musical athlete you must

functions
prepare your body to deal with the effort of playing and
always try to improve your performing ability and quality
through effective physical preparation.
An understanding of how your body works can help you
to appreciate better how and why it responds in a particular
way when you play or sing. This understanding will allow
you to optimise your performance and help to prevent therefore use muscles that have the opposite (antagonistic)
health-related problems developing. effect to the first muscles. Contracting the antagonistic
muscles lengthens the fibres of the thumb’s flexor muscles
The motors of movement again, returning them to their original position.
Throughout the human body pairs of muscles work across
The muscles responsible for producing movement and
joints so that when one pulls a bone in its direction, the opp-
maintaining body posture are formed by hundreds of elastic
osing muscle is passively stretched to enable it to move the
threads that are finer than a hair. These are called muscle
joint. Learning how to adjust the tension of your muscles in
fibres. Each of these fibres is able to contract when it receives
a coordinated way so as to avoid unnecessary muscle work
electrical stimuli from the nerves connected to the muscle.
is part of your training. Stretching exercises are a good way
The type of response that occurs depends on how this set
of achieving this balance, which is one reason why they
of fibres is stimulated. So, in order to pluck a harp or guitar
are a vital part of the musician’s routine (see Chapter 7 –
string with your thumb, you need to contract the fibres of
Troubleshooting for musicians).
your flexor muscles – the more fibres you use, the clearer
and louder the sound will be. What fuels do your muscles use in order to
On the other hand, if you want your thumb to support work?
the weight of a saxophone, for example, the nerves stimulate Your muscles can use two types of fuel. The first is stored
only a small proportion of these fibres, first some and then in the muscle itself and its composition allows you to use
others, to achieve a particular degree of muscle tension that it immediately. The problem is that it is depleted in a few
avoids the same fibres always doing the work and becoming seconds. The other type of fuel is not ready to be used. You
fatigued. have to refine it in the muscle itself before utilising it. A small
However, once the guitar or harp string has been plucked, amount is stored in the muscle itself but, in addition, there
merely relaxing the flexor muscles does not return the thumb are large reserves in other parts of the body, especially in the
to its starting point. Fibres can only exert a force by shortening liver and in fatty tissue. Both the need to refine it before it
– that is, they work by contracting in only one direction, can be used and the delay involved in transporting fuel from
pulling but not pushing the bones. For the thumb to return the stores to the muscle via the blood mean that this type of
to its original position to pluck a new string, you must fuel is not immediately available to you.

1
 As a result, if you
begin to play intensely
without prior prepar-
ation you will exhaust
all the immediately
available reserves
before your body
has had time to
begin to send fuel
from the liver or fat.
This will diminish your
performance and make it
more likely that injuries will
occur. If you perform warm-up
exercises before playing, or begin playing very gently and Although musicians may be very aware of how intensely some of
then gradually increase your work rate, you will enable the their larger muscles are working, they may be completely unaware
energy transfer to ‘kick in’ and avoid these problems. of the essential work undertaken by very small muscles.
It is also important for you to know that muscle oxygen
with the hand on the frets, thereby exposing themselves to
supply depends on blood supply and that your muscles
unnecessary risk of overuse injury.
can burn these fuels in two different ways: with or without
If the way that you have to perform music, or the way you
oxygen. The advantages of burning them in the presence
hold or play your instrument, does not allow you to relax
of oxygen are that a much greater quantity of energy is
your muscle groups sufficiently, there is another solution to
released (up to ten times more) and that residues do not
avoid the early onset of fatigue. This is to relax your muscles
accumulate in the muscle. For this reason, it is better to
intermittently, even if only for a few seconds, to allow the
use this combustion system. However, this is not possible
blood to flow around the muscles during these short breaks.
when the intensity of the activity is extremely high or when
Also remember that, for every thirty minutes’ playing time,
the muscles are highly tensed (because the muscle fibres
you should stop for at least five minutes and relax, take
themselves compress the flow of blood to the muscles and,
refreshment, stretch, etc.
therefore, prevent both fuel and oxygen from reaching them).
This happens, for example, when the thumb of a guitarist’s Why does the muscle get tired?
left hand continually presses too hard on the back of the The onset of fatigue during a musical performance must
instrument’s neck or when a pianist maintains constant be interpreted as the inability of your muscles to maintain
pressure on the forearms while playing. The less tension the same intensity of effort. Basically, this is a defensive
there is in these muscles, the greater the amount of blood mechanism that attempts to avoid the potential consequences
that can reach them, ensuring tiredness will take longer of excessive activity.
to appear. It has been found that inexperienced electric, In principle, fatigue is reversible. However, if it keeps
classical and flamenco guitarists often use too much force happening, it may affect the muscles and lead to the onset

2
of chronic muscle fatigue. When activity is very intense body (insufficient sleep, failing to adopt a balanced diet, a
or its performance involves large muscles (for example, sedentary lifestyle, and the existence of concurrent diseases),
when playing sport) you can detect if you are overusing or they could arise from mental fatigue (overload, stress
these muscles because of the sensations – such as tiredness, or interference from other activities). Many students and
tension or soreness – that you feel in them, or through your professional musicians now spend increasing amounts of
inability to maintain desired speed or length of practice time working at the computer, so it is very important that
time. The difficulty is that you do not use big muscles to play you apply the same principles of five-minute breaks in every
an instrument and so these sensations may go unnoticed. half hour of work to avoid mental and physical overload.
You should remember that the level of effort and,
Ways of avoiding muscle fatigue
therefore, the ease with which fatigue occurs are determined
Since the symptoms of fatigue will not always be easily
by three factors:
detectable, you should concentrate on muscle sensations that
may indicate its presence such as tension, stiffness, reduced
● the intensity ofyour performance;
performance and feeling of tiredness during or after playing.
● the speed ofyour movements;
Bear in mind that this may manifest itself hours later, even
● and the length of the performance.
on the following day, which means that you may not have
associated these subtle symptoms with your playing.
These three factors must be balanced to avoid the early If these indicators of tiredness appear, you should adjust
onset of fatigue. So, if you play with great intensity or speed, the parameters of how hard you are working the muscles
you should do so for a very short time or, in other words, (speed, intensity and duration), compensate for muscle
if you want to play for a long time, you should do so with loads by exercising the muscles appropriately (Chapter 7
a low level of intensity or speed so that your muscles can – Troubleshooting for musicians) and carefully consider the
tolerate it. The rule of thumb is that the more intensive physical and psychological conditions in which you are
your practising is in speed or effort, the more you need working.
to take care to give your muscles regular breaks. Because As one of the causes of excessive muscle work (and early
orchestral musicians may have little choice in determining fatigue) is a lack of control over the effort and tension
their routines, it is even more important that, when they generated when playing, you must review whether you are
do practise on their own, they remember this rule and using your body in the best possible way (this is best done
apply it. Such musicians should also make the best of any with the help of your teacher or a physiotherapist specialised
opportunity to compensate for their lack of control of their in dealing with musicians). Pay attention to feelings of
orchestral rehearsals by intensifying their warm-ups and by tension in your back muscles, shoulders, arms, hands, neck or
taking every opportunity to use stretching, relaxing and deep face. For instance, check if your shoulders are raised or your
breathing during small breaks in the proceedings. For more fists clenched, or maybe you are tensing your face muscles or
information see Chapter 7 – Troubleshooting for musicians. jaw. You will certainly discover areas where you are operating
There are other causes of fatigue that are also very with undue tension. Working with certain body techniques
important, even though they do not directly involve such as Alexander, Feldenkrais, Mensendieck, Tai Chi, Pilates
the affected muscle. These can be to do with not paying and Trager, amongst many others, may be a good way of
sufficient attention to the general physical aspects of your improving these aspects.

3
 When you are learning a new piece or a new technique or introduce a warm-up before playing and a cool down after
movement, the fact that you are not operating automatically is playing into your daily routine. You might also benefit from
likely to introduce additional muscle tensions unconsciously. training your muscles to compensate for the imbalances
Absorbing the new piece into your automatic system as you created by playing an instrument and the postures adopted
learn it by focusing on small components of the music, then when playing. As well as the customary vocal exercises that
putting these together into larger units, will help to avoid prepare the muscles of the mouth, throat and larynx, singers
such a build-up. Repeatedly reading the piece through is also need to concentrate on the neck, shoulders, trunk and
more likely to increase tensions at certain points where the deep abdominal breathing in their warm-up exercises (see
music presents more of a performance challenge. As you also Chapter 7 – Troubleshooting for musicians).
get into the learning process, you should work to reduce
Why do you need to train your muscles?
those unnecessary tensions from the automatic response. If
Although the work performed by some areas of your body
this does not happen and you continue to play the passage
(especially the shoulders, arms, hands and back) does not
with this excessive tension, the automatic movement will
appear in many cases to be very intense, it is generally
incorporate not only the desired movement but also the
repetitive, prolonged and unbalanced (some areas are
unnecessary tension.
worked a lot and others a little). In addition, the difficulty for
Similarly, you must train the muscles to relax between
musicians is that they need the muscles of their hands, arms,
notes and to use only the amount of energy that is strictly
face and neck to be able to combine speed
necessary. You should not consider that you have learned a
of execution with strength. Unfortunately,
passage if you have not learned to control the tension
it is not unusual that a musician’s muscles,
between notes.
whether because of muscle make-up or the
On the other hand, observe whether you
type of work performed, cannot adapt correctly
use more force than is really necessary
to the difficult task of being a good speed and
to achieve the desired sound. Once the
distance musical athlete at the same time.
hammer of the piano key has struck the
string, there is no sense in continuing to
press down hard. Similarly, the pressure
you must apply on a cello string so that
the note sounds correctly must be the
right amount. After a given point, any
additional force will be a waste of energy
and a source of tension that will limit or
make more difficult other simultaneous
movements, and possibly affect the
sound. Guitarists should be careful to avoid
unnecessary pressure of the fingering hand
prior to the plucking of the string.
It would be a good idea to begin to

4
For this reason, as a musician increases her or his demands, regular physical activity (see Chapter 7 – Troubleshooting
muscles can become ever more maladjusted, which may result for musicians, Complementary physical activity, page 97). A
in chronic muscle fatigue (known as muscle overuse). physically active 65-year-old may have the same capacities
By following these guidelines for the balanced working as a sedentary 40-year-old person.
of muscles you can help to prevent problems occurring
by adjusting the characteristics of your muscle activity to
the demands of performance, thus leading to improved Warning: Not every type of exercise is equally
beneficial for you. Some may even be
performance. It is most important to pay attention to this if counterproductive. If you are interested in improving
you experience sudden changes of activity level (see Chapter the performance of your body, follow the instructions
2 – Situations that place the musician at risk and Chapter 7 in Chapter 7 – Troubleshooting for musicians and
– Troubleshooting for musicians). take the advice of a specialist. Do not resort to gyms,
Correct training of a muscle, for example in the hand, uninformed advice or shopping-channel miracle
will stimulate it to create new muscle fibres. It will help to equipment if you are not certain that they will meet
activate those fibres that were not being used, changing the your needs as a musician. The most effective regime
make-up of existing fibres and allowing them to meet the can be integrated into your daily life, free of charge
demands of performing better. In this way you can achieve and without recourse to special aids.
greater reserves of energy within the muscle itself, therefore
improving efficiency. Your muscle fibres will be better adapted
to the type of work to be performed, increasing blood flow The central computer
and improving the relaxation of the opposing (antagonistic)
muscles during the musical interpretation. Attention to the Your muscles contract when an electrical stimulus reaches
above considerations will mean you are better equipped to them via the nerves. The characteristics of this stimulus will
play and also to prevent possible injuries. determine aspects such as the force, speed or duration of the
The capacity of the majority of your organs increases up muscle action to be performed, and your brain is responsible
to the age of 20–30, but from then on it begins to diminish. for deciding which muscles to stimulate and in what way to
Tendons and ligaments lose flexibility from 30 years of age, achieve the desired purpose.
and muscles begin to deteriorate after 35 years of age, bones Let us imagine, for example, that you want to open your
after the age of 50. instrument case. When you take the decision there is a
Moreover, a number of daily activities, including playing part of your brain that plans the action unconsciously: it
an instrument, involve a loss of postural balance and do not evaluates distances, analyses obstacles, refers to information
involve sufficient energy expenditure to prevent weight gain recorded in the memory (for instance the position and
and the possible development of obesity. opening mechanism of the locks or how you solved this
To slow down these changes, compensate for imbalances situation on similar occasions) and studies the position of
and improve your physical and psychological state you all of your body parts. Using all this information, it defines
will find it very helpful to perform muscle rebalancing the sequence of orders that it will give to your muscles in
exercises (see Chapter 7 – Troubleshooting for musicians, order to open the case.
Rebalancing exercises, page 92) as well as taking part in During this process you obtain information, both about

5
1 Planning. When, consciously or 2 Motor orders. Next your brain
unconsciously, you decide what decides which set of muscles to
you need to do, your brain, using contract to achieve the required
the sensory information and those movement, and sends messages
memory records related to the task along the spinal cord and nerves to
you are planning, will decide which activate specific muscles or groups
resources you need. of muscles.

3 Adjustments. To make the various

segments of your body involved in an
action deploy smoothly, several parts in
your brain will be used to initiate and
refine the motor commands, precisely
regulating the order of the movements
and their duration in each segment.

4 Sensory feedback. As well as planning

the action, sensory information is used to
external factors and your body, check and, if necessary, correct its result. brain must create automatisms. These are
from sensory receptors (touch, If the complete sequence is repeated direct paths for completing a task, without
sight, muscle tension and joint adequately, you will be able gradually the need to monitor all the intermediate
position sensors, balance, vision, to improve the result and make the stages. One of the many problems faced by
hearing, etc.) that enables you to sequence of actions more automatic. classical musicians is that of continuous
plan the task with high precision. sight-reading in rehearsal and performance,
Even in such simple tasks the body is an amazingly refined which may not allow the brain to create all the automatisms
instrument. necessary for the most efficient action.
Moreover, once a chain of movements has been initiated, Your brain is made up of billions of neurons, which are
it will be the same sensors that will inform your brain about interconnected. Unlike computer circuits, these connections
how the task is being performed, about whether any changes are not fixed and they may be changed. In fact, they are
are taking place or whether any new and relevant information doing this constantly in an attempt to make the processes
has been detected that you had not noticed. This information controlled by each of the circuits easier.
will allow your brain to modify the muscle stimuli and achieve This operates similarly to the Wonkovator, the amazing
precise and satisfactory execution of the task. lift in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This machine allows
These mechanisms function efficiently when the speed its occupants to move directly from one place to any other
is not too quick or when it is not necessary to perform in the building, without moving through the intermediate
consecutive and complex tasks continually, as happens floors or rooms since the Wonkovator connects all rooms
when playing an instrument. In this case, in order to be in the building. To go to the fourth floor in a conventional
able to respond to the difficulty of supervising them, your lift you have to pass via all the intermediate floors first. The

6
 Musicians often ask
Sometimes, when I have made significant progress and
Wonkovator makes it possible to do this in a much quicker believe that the task has practically been mastered,
and more efficient way: to go directly to the fourth floor suddenly it seems as I have lost everything I have learned
without intermediate stages. and, the more I rehearse, the worse it becomes. What is the
Your brain is able to establish these new connecting reason for this and how can it be avoided? It is believed
pathways and this allows a more efficient response and is that learning a movement is accompanied by a series of
the neurological explanation of these automatisms that you corrective mechanisms that provide a set of solutions for
need to play or sing. unforeseen circumstances. The deterioration is due to a
This mechanism by which some connections are made
conflict between the different correction mechanisms that
and not others can be visualised by imagining your brain
as a house with hundreds of rooms and doors. Some are
are being created. Your brain looks for a way to adapt
normal doors; they connect adjacent rooms. Others are them to each other or, if this is not possible, creates a new
magic doors and connect non-adjacent rooms. The number mechanism that is more flexible and more suitable as an
and characteristics of the rooms and doors is not haphazard, automatic mechanism. If the brain is not given enough
it is determined by your genes. However, as soon as you are time to analyse a complex situation and is forced to use two
born, you begin to use some doors more than others. Each contradictory correction mechanisms at the same time, an
time they are used, they become easier to open. With time it unwelcome outcome may result. This happens when you are
is even possible that those used the most frequently become trying, for example, to learn a complicated passage on the
open corridors without any doors. But those not used
piano, where precision and accuracy cannot coexist with
become narrower and eventually may start to disappear. Of
course, it’s always possible to open a new door in the wall,
high-speed performance. As a result, movements become
but it is more difficult than using an existing door. And the inaccurate and blurred although they are quick enough to
magic doors – those connecting non-adjacent rooms – are follow the required rhythm. This ‘smudging’ is very harmful
very difficult, perhaps impossible, to create if they were not since, once it has occurred, it is very difficult to eliminate.
there beforehand. When this delay in consolidating a movement occurs, you
Practice does not always make perfect must take a break or make radical changes to the type of
Playing a musical instrument or singing professionally are rehearsal and exercises you are undertaking, to allow your
two of the most demanding tasks you can impose on your brain unconsciously to work out a better solution.
nervous system. They need extensive practice in order to
acquire, develop and maintain the technical aspects required Initially, your fingers move slowly, with fluctuating accuracy
to learn a new repertoire and memorise the music. and speed, as they are reliant on monitoring the outcome
When you are confronted with a new piece, after analysing via sight, sound or the feelings in your hands or larynx. As
and understanding the task, you develop a cognitive each one of the movements is refined and the overall chain
representation of it and, guided by your brain, you begin the of movements occurs with the desired timing, you can stop
first movements on the instrument or sound production. concentrating on the mechanical details of performing and
Your sensors (hearing, eyes, muscle receptors, etc.) provide focus more on the emotional aspects of the task.
information to your brain about the result and, if necessary, At this stage, we can say that the movement has become
you correct it. automatic and the motor programmes (those magical

7
direct doors) necessary for the task have been created. You
Memorisation
have codified in your brain the information that allows
Another of the basic processes for performing music, in
the movements to be executed: which muscles to contract,
addition to the automation of certain movements and
the force you have to use to do this and in what sequence.
technical gestures, is memorising information that is directly
With continual repetition the programmes will continue to
or indirectly related to the piece you are going to play.
improve, using fewer neurons and making the connection
There is no single place in your brain that is used to store
between them easier (with much wider doors).
this kind of information. Instead, the memory is dispersed
As you have seen, acquiring skills requires changes in the
throughout different areas of the brain. Although the
brain. In fact it is your brain’s capacity to reorganise and
adapt that allows you to learn and to improve your abilities. processes involved in memorising are not yet completely
But there is a risk that a system capable of reorganising itself understood, acquiring new knowledge, skills or memory
with such flexibility may incorporate undesired changes. is based on chemical changes and the creation of new
connections between neurons.
From a general point of view, as with other musical
Warning: To learn a
must repeat
movement, you
it a sufficient
abilities, some musicians have better memories than others
– something that is effortless for some people is a real worry
number of times in the same way, with little for others. Whatever your ability to retain information, it
variation. When the movement has not yet will be helpful for you to understand, albeit in outline, how
been perfected, the reason for repeating it is memory functions and how it can be optimised.
to improve it; that is, to change it. If you repeat We can simplify the process of memorisation into three
a movement that is not yet perfected many stages: acquisition, storage and recovery, and use of musical
times without improving the result (which material. For each of these tasks, you have in your brain
means you are repeating it incorrectly but different types of memory storage (sensory, working and
always in the same way) all you will achieve is long-term), adapted to every need.
to record the information about this erroneous
movement in your brain. Therefore, when an Stage 1: Acquiring musical information from
exercise fails to achieve the desired results in a notation
reasonable time, you must seek alternatives to The process begins when, via one or several of the senses,
prevent the movement becoming automatic you perceive information. Let us suppose that you are
in the way it is currently being performed, that playing the first three bars of a piece you wish to learn on
is to say, incorrectly. These automated errors the piano. The image of the notes on the stave, the sound of
may surface unexpectedly in stressful, tense or the notes you have played and the sensation experienced by
anxious conditions. Your brain learns a correct the fingers are held for a few seconds in a first store called
movement as easily as an incorrect one and, sensory memory.
as a general rule, eliminating or modifying an The amount of data that can be retained in these deposits
automated task is usually much more difficult is limited not only in terms of time but also in terms of
than learning it correctly at the outset. capacity. The storage of new elements in this memory bank
eliminates previous data. Furthermore, if the information

8
Stage 1 – Acquisition Stage 2 – Storage Stage 3 – Recovery

that reaches the brain from the senses is not clear enough, a musical phrase two or three times and it is not excessively
interference will occur that will make it difficult to retain. long, new connections will be established between the
So, if the position of the notes on the stave is very similar neurons of this store and you will be able to repeat it by heart
or if you have played the notes on a keyboard using the for a few minutes. If it is much longer you may be able to
sustaining pedal, the sight or sound of the notes may have repeat only a few parts (probably the beginning, the end and
interfered with the next note producing storage errors. In certain sequences that stood out for you for some reason).
this acquisition phase, the clearer the information is the If you do nothing to maintain the neural connections in
more efficient the process of memorisation will be. an active state, the information will gradually fade, especially
Of course, many musicians throughout the world learn if, before you consolidate it, you receive new information
without the aid of or need for notation. It may be that such that interferes with the memory. However, if you repeat it
musicians store music with a different efficiency from their again a couple of times, the retention time may reach up to
note-reading counterparts, but there is, as yet, little scientific an hour.
study into these differences. If you repeat the phrase memorised in the recent memory
for one day, it will remain in the memory for a week. If
Stage 2: Storage you repeat it for a week, it may last for a month and if you
When you concentrate on information that reaches you continue to repeat it during this period it may be retained
through the senses and make the effort to understand it, for six months or a year.
this data will move to a much more stable substratum of The more ways you use to codify the musical information
memory: working memory. Information that you have not (the sound of the notes, their appearance on the stave, their
found to be relevant will not move to this store, which means order on the instrument, etc.), the greater the number of
that a first filtering of the information occurs. If you repeat associations and connections that will be formed with this

9
 information and, therefore, the easier it will be for you to how you feel it in your hands when you are playing
remember it. (kinesthetically), by the image of the score or the positions of
your hands (visually), by its musical structure (analytically)
or any combination of these. You should use the method
Although all musicians must find their own best way of
that gives you the best results but try to have a second way
memorising, this is one strategy that may be helpful to you:
of remembering in order to reinforce and facilitate the
1. Choose a segment of only a few bars (no more than seven). process.
2. Work out the technical requirements. One way of improving the chances of remembering the
3. Perform the technical action away from the instrument to piece aurally is by constantly humming the piece to yourself
avoid dividing your attention between the sound and the when away from the instrument. If you want to work at it
movement. kinesthetically you should play without sound; if visually, you
can write it down or draw an image or diagram; analytical
4. Construct a mental image of the technical action by looking
remembering can be helped by writing the key points in a
at your fingers and, without performing any movement with
notebook and looking at them from time to time.
them, imagine yourself performing it – repeat it slowly three
The way you have recorded information determines how
times.
it is subsequently activated and consequently remembered.
5. Imagine the performance happening without the assistance Thus, data that you have worked on in-depth is much
of the score, closing your eyes to visualise the mental image more likely to be remembered than data you have recorded
better without having to struggle against information from through more superficial effort.
the surrounding environment. When a piece of information is retrieved successfully
6. Choose another segment and follow the same process. from memory, the connections between neurons are made
7. When you have completed the process with this segment, more active and this makes it much easier for it to be
return to the first one. remembered subsequently and in a more enduring way. In
8. If you remember it correctly, go back to the second segment. other words, in order to memorise a passage better it has
to be tested repeatedly without the assistance of the score,
9. If you do not remember it, repeat the previous steps until you
with the time between repetitions gradually increased.
do.
Information that you have not been able to remember
10. Carry on this way with new segments. should be repeated within a short period of time while
information remembered correctly should be repeated at
gradually increasing intervals of time.
Stage 3: Recovering and using the stored material
Correct repetition of the information will lead to it being Forgetting
stored more permanently in the memory for a long time, The loss of, or failure to recall, material previously stored in
even for life. However, you do not have direct access to your memory always has a negative connotation, especially
these stores with the result that, in order for information to when it is information that took a lot of effort to acquire.
be recovered, it has to pass again through the areas where However, the mechanism of forgetting is as natural as
recent memory is stored (long-term memory). that of remembering. Forgetting is not only a defence
You can remember a piece by how it sounds (aurally), against accumulating data that would eventually saturate

10
 your neurological circuits, it is also, above all, a built-in
Strategies to make learning easier
compensation mechanism that helps you, for instance,
When you are learning something, at the beginning you
to erase or mask undesired learned movements on your
will observe clear progress but, as the task becomes more
instrument.
consolidated, the changes will be slower. At these times you
Leaving aside those cases where forgetting is due to an
must try not to fall into repetitive, obsessive and uncontrolled
illness or alteration in the brain, the things that you forget do
ways of practice. Try to work in the same way as described
not follow a random process linked to the passage of time,
above, concentrating on the passages which have not yet
but are to do with an active, specific mechanism controlled
been completely mastered.
by the brain in the same way as the process of memorisation
To improve the learning process we advise you to:
is active and specific.
When we learn to ride a bicycle or drive a car this 1. Analyse the music you are going to play before practising it
information is stored permanently in the brain. Musical (key, metre, familiar patterns, etc.). This will improve the
information, however, is far more complex and so it accuracy of your performance and will reduce the number
deteriorates more rapidly. This means that you have to of physical trials required to achieve technical proficiency.
practise memorised pieces regularly to be sure of retaining
2. Distribute your practice. Learning is better if you work in
the information.
smaller sessions over time rather than practise in very long
sessions. Proficiency developed over a long period of time
Musicians often ask: is retained better than that developed within a short time
I feel that I forget the repertoire I have already period. Although longer and more complex tasks require
learned very easily. Is there a strategy to avoid longer practice sessions, relatively short practice sessions are
this? The principal reasons for forgetting are a generally more effective than longer practice sessions.
lack of concentration during the learning process, 3. Vary the order of both the pieces and the sections. If you only
poor understanding and analysis of the piece, practise a piece of music from the beginning to the end each
trying to learn too much at a time, and the absence time, there is a risk that the initial parts may be practised in
of review phases. It is a good idea to establish a better physical and mental conditions than those at the end
revision timetable. One plan could be: of the work.
4. Plan, if necessary using a watch, what you are going to
1. After an hour of studying (remember that this practise. This will prevent you practising in an excessively
hour should not be continuous but in blocks repetitive manner passages that you cannot get right and
of 20–30 minutes with breaks), revisit the leaving little time for other sections still remaining at the end
material you have learned for 10 minutes. of the work session.
2. After 24 hours, review the same material 5. Enjoy your practising. You learn better if what you’re doing is
again for four minutes. ‘fun’, so find a way of making it enjoyable. Make up ‘games’
that make the rehearsal more fun and, therefore, more
3. Continue this regular review when possible. effective. For example, you could aim to repeat a passage ten

11
 an instrument, when you are injured or simply when you
times without a single error, increasing the speed slightly do not want to overload your body with more hours of
each time, or you could play the passage in a variety of playing.
different rhythms. Everyone possesses the ability to improve by mentally
6. Practise from memory. The only way to ensure a good practising away from his or her instrument. There is little
performance when playing without a score is to practise difference in the effectiveness of mental practice between
without it. However, you should be careful not to experienced and novice musicians. Before a concert,
‘programme in’ mistakes! Horowitz would practise a piece mentally to prevent his
7. Analyse the problems. Take a very difficult phrase and analyse technique being upset by playing on a piano other than his
it. Is it a right-hand or left-hand problem? Is it to do with Steinway. Rubinstein found that mental practice was the
coordination, the rhythm or fingering? Is it a combination best way to limit hours spent in front of the piano while
of these? Work at improving each of the problems separately. maintaining his interpretative skill.
Introduce variations or different exercises to perfect the The effectiveness of mental practice lies in the fact that
phrase (for example, accentuate the first note or vary the when you practise in this way you are in part using the same
length of the notes) to avoid repeating a passage that is not structures (the same neuronal connections) as when you
coming out right again and again. actually play. Mental practice can speed up the acquisition
of a new motor skill by providing a mental model well
8. Ensure adequate sleep. The time you spend sleeping
adapted to the activity before actually practising it. This
consolidates learning as the resting brain assimilates the
not only appears to lead to a marked improvement in the
information it has taken in during your practice, but
performance but also puts you in an advantageous position
without any extra information that might interfere with
to learn skills with minimal instrumental practice.
what you have learned. This ‘passive’ consolidation can
There are two types of mental practice. One uses the
even improve your performance.
imagination in order to generate positive mental images
of oneself performing specific musical tasks in the correct
Mental practice: how to keep learning way. The other kind trains you to process and organise
without your instrument efficiently the information that will be transformed into
Performing movements with your instruments or singing specific instructions from the nerves to the muscles in order
‘moulds’ your brain to the point where automatic, robust to improve coordination. In both cases you can imagine
and accurate motor programmes are created. Although yourself playing internally or externally. Internal imagery
many musicians do not consider any learning opportunity takes place when you imagine yourself inside your own body
other than repetitive practice, you can achieve a similar as if you are actually playing or singing. External imagery,
result mentally without the need to use an instrument. which might be used when a person is first learning the skill
Mental practice is the imaginary performance of a task of imaging, involves mentally watching yourself playing
in order to learn or improve it without making any kind or singing as if watching yourself on a television. Many
of physical movement. It has been shown to be effective in psychologists believe internal imagery is more effective than
improving learning in the fields of both sport and in music. external imagery.
It may be useful to you to undertake when you do not have Of course, considerable physical practice remains essential.

12
So musicians should be advised that mental practice should hours of practice, alternating physical and mental practice
not be used as a complete substitute for physical practice. results in the same performance gain as physical practice
However, only practising mentally is more effective than not alone. For this reason we advise you to replace 20 minutes
practising at all. Moreover, given the same total number of of physical practice with 20 of mental practice every day.

Basic advice for practising mentally

Playing mentally is not usually an easy task the first time study the fingering, imagine the ‘story’ that the
it is attempted. You should practise it regularly and the composer wanted to tell with this piece. It is easier to
training will gradually allow you to achieve better results. learn something that makes some sense to you than
Mental practice is more effective if: something that does not;
1. you have prior experience of what you are going to 3. look at the stave as if it were a map of the piano, as
play, either because you know the piece or because if every line or space on the stave corresponded to a
you have mastered the techniques necessary to play piano key;
it; 4. begin to imagine each of your fingers on each of the
2. you do it during the first phases of learning the piece, relevant piano keys;
when you are beginning to formulate ideas about it, or 5. when you find it easy, try to start moving the fingers
during later phases when you are already developing mentally following the score, first with one hand
more complex strategies; them with the other;
3. you combine it with physical practice; 6. if necessary, use a lower performance speed than
4. the sessions of mental work are brief; that indicated by the score and, as you master the
5. simultaneously with your mental image of playing, movements, increase the speed;
you also imagine the responses in the muscles that 7. when the mental image of the performance is
must perform these movements (how the muscles sufficiently stable, try to hear in your head how what
will contract, what feelings it will cause, etc.). you are playing sounds;
Although if you are interested in studying this activity 8. after performing these exercises for ten minutes or so
in depth you should seek more concrete information in (or two or three lines on the stave) take a break as
textbooks specifically about mental practice, a possible this can be very tiring, especially when you are not yet
initial approach, for example for a pianist, could be: used to it. Try to be systematic and do not move on to
1. choose a simple piece; the next section until you have completely mastered
the previous one;
2. analyse the piece on the stave; understand its
structure. Familiarise yourself with all those parts 9. once you have mastered the piece in your head, begin
of the piece that do not seem to follow any pattern, to play it on the piano.

13
 1. Inhale as deeply as possible.
While you breathe out, count
Around or more
Breathing out loud as clearly and as Less than 100.
than 100.
quickly as you can. How far can
Many of us can will remember a friend playing a
you count up to?
wind instrument with a completely swollen neck
and red face, almost on the point of exploding. If 2. Inhale deeply and observe
you are one of this group of wind instrumentalists Through the Through
which part of the body you
or singers, you should definitely read this section mouth. the nose.
used to take in the air.
carefully. An understanding of the mechanisms of
breathing will allow you to improve your breath The top part of
3. Stand in front of a mirror, inhale
control and to achieve greater interpretative the thorax, the
deeply and observe which area The abdomen.
ability and quality (as well as ending the suffering shoulders or
expands the most obviously.
of your audience). the ribs.
Many musicians (especially those who do not 4. Place one hand on your chest
play wind instruments) may not be aware of how and the other on the abdomen. The hand on the The hand on
the way they breathe can be very important for Inhale and observe which chest. the abdomen.
them too. The way we breathe affects our posture, hand moves up first.
degree of relaxation and the body’s ability to
function. 5. Breathe in deeply again and Shortness;
We are therefore going to analyse briefly the Fluidity;
breathe out in a relaxed difficult; tension;
aspects of breathing that affect all musicians and, continuity;
manner. Indicate which words restriction;
after that, those specific to wind instrumentalists relaxation;
offer the best description of superficial;
and singers. depth.
how you feel when doing this. laboured.
General aspects (for all musicians)
The principal function of the lungs is to exchange gases If one or more of your answers is in the first column,
between the air and your blood. When you inhale you fill you should try to improve your breathing to optimise your
them with air rich in oxygen – the gas that will be captured performance and relaxation. If most of your answers are in
by the blood and carried to all the cells in the body so that the second column, it is possible that you are already using
they can carry out their functions. In turn, the blood will abdominal breathing, which is much more advisable. In any
remove the gases expelled by your cells to the air in the lungs case, a quick read through the breathing mechanisms may
so that they are eliminated as you exhale. help you to be sure that you are breathing optimally.
In order for this process to take place, the muscles and Clavicular or high breathing is performed by lifting the
bones of the thorax operate as bellows forcing the air in and shoulders, collar bone and upper ribs. It is not very efficient
out. The more efficiently you perform this action, the better as it generates tension in the neck muscles, which is bad for
your body will function. you. This is because it involves significant muscle work and
Although there are many ways of discovering whether also makes it difficult for the blood to return to your heart.
you breathe efficiently, the table above offers some practical Although it is usually due to poor learning, it may also be
hints that may help you to find out. caused by wearing clothes that compress the abdomen or

14
 Inefficient
Poor body High air
Shoulders air intake
position intake
and upper ribs
raised

Maximum lung
Abdomen expansion
moves
inward

Muscle Better
tension Expanded diaphragm
thorax control

Clavicular breathing Intercostal breathing Abdominal breathing

by adopting a position that is hunched or leaning forwards How to learn to perform

when playing or performing daily activities (see Chapter 3 abdominal breathing
– Posture).
To recover abdominal breathing you can try the following exercise:
This type of breathing, although it may be imperceptible,
restricts the freedom of your hands to perform subtle 1. Fill and empty your lungs slowly.
movements because of the tension generated in the neck 2. Force yourself to empty them completely.
and back, where it may lead to problems. In addition, as the 3. At the end, concentrate on continuing to push the abdomen inwards
diaphragm cannot descend, it prevents you from inflating in order to expel all the air. Putting your hand on the abdomen could
the larger lower part of your lungs, which means you do not help you to notice it.
get your fill of air.
4. Keep breathing in and out for while. Do not do it too quickly or you
Although intercostal breathing, which is performed by
may feel faint due to excessive elimination of gases from the blood.
expanding the thorax, allows more air to enter, it involves an
unnatural body position and a high degree of tension. It is 5. Concentrate only on the final phase of exhaling and pay attention to
therefore also to be avoided. how the abdomen helps to compress the lungs.
The most natural method, and the one you used as a 6. Now concentrate on the intake of air. The first thing to move is the
baby and use when you are asleep, is abdominal breathing. abdomen, which moves outwards to allow air to enter into the lungs.
It is the most efficient way of breathing, allows the greatest 7. Now carry on breathing normally without forcing the exhalation of
control and causes the least tension. As a result, it is the one all of the air and try to ensure that the abdominal movements keep
you should try to use when you play or sing or do any other occurring. If you do not achieve this, repeat the previous steps. If you
everyday activity. do manage it, try to keep practising these breathing movements to
ensure that you incorporate this type of breathing not only in music
practice but also in everyday life. 15
Active breathing the abdominal and diaphragm musculature work in a
(for singers and wind players) coordinated way. Although they perform opposite functions
When your breathing is relaxed, air exits from the lungs
(contracting the diaphragm leads to the intake of air into
without the need for any muscles to work. This is because,
the lungs while contracting the abdominal muscles helps to
as happens when you blow up a balloon, the elasticity of
expel it), if you achieve a good balance between them, one
the thorax returns the structures to their initial position
can contribute to the correct action of the other.
expelling the air gently and without additional effort. These are mechanisms that require a great deal of practice.
However, to control the sound, you must intervene Additionally, continuously working the mechanisms of
actively during the expulsion phase: firstly, because you
abdominal pressure and diaphragmatic counter-pressure
require much more air pressure than you get from the will lead to gradually improving your ability to detect,
simple elasticity of the abdominal tissues; secondly, because
memorise and reproduce the tension exercised at each
to achieve good control of the airflow and pressure you must
moment by the muscles concerned. The term ‘column of
control the emptying of the lungs with your muscles. air’ is usually used to describe the physical sensations noted
In order to increase the quantity, velocity or pressure of
in the body when the air has a regular and constant flow
the air expelled by your lungs, relax the diaphragm at the
towards the vocal folds.
same time as you contract the abdominal muscles. This
causes the internal organs within the
abdomen to push upwards, compressing Musicians often ask:
the lungs and expelling the air. The When I play very long phrases, I observe that at the end of
more force applied by your abdominal each phrase the instrument sounds slightly out of tune. I
muscles and the more compressed your sense that it could be poor control of air pressure but this
lungs become, the greater the amount of
also occurs on occasions where I can maintain the correct
air is expelled.
In any event, you must learn to
pressure. What is the reason for this?
achieve abdominal pressure together When you hold your breath or exhale for a long period of
with the correct muscle control (which time, the levels of oxygen in your blood and in the air you
singers usually call ‘voice support’). If expel gradually diminishes and the level of carbon dioxide
the tone of the abdominal muscles is increases. As happens with variations in air temperature,
poor, the pressure will be insufficient changes in the concentration of gases within the instrument
and poor sound quality will result. affect the tuning to a greater or lesser extent, to the point
But if it is too high, it will lead to the where, at the end of a phrase, changes in the composition
vocal folds closing or a blockage of the
of the gases can produce a diminution of up to 15% of a
instrument’s reed or the lips making it
difficult to produce sound and also may
semitone. A trained musician will be able to compensate for
provoke a risk of injury. this diminution by adjusting their embouchure and breath
However, you can achieve greater pressure.
control of the intake of air if you make

16
 Sound production
Producing the voice or sound on a wind instrument involves several mechanisms, some of which are still not completely
understood, and requires the simultaneous activation of many parts of your body. As you can see in the table, voice and
wind instruments share many of these mechanisms. But there are some differences between them, which make it necessary
to provide separate explanations on these points.

Singer Woodwind Brass

Lungs Lungs
Step 1 Generating the air flow Lungs
Sound production phases

(+ larynx + lips) (+ larynx)

Step 2 Producing the vibration Vocal folds Reed/embouchure-hole Lips

Resonance Mouth,
Instrument body Instrument tubes
chambers larynx...
Controlling
Step 3
the sound
Lips, tongue,
Articulators Tongue Tongue
teeth

We can simplify the process of producing sound into three For wind instrumentalists
steps: the generation of the energy source, production of Wind instruments have other mechanisms that allow you to
vibration and control of sound. change air flow, whether to modify the instrument’s pitch,
tone, loudness or vibrato.
Step 1: generating sufficient air flow
The vocal folds, which are in this case released from
To produce sound you must always provide energy of some
their sound production role, can play a significant role in
kind to the instrument or vocal tract. With the guitar this is
this context by helping to adjust the pressure and speed of
done by plucking the string with your finger or plectrum.
the air that is expelled from your lungs. In the same way
With the piano it is done by pressing a key, which moves the
that you partially block water flowing out of a hosepipe to
hammer that strikes the string. With the violin you move
make it reach further, you open and close the vocal folds
the bow across the string to make it vibrate, and with a
to increase the speed of the air. For this reason, some wind
drum you use the stick to strike the membrane.
instrumentalists take classes with singing teachers to help
In singing or making a sound on wind instruments,
them to improve control of their breathing and vocal folds.
it is the lungs which, through actively expelling air like a
In the case of the flute, the lips also perform a second
compressor, supply the energy to vibrate the vocal folds, the
level of control of the air flow as they are able to change its
reed or the lips.
direction according to the sound desired.

17
 Step 2: generate the sound (produce the vibration) For singers
The air coming from the lungs is a more or less stable In the case of singers, vibration is generated in the vocal
flow. To turn it into sound, you need to transform it into folds (for further information on the anatomy of the larynx,
oscillating energy. This is done through the vibration of see pages 73 and 75). When you breathe, the folds are
the vocal folds, reed or lips, which open and close the air completely separated and must be brought together in order
flow cyclically causing the column of air in the respiratory to produce a sound.
tract or inside the instrument to oscillate. This oscillation The process begins when you close the folds and thus
is transmitted through the air to reach the ears. Here, as the air passage. When your lungs begin pushing the air out,
can be seen on page 22, you receive the sound vibrations the pressure it exerts below the vocal folds increases. This
and transform them into electrical nervous impulses in the pressure will push the folds until it overcomes the force
auditory nerve, which relays stimuli to the brain, which are holding them closed. They will then open and let the air
then perceived as sound. pass. This will cause the air pressure to return to its initial
values, allowing the folds to close again and a new cycle of
opening and closing to be initiated. This cycle occurs very
quickly, hundreds of times per second.
Vocal folds You will achieve different registers of voice according to
the position of the vocal folds, the degree of tension and the
action of the muscles involved in achieving the sound. Thus,
for example, thick and short folds that make a great deal of
Open phase
Musicians often ask:
When I am singing I occasionally notice,
especially when attacking a certain note, a
sound similar to a dull blow that comes from
the neck. What is the reason for this? The
Right Left sound is produced by the vocal folds as they
approach each other – in this case they close
Closed phase too abruptly. You have to try to avoid this by
using phonorespiratory coordination exercises
Front (as taught by a singing teacher) since they can
become damaged by abrupt closure. On the
other hand, if the folds are too relaxed they will
allow air to escape between them. This means
that some of the air is not used to vibrate the
folds and produce a sound but exits the larynx
audibly in the form of a breath of air similar
to a whisper. The solution for both problems is
18 to achieve the correct degree of tension of the
vocal folds through good technique.
 1. Pressure
in mouth
contact will produce a rich and full-bodied sound, which, increases.
as the vibration is felt in the chest, is usually called chest 2. Pressure pushes
register. When the folds are stretched and thin and lips forward and
kept half open and the larynx is in a high position air rushes out.
or causing only the anterior part of the folds
to vibrate the voice range known as falsetto is
produced.
For wind instrumentalists
Wind instruments also have a mechanism
that, in a similar manner, interrupts and
distorts the current of air to convert the flow
from the lungs into oscillating energy or,
in other words, sound. This mechanism is
usually called the ‘reed’. Wind instruments can
therefore be classified according to whether they 3. Pressure in the
have a ‘mechanical reed’ (reed woodwinds), a ‘free mouth lowers.
reed’ (harmonicas), a ‘lip reed’ (brass instruments) or
an ‘air reed’ (flutes and recorders). 4. Tension
The reed, whether because it is completely blocking in the lips
the passage of air or because it is narrowing it, leads to pulls them
air pressure within the mouth becoming greater than the shut.
pressure beyond the reed. As the reed is flexible it will tend
to fold or move as a result of this difference in pressure. Brass players create the vibration by cyclically interrupting the
Opening the air passage will cause the pressure within the current of air with their lips.
mouth to reduce and allow the reed, thanks to its flexibility,
to return to its initial position and shape. This process is simple back-and-forth movement, but that this is combined
repeated hundreds of times per second. with an up-and-down movement.
With brass instruments, the player’s upper lip vibrates Although the two kinds of movement occur simul-
with greater amplitude than the lower lip at all frequencies taneously, the back-and-forth vibration usually appears
and dynamic levels. As a general rule, the upper lip covers mainly in low modes and the up-and-down vibration in
two-thirds of the mouthpiece and the lower lip one-third. high modes.
In any case, this is highly variable and certainly results in The amount of lip that vibrates and the amplitude of the
the need for adaptations to suit each musician’s anatomical vibration are usually very variable. Thus, for example, for
differences (thicker lips, greater muscle strength, differently the same sound intensity, the amplitude reduces in higher-
positioned teeth, and so on). pitched tones and, because the mouthpiece is smaller, the
The flexibility of the structures and the different pressures amount of lip that vibrates on a trumpet, and consequently
created as the lips vibrate mean that they do not perform a also the amplitude, is less than on the trombone.

19
 How do you vary the tone and intensity
of the sound being made?
When you take a rubber band and stretch it, its increased work them in a coordinated manner to achieve the correct
length results in a reduction of its thickness. The vocal folds tension without causing the lip to furrow or its configuration
or lips can shorten or lengthen themselves at will through the to change, which would modify the characteristics of the
action of the muscles of the larynx and the face respectively. vibration and therefore the sound.
This allows you to change their tension and thickness. While the pitch of each note is determined by the speed with
When the vocal folds or lips are not tensed and thick they which the vocal folds or lips open and close, the intensity of the
vibrate at a lower frequency than when they are tensed and sound depends on the extent of their displacement. When you
thin. A low-frequency vibration results in a deep pitch and a increase the exit pressure of the air the folds or lips vibrate with
high-frequency one in a high pitch. greater amplitude and produce a more intense sound.
You shorten or lengthen the vocal folds basically by But in order to overcome the greater tension of the folds
changing the position of the cartilages of the larynx through or lips in high-pitched sounds, you must also increase the air
the actions of the muscles in this area (see pages 73 and 75). pressure. A novice musician may find it difficult to perform a
In the case of the lips, changes are made by tensing the high piano or crescendo while maintaining the same note. His
tissues through the action of the face muscles (see Anatomy or her muscles do not usually have sufficient technique yet to
on page 72). As these muscles are interconnected, you must adjust the tension of the folds or lips to the air pressure.

When you are producing the

2. Upward Warning: sound with the lips alone or
with the mouthpiece, because of the lack of
3. Downward acoustic response from an instrument, only
back-and-forth vibration takes place. This is
why exercises of this kind are not sufficient
to develop a good lip response. For the same
reason, during your warm-up or flexibility
work, not only should you perform exercises
with the mouthpiece but also exercises that
involve a low workload for the lip while
working on the instrument.

1. Forward
Step 3: controlling the sound
4. Backwards The sound produced by your vocal folds, reed or lips is raw
and complex. Therefore, to make it pleasant, projected and
rich, you must filter out certain frequencies, amplify others
The flexibility of the different lip structures and the effect of the and give colour to the sound. You achieve this by using
complex pressure changes produced in that area make the upper resonance chambers.
lip vibrate in a particular pathway in brass players. In the case of wind instruments the principal resonance

20
chamber is the instrument itself. For the singer, the chambers Finally, there are some fixed resonators whose volume
are the air-filled cavities above the larynx (the upper part you cannot modify. We are talking about the nose, which is
of the larynx, the pharynx, the mouth and the nose; see only involved in nasal-type sounds, and the sinuses (small
Anatomy on page 73). air chambers in the facial bones). Although the sinuses are
According to the shape, volume and characteristics of not able to modify the sound greatly, they can resonate
each cavity or instrument, the air in its interior will vibrate sound internally, especially with high notes. This will give
at particular frequencies but not others, performing this role you information about the quality of your voice, leading to
of amplifying and filtering that determines the unique tonal the sensation of the voice being felt in the facial mask area.
characteristics of each individual or instrument.
For wind instrumentalists
Finally, you can adjust the sound through the action of the
The column of air within your instrument vibrates more
tongue, lips, cheeks, teeth and palate on the same resonance
easily at specific frequencies. Changing the length of the
cavities. This allows you, for example, to articulate sounds
instrument using the valves or holes or lengthening the slide
such as a ‘d’ or to play staccato notes on the wind instruments
enables you to select the correct resonances for the note you
using the tongue, and to reproduce vowels through correct
want to play.
placement of the lips and the tongue.
Your lips or the reed also have their own frequency of
For singers resonance that can be changed by varying muscle tension.
In the case of the singer, the sounds produced by the vocal However, the instrument resonances are stronger than those
folds have very variable frequencies. To adapt to the entire of the lips or the reed, which means that the instrument
range of sounds made, it will be very important for you controls the range of vibration of the lips and the reed. This
to be able to change rapidly the volume and shape of the control is not absolute and it is always possible to adjust the
resonance cavities. Of all of these, the mouth is the most pitch of a note by changing the tension. Thus, a trombonist
important since it can adapt with greater ease to the sound can play a vibrato by moving the slide slightly, while players
produced, thanks to its variable opening, placement of the of other brass instruments do it by ‘lipping’.
tongue and role of the lips. Thus, for example, to make a In addition to adjusting the range of vibration, the
high-pitched sound, you must increase the opening of the instrument, as with the voice, filters out certain frequencies,
mouth, raise the palate as far as possible and flatten the amplifies others and enriches the sound by converting this
tongue. This makes the cavity larger so the deep harmonics ‘buzzing’ noise into a pleasant and potent sound.
accompanying the basic tone are not lost, producing a high The sound waves generated by the reed or the lips spread
note with a full-bodied and smooth timbre. both towards the tube of the instrument and towards the
Through the action of its muscles, the pharynx (see page bucal cavity (mouth) and your airways. A good part of
73) can adopt a higher or lower position and thus increase or the energy that moves towards the mouth is lost through
reduce its volume and resonant capacity. In addition, changes absorption by the tissues. However, resonance chambers
in the larynx or tongue also modify the characteristics of the (especially the mouth and the pharynx) are able to respond
pharynx. So, for example, when the larynx drops it increases to some of the frequencies, as happens with singing. Some
the size of the pharyngeal cavity with the result that the air skilled players are able to modify these cavities in order to
resonates in this enlarged cavity acquiring a characteristic improve the quality and stability of the sound and to assist
tone that we might refer to as a fruity or pompous voice. in a better transition between playing modes.

21
 As the eardrum (c) is 22 The little muscles between bones 6 As the ‘hairs’ of the cells
times bigger than the (d) can reduce or increase the move, they produce electrical
1 The ear (a) and auditory fenestra ovalis (e) the amount of vibration transmitted impulses. The auditory cells
canal (b) collect sound
sound is amplified 5 dB. to inner ear. This is a regulating- connected to the auditory
waves and guide them to
protective mechanism. nerve (g) finally transmit the
the eardrum (c).
information to the brain.

How we hear
7 The brain decodes
g the electrical signals
a
d and gives meaning to
5 Vibrations reaching the fenestra ovalis
b f the sound heard. (e) are transmitted to the fluid contained
c e
in the cochlea (f ) that, in turn, moves the
‘hairs’ contained in the cochlea.
2 The sound waves
cause the eardrum
(c) to vibrate. 3. Muscle blood supply is necessary because:
a)it allows you to burn the muscle fuels with oxygen and
3 The vibration of the a greater quantity of energy is released;
eardrum (c) vibrates the
three tiny bones (d) of
4 The mechanical vibration b)it allows you to clear waste products produced by
of the bones (d) produces muscular work;
the middle ear.
the oscillation of the fenestra c)the two prior sentences are correct.
ovalis (e).
Quiz 4. To undergo middle- and long-duration muscle work,
main energy stores:
1. Music-making must be considered a highly demanding a)are inside the muscle, so you can dispose of them when
physical activity. This is: you want;
a)true, although only a reduced area of your body is b)are mainly in the liver and in fatty tissue, so some
working; warm-up time is needed to make them available;
b)true, but only for those musicians with poor technique; c)could be produced by the muscle, if you have a good
c)false, because movements are light, varied, in healthy technique and if you play or sing in a relaxed manner.
postures and without tensions.
5. In which of the following situations will your muscles
2. Talking about muscle functionalism, it is true that: not freely dispose of oxygen from blood and, therefore,
a)all muscle fibres can shorten and lengthen when produce fatigue or muscular problems more easily:
receiving the correct order from the brain; a)when you perform slow musical passages, continuously
b)each muscle contains two kind of fibres: the first kind are maintaining tension in your muscles to ensure
specialised in shortening and the second in lengthening maximum precision;
to bring the muscle to its starting position again; b)when you perform quick musical passages for some
c)muscles only can shorten and, to return them to their minutes;
initial position, muscles that have the opposite effect c)when you play or sing for two hours, having short
must contract. breaks for muscle relaxation.

22
6. As you practise a technique or a musical passage, your 9. Mental practice is a good tool for musicians but:
neurons: a) not everybody possesses the ability to perform
a) get bigger and stronger to allow better and more mentally;
speedy nerve conduction; b) it is only effective in professional musicians;
b) reinforce existing connections between them and c) it needs to be practised regularly to achieve good
establish new pathways to make the nerve conduction results.
more efficient;
10. The way we breathe is important for wind instrument
c) create elevators with magic doors as happens in
players and singers but also for other musicians because:
famous books and films.
a) the collar bone and ribs need to remove the expelled
7. To improve or correct a movement you must repeat the gases in all musicians;
exercise: b) how you breathe affects your posture, degree of
a) enough times in the same way; relaxation and the body’s ability to function;
b) in the same way but only if the result improves; c) there is a risk of neck or face explosion if you do not
c) until it works. breathe efficiently.
8. Which of the following practice routines is a good 11. In wind instrumentalists, the vocal folds:
strategy to improve memorisation: a) generally do not have any important role during sound
a) practise from memory; production;
b) work in a long practice session; b) help to adjust the pressure and speed of the air;
c) do not sleep just after practising. c) vibrate to assist sound production

see page 17 b 11
see page 14 b 10
see page 12 c 9
see page 10 a 8
see page 8 b 7
see page 7 b 6
see page 3 a 5
see page 2 b 4
see page 2 c 3
see page 1 c 2
see page 1 a 1
and find out why you made your mistake
If your answer is wrong, please read the page again Correct answer Question

23